I recently received an email from a dedicated Health Bytes reader asking about the benefits of coffee and the link to cancer... Today I'd like to share some research with you as it's a very important question!

Hope you enjoy the benefits as much as I do...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. As a regular reader of Health Bytes, I know you know about the best natural sweeteners available today, but do you know how much is safe to use? Dr Wright reveals the best quantities...
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Men - had your cup of cancer protection today?

Christine O'Brien
Contributor, Nutrition & Healing

A good friend of mine frequently comments on his goal of getting off coffee. He loves it, but he's sure that it's bad for him - no matter how many times I remind him of the numerous health benefits, including combatting strokes, I've written about in Health Bytes.

I just can't convince him that he doesn't have to see coffee as a bad habit.

But maybe some Harvard scientists can succeed where I've failed.

In fact - this isn't just about coffee not being bad for him. It's about coffee being very, very good for him.

A new study of 47,911 men who reported on their coffee intake has revealed that coffee lowers the risk of prostate cancer.

Compared to men who didn't drink coffee, men who drank six or more cups of coffee per day were nearly 20% less likely to have prostate cancer over the course of two decades.

So, that's pretty good, right? Well, it gets even better. Those mega-dosing coffee drinkers were also 60% less likely to end up with a deadly form of prostate cancer.

My friend loves his coffee, but he hasn't quite reached a six-cups-a-day habit. But that's okay - men who drank one to three cups a day were 30% less likely to end up with fatal prostate cancer.

If you're trying to lay off caffeine, that's fine - both the regular stuff and decaf had the same risk-lowering effect.

If you're not into coffee, there are plenty of other ways to naturally lower your risk of developing prostate cancer. Have a handful of walnuts each day. Try heating things up with some curry at dinner. Take your vitamin E.

Or click here to find out more ways to fight prostate cancer...

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Navigating natural sweeteners

Q: I am so glad to have found D-mannose and xylitol. I have started using xylitol for all of my baking and sweetening needs. My family can't tell the difference in the desserts. They are just glad that the biscuits and cakes are back... But I'm wondering if there's any problem in using xylitol every day? I am using the D-mannose daily in my green tea to prevent bladder problems, but I only use about 1tsp of that.

Dr Wright: I'm glad you wrote. For those who wonder what your letter is referring to, D-mannose is a simple sugar molecule and xylitol a sugar-alcohol molecule. Both are naturally present in small quantities in human bodies, as are fructose and many other simple sugars. In general, they're much safer and healthier than refined sugar, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

The key to safe use of these simple sugars and sugar alcohols is small quantities, as little as possible to do the job. For example, even though fructose is naturally present in human bodies in small quantities, in larger quantities it's largely responsible for the significant increase in the incidence of type II diabetes over the last two decades.

Although some natural food shops still sell bags of pure fructose, most know to caution their customers against it. Put simply, once fructose is separated from whole fruit or other sources, its just another one of those refined carbohydrates we should avoid completely.

The same caution applies to D-mannose and xylitol. However, since these two refined carbohydrates have definite health benefits and therapeutic uses (xylitol reduces tooth decay dramatically and D-mannose effectively treats and prevents over 90% of bladder infections), if you need or want these benefits, you should only use the minimum amount necessary to achieve them and no more.

Even though adverse effects from long-term use of large quantities of these two simple sugars aren't yet known, you don't want to be one of the first families to find out what they will be.

The amount of D-mannose you're using is small and if it's preventing recurrent bladder infection, the benefits most likely outweigh any risks.

However, please stop using xylitol for baking. Switch to stevia or lo han, both of which are non-caloric, non refined carbohydrates and so sweet it's difficult to use more than small quantities. Since you need much less of either of these than you would sugar, it can be tricky to get the hang of using them in recipes. But there are cookbooks and other information sources available to help you with your baking.

For more tips on shedding a few kg's and reducing your calorie intake visit our weightloss section!