Study links Atkins Diet to higher incidence of cancer

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(National) July 15, 2003 - Recent research has backed up the weight loss benefit of the Atkins Diet, which is high in meat and fat, but a new study suggests such a diet may increase the risk of breast cancer.

Researchers studied 90,000 women from the ages of 26-46. They found those who ate diets high in animal fat and dairy products had a higher risk of breast cancer than those who at the least amount.

Recent studies, on the other hand, found no evidence of a meat-cheese-cancer connection. Researchers say that's because most of those studies focused on older women.

Dr. Eunyoung Cho of Harvard Medical School says, "Previous studies mainly included postmenopausal women, and this is about younger, premenopausal, women so the association could be different."

As far as the diet goes, experts remind to remember the old adage: everything in moderation.

posted 4:06pm by Chris Rees

Animal Fats Linked to Increased Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds

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Animal Fats Linked to Increased Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds
July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Eating high-fat red meats and dairy products such as cream may increase the risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women, according to a study published in tomorrow's issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

A diet high in animal fat raised the risk by as much as 54 percent, said lead author Eunyoung Cho, a nutrition researcher at Boston's Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital. The eight-year study enrolled 90,000 women aged 26 to 46.

The findings suggest that the Atkins diet and other regimens that encourage people to eat meat to lose weight may harm younger women, Cho said. Her study found no link between breast cancer, which kills about 40,000 people a year in the U.S., and high levels of vegetable fat or animal fat from chicken, turkey or fish, she said in an interview.

``I would not recommend that diet for pre-menopausal women, unless they replace red meat with poultry and fish,'' Cho said.

Women at the high end of animal fat consumption got 23 percent of all their calories from meats and dairy products, almost twice as much as those who ate the least animal fat. Some researchers believe that a high-fat diet may increase the risk of breast cancer by spurring the body to make estrogen, which can contribute to tumor growth, Cho said.

WHO Statement

A statement in March from the World Health Organization found that there was insufficient evidence to link animal fat with cancer, and other large-scale studies have found the same result, said Mary Young, executive director of nutrition for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in Denver.

``This is one study, and the authors themselves note that this study is inconsistent with eight other studies that found no association between red meat and breast-cancer risk,'' Young said in an interview. ``I would encourage consumers to be confident about eating lean beef.''

Earlier studies of fat and breast cancer focused on older women who had already started menopause, said Walter Willett, a Harvard Medical School nutrition researcher who co-wrote the study. Those experiments may have failed to find a link because menopause lowers women's estrogen levels, he said.

``This is the first detailed look at diet in an earlier point of life than we've been able to study before,'' Willett said in an interview. ``We're cutting into some new territory.''

Cho asked women enrolled in the Nurses Health Study II, a survey of behavior and health risks in 14 states, to answer questions about their diet twice. The work provides more evidence that women should moderate their intake of animal fat, she said.

``Prevention of heart disease already provides a good reason to choose a diet low in animal fat,'' Cho said. ``Adopting this kind of a diet early in life could offer the benefit of cancer prevention, too.''

Last Updated: July 15, 2003 16:00 EDT

Study Investigates Meat-Cheese Cancer Link

Women On High-Animal Fat Diets May Be At Greater Risk For Breast Cancer

POSTED: 5:58 p.m. EDT July 15, 2003
UPDATED: 6:01 p.m. EDT July 15, 2003

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NEW YORK -- Meat and cheese may be staples of those popular low-carb weight loss plans such as the Atkins diet, may be out of favor again.

A study of more than 90,000 women ages 26-46 finds those who ate the highest amounts of fat from animal and dairy products had a slightly higher risk of breast cancer compared to women who ate the least amount.

This may seem like confusing news for women, since recent studies have found no evidence of the meat-cheese-cancer link, but researchers note that most studies focused on older women.

"We found that higher intake of animal fat, mainly from red meat and high fat dairy products during early adult life was related to increased risk of breast cancer," said Dr. Eunyong Cho of Harvard Medical School. "Previous studies mainly included postmenopausal women and this is about younger, premenopausal women so the association could be different."

It will take more studies to figure out that difference, in the meantime, researchers say these finds may bring back an old diet strategy, moderation, moderation, moderation.

Study links animal fats, breast cancer

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 Posted: 4:06 PM EDT (2006 GMT)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Young women who eat more red meat and full-fat dairy products such as cheese may be raising their risk of breast cancer, researchers reported on Tuesday.

They said their study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, provides yet another incentive for women to shun fatty foods and consume fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

"When we compared the women in the highest fat intake group with women in lowest intake group, those with the highest intake had a 33 percent greater risk of invasive breast cancer," Eunyoung Cho of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School said in a telephone interview.

Cho said her study was unique because it included women who had not reached menopause. Breast cancer takes years to develop, although it usually shows up after menopause, and factors early in a woman's life may be important.

Women most at risk of breast cancer obtained, on average, 23 percent of calories from animal fat, versus 12 percent in the lowest-risk group.

Vegetable fats such as olive oil did not affect a woman's risk. "We found that it was not total fat but certain types of fat that was related to breast cancer risk," Cho said.

The study of more than 90,000 women aged 26 to 46 was taken from the Nurses' Health Study, in which volunteers answer regular questionnaires about diet and lifestyle and that data is analyzed by researchers who track the women's health.

Over the eight years of the study, 714 women developed invasive breast cancer.

"Overall, we observed that there was a higher risk of breast cancer among women who ate foods rich in animal fat such as red meat, cheese, ice cream and butter during their 20s, 30s and 40s," Cho said.

Controversial area

"In an area of breast cancer research that has yielded often starkly different findings, we have illustrated that there may be stronger support for lowering overall animal fat intake, especially during a woman's early adult life," she added.

Hydrogenated oils, hardened to be more like butter and lard, clog arteries just like butter and lard do. Last week the U.S. government said it would require food manufacturers to label foods with trans-fats -- found in animal and hydrogenated fat.

Researchers have long noted that the rates of certain cancers are higher in the West than in Asia. But it has not been clear whether that is due to what people eat -- such as animal fat and dairy products -- or what they do not eat -- perhaps soy, vegetables or other products.

Cho, an epidemiologist who studies patterns of disease as well as a nutritionist, said it is not clear how animal fat may cause cancer.

"Fat intake in general has been hypothesized to increase circulating hormone levels such estrogen levels," she said.

Cooked red meat contains cancer-causing agents and is also liked with colon cancer.

Eating less meat and full-fat dairy can also help a woman reduce her risk of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the industrialized world, Cho said.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Breast cancer will kill more than 40,000 Americans this year.

Whatever applies to people who just eat plenty of meat and cheese does not apply to people who are on Atkins diet.

The fat metabolization process requires carbohydrate. When you reduce your carbohydrate intake to a very low level, the fat you eat ends with partial metabolization producing ketones.

The effect of partially metabolized fat on the body is different. We know that almost every one who is on Atkins diet has noticed an improvement to his blood pressure which could never be the case if the fat they eat has been fully metabolized.

Right on Samuel, those studies focus on high-fat and high-carb dietary habits. They ignore the effects of hight carbs, and sugar, as they have pre-concluded that carbs are good and fat is bad.

But they have to ignore numerous studies on the effects of sugar on cancer growth, in order to be blinded by their objectives, to prove their pre-conclusions.

This is dishonest research, as this has nothing to do with Atkins and low-carbing, except for sensational titles, and pleasing food lobbyists to promote sugar and carbs.

What they consider high fat, are foods like pizza, cake and lot's of similar high-fat high-carb foods. None of these studies focused on high-fat, low-carb foods.

Wa'il

Breast, ovarian and prostate cancer are more closely linked to sugar intake and insulin levels than to fat intake. My sister's oncologist, Dr. Yolanda Madarnas, who is a breast cancer specialist, co-authored a study which showed that women with breast cancer who had higher fasting insulin levels had poorer outcomes and lowered survival than those with lower insulin levels. That's because insulin exerts some growth hormone-like effects and can stimulate growth of hormone-sensitive cancer cells. http://www.mindfully.org/Health/Bre...lin-Goodwin.htm

Epidemiological studies such as this, often fail to differentiate between types of meats and fats. For example, previous studies which suggested a link between red meat and stomach cancer included hot dogs, bologna and other processed lunch meats containing nitrates in their definition of "red meat". The sources of "high fat" included chips, french fries, donuts, ice cream and hydrogenated vegetable shortening and margarine.

Some other discussions about low-carb, high-fat and breast cancer:

breast cancer and lowcarb

The Skinny on Fats & Breast Cancer by Stephen Byrnes, N.D. (Dr. Byrnes is a member here)

Three Case Histories from Weston A. Price foundation, where the women improved their cancer survival odds and over-all health by eating a natural diet with plenty of animal fats.

hth,

Doreen