| Tuesday, February 07, 2006 |
| Low Fat Diet Does Not Protect From Cancer - It Is Quality, Not Quantity, Isn't It? |
Researchers found that women who ate less fat did not have a lower risk of developing cancer or heart disease after eight years. Health experts say this study could encourage people to go hell bent on eating whatever they liked.
Cutting down on all fats is not what most nutritionists would advise people to do anyway, said one health expert to Medical News Today. ‘There are good fats and bad fats - there are saturated fats, transfats and the good fats you can get from nuts, olive oil and sardines. Cutting down on all types of fats seems to be nutritionally stupid.'
In this study 20,000 women, aged 50-79 were told to cut down on their intake of dietary fat - all fats. They had to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, plus six servings of grains. They were monitored for eight years.
The researchers found that the 20,000 women who cut down on fats for eight years were not at a significantly lower risk of developing cancer or heart disease when compared to another group of 20,000 women who did not cut down on fats.
Both groups of women had identical levels of good cholesterol, the low fat diet women had ever so very slightly lower levels of bad cholesterol.
Another health expert wrote in to Medical News Today and said:
‘If you just reduce fats, all fats, then sugars start making up a larger part of the diet. Sugars have an effect on insulin levels, over the long term how effective your insulin is can change for the worse. Just reducing fats seems to be a pointless study.”
“Why not compare good fats, plus fruit and vegetables in one group of people, with bad fats and no fruit and vegetables in another group, and if you like have a third group that just cuts down on all fats. You could even go one step further and have a proper study - have another group that consumes good fats, fruit and vegetable and does regular exercise.”
“This study has no meaning at all because all fats, even the ones we need for good health, were reduced. It is like having a car with a driver who likes to drive with his eyes closed. We are comparing accident rates with one type of car oil against another type of car oil, but in both studies the driver has his eyes closed. The researchers then conclude that both types of car oils have similar accident rates. The study would tell us nothing (except that perhaps the driver should open his eyes).
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today |
| posted by Jennie Tate @ 7:19 AM |
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