Past studies found that high fat diets may increase a woman's risk for breast cancer and recommended limiting fat in the diet, especially after menopause. But new evidence from the Nurse's Health Study that involved information from more than 80,000 women over 20 years found no connection between fat intake and breast cancer risk.
For the study women filled out questionaires every two years during the 20 year follow up. The questionaire inquired about dietary intakes of a variety of nutrients including fat. Analysis compared the effects of total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, and essential fatty acids on breast cancer risk.
The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology this November. There was no effect of fat intake on breast cancer risk in menopausal women. They also found no effect when diets were higher in saturated fat, usually from animals, as previous studies had shown. Also other studies found a protective effect of essential fatty acids such as omega-3's, which was not observed in this study.
The authors suggest that women still limit the amount of fat that they are consuming because of the negative effects high fat diets have on cardiovascular disease risk.
A healthy diet for all people should be centered around whole foods, with adequate fiber, vegetables and fruits. Saturated fats and processed foods should be limited and sugar avoided.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on December 11, 2006 12:43 PM
