Higher fat consumption is associated with lower rates of colon cancer

This study was published in the International Journal of Cancer 2010 Aug 15;127(4):942-51

 

Study title and authors:

Dietary fatty acids, luminal modifiers, and risk of colorectal cancer.

Kato I, Majumdar AP, Land SJ, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Severson RK.

Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19998336

This study assessed the association between fat intake and colorectal cancer. The study included 1,163 subjects with colon cancer and 1,501 healthy control subjects.

The study found:
(a) Those who consumed the most fat had a 16% decreased risk of colon cancer compared to those who consumed the least fat.
(b) Those who consumed the most saturated fat had a 5% decreased risk of colon cancer compared to those who consumed the least saturated fat.

The data from the study shows that a higher consumption of fat is associated with lower rates of colon cancer.

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Eating red meat cuts the rate of stomach cancer

This study was published in the International Journal of Cancer 1998 May 29;76(5):659-64

Study title and authors:
Dietary habits and stomach cancer in Shanghai, China.

Ji BT, Chow WH, Yang G, McLaughlin JK, Zheng W, Shu XO, Jin F, Gao RN, Gao YT, Fraumeni JF Jr.
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA. jib@epndce.nci.nih.gov

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9610722

This study examined the connection between various types of food and stomach cancer. Included in the study were 1,124 stomach cancer patients (age 20-69) and 1,451 controls without stomach cancer.

The study found with regard to carbohydrate type food:

• Men with the highest carbohydrate consumption had a 50% increased risk of stomach cancer compared to men with the lowest carbohydrate consumption.
• Women with the highest carbohydrate consumption had a 90% increased risk of stomach cancer compared to women with the lowest carbohydrate consumption.
• Men eating the most noodles and bread had a 10% increase in stomach cancer risk compared to men who ate the least noodles and bread.
• Women eating the most noodles and bread had a 20% increase in stomach cancer risk compared to women who ate the least noodles and bread.

The study found with regard to meat and fat:

• Men eating the most fresh red meat had a 10% decreased risk of stomach cancer compared to men eating the least fresh red meat.
• Women eating the most fresh red meat had a 20% decreased risk of stomach cancer compared to women eating the least fresh red meat.
• Men consuming the most eggs had a 40% reduction in stomach cancer risk compared to the men eating the least eggs.
• Women consuming the most eggs had a 50% reduction in stomach cancer risk compared to the women eating the least eggs.
• Men with the highest fat consumption had 30% less incidence of stomach cancer compared to men with the lowest consumption of fat.
• Women with the highest fat consumption had 40% less incidence of stomach cancer compared to women with the lowest consumption of fat.

This study shows that a high carbohydrate diet increases the risk of stomach cancer whereas a diet high in fat, red meat and eggs lowers the risk of stomach cancer.

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Pancreatic cancer risk is decreased on a diet high in red meat and saturated fat

This study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1998 Nov 18;90(22):1710-9

Study title and authors:

Dietary and nutritional factors and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study based on direct interviews.

Silverman DT, Swanson CA, Gridley G, Wacholder S, Greenberg RS, Brown LM, Hayes RB, Swanson GM, Schoenberg JB, Pottern LM, Schwartz AG, Fraumeni JF Jr, Hoover RN.

Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. silvermd@EPNDCE.NCI.NIH.GOV

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9827525

This study investigated the relationship between diet and pancreatic cancer in 436 patients and 2003 general-population control subjects aged 30-79 years.

The study found:

• Those who had the lowest consumption of bread, grains and cereals had an 8% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who had the highest consumption of bread, grains and cereals.
• Those who had the lowest consumption of carbohydrates had a 36% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who had the highest consumption of carbohydrates.
• Those who ate the most fat had a 34% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least fat.
• Those who ate the most saturated fat had a 28% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least saturated fat.
• Those who ate the most red meat had an 18% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least red meat.

This study shows that diets high in saturated fat and red meat offer protection from pancreatic cancer.

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High fat diets protect against breast cancer

This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 1992 Oct 21;268(15):2037-44

Study title and authors:

Dietary fat and fiber in relation to risk of breast cancer. An 8-year follow-up.

Willett WC, Hunter DJ, Stampfer MJ, Colditz G, Manson JE, Spiegelman D, Rosner B, Hennekens CH, Speizer FE.

Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02215.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1328696

This study investigated the association of dietary fat, fiber and the risk of breast cancer. 89,494 women aged 34 - 59 were followed up for 8 years.

The study found:

·         Women who had the highest fat intake had a 14% decreased risk of breast cancer.

·         Women who had the lowest dietary fibre intake had a 2% decreased risk of breast cancer.

This study shows that dietary fat is protective against breast cancer incidence.

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Analysis of 13 studies reveals a high fat intake reduces colon cancer by 8%

This paper was published in Cancer Causes and Control 1997 Mar;8(2):215-28

Study title and authors:

The relationship between dietary fat intake and risk of colorectal cancer: evidence from the combined analysis of 13 case-control studies.

Howe GR, Aronson KJ, Benito E, Castelleto R, Cornée J, Duffy S, Gallagher RP, Iscovich JM, Deng-ao J, 

Division of Epidemiology, Columbia University School of Public Health, New York, New York 10032, USA.

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9134246

The objective of the study was to examine the effects of the intake of dietary fat upon colon cancer risk. The study was an analysis of data from 13 studies previously conducted comparing the dietary habits of 5,287 people with colon cancer with 10,470 people without colon cancer.

This analysis of 13 studies revealed that those with the highest dietary fat intake had an 8% reduction in the incidence of colon cancer.

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High amounts of dietary red meat, eggs and fat are associated with decreased rates of pancreatic cancer

This study was published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 1995 Dec;4(8):885-93

Study title and authors:

Dietary factors and the risk of pancreatic cancer: a case-control study in Shanghai China.

Ji BT, Chow WH, Gridley G, Mclaughlin JK, Dai Q, Wacholder S, Hatch MC, Gao YT, Fraumeni JF Jr.

Division of Epidemiology Columbia University, School of Public Health, New York, New York 10032, USA.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8634662

This study examined the effects of diet on pancreatic cancer. The study included 451 people with pancreatic cancer aged 30 - 74 and 1,552 healthy controls.

The study found:

• Those who consumed the least rice and noodles had a 33% decreased incidence of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the most rice and noodles.
• Those who ate the most red meat had a 2% decreased incidence of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least red meat.
• Those who ate the most eggs had a 56% decreased incidence of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least eggs.
• Those who ate the most fat had a 33% decreased incidence of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least red fat.

This study shows that high amounts of dietary red meat, eggs and fat are associated with decreased rates of pancreatic cancer.

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A higher fat diet reduces colon cancer by 8% compared to a low fat diet

This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 2006 Feb 8;295(6):643-54

Study title and authors:

Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of colorectal cancer: the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial.

Beresford SA, Johnson KC, Ritenbaugh C, Lasser NL, Snetselaar LG

Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7236, USA. beresfrd@u.washington.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16467233

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of a low-fat eating pattern on risk of colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women. In this 8 year trial 48,835 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 were recruited from 40 clinical centers throughout the United States and divided into 2 groups:
(i) Women in group (i) had an intensive behavioral modification program aimed to motivate and support reductions in dietary fat, to increase consumption of vegetables and fruits, and to increase grain servings by using group sessions, self-monitoring techniques, and other tailored and targeted strategies. (Low fat group)
(ii) Women in group (ii) continued eating as normal. (Higher fat group)

The study found:
(a) The women in the low fat group ate around 10% less fat compared to the women in the higher fat group.
(b) The women in the low fat group ate significantly more vegetable, fruit, and grain servings compared to the women in the higher fat group.
(c) The women in the low fat group had an 8% increase in colon cancer compared to the women in the higher fat group.

This 8 year study revealed that a higher fat diet reduces colon cancer by 8% compared to a low fat diet.

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Research by a Nobel prize winner shows that high carbohydrate diets cause cancer

This paper was published in Science 24 February 1956: Vol. 123 no. 3191 pp. 309-314

Study title and author:
On the origin of cancer cells
Warburg O

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/123/3191/309.extract

Otto Warburg won the Nobel prize for medicine in 1931 for discovering that cancer cells are fundamentally different compared to healthy cells.

He found that energy and growth in cancer cells is mainly generated by the fermentation of glucose, unlike normal cells which contain tiny organelles inside them called mitochondria which work away producing enegy to keep the cells healthy. The mitochohdrial activity in cancer cells is impaired and cancer cells can use glucose by up to 200 fold the rate of healthy cells.

How does this relate to cancer and diet?

To produce energy humans mainly use either:
(i) Fat and ketone bodies.
(ii) Glucose.

Fat may be provided by dietary fat, and ketone bodies are compounds that are produced when fats are broken down for energy by the liver and kidneys. Almost all carbohydrates are broken down by the body into glucose.

Fat and ketone bodies need mitochondria to provide energy, whilst glucose also has the ability to provide energy by fermentation. This means that fat, ketone bodies and glucose can be used for energy by healthy cells, but only glucose can be used by cancer cells.

The implication of this is if you follow a very low carbohydrate diet it is very difficult for cancerous cells to survive because they will have little or no energy to feed on.

Warburgs research shows that a high carbohydrate diet will encourage cancer growth, whereas a diet low in carbohydrate and high in fat discourages the growth of cancer.          

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