Lowcarbezine!

The Issue of Fat and Breast Cancer Raises Its Head Once Again...

Don't know if you caught it, but a few weeks back a new medical study made the mainstream press, asserting that saturated fat is, indeed, associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Since the world at large assumes that we low carbers pretty much live on bunless bacon cheeseburgers with a side of sour cream, I've had a couple of inquiries as to what this study means for us.

Truth to tell, I don't really know. The news reports have been fairly sketchy on details, and I haven't been able to read the whole report yet, or even an abstract. Here's what I do know:

The study, which was done in Cambridge, England by the Medical Research Council's Dunn Human Nutrition Unit, looked at "food diaries"; kept by over 13,000 women from Norfolk. It concluded that women in the top 20% of saturated fat intake had roughly double the risk of breast cancer as the women in the lowest 20% saturated fat intake group. The researchers carefully matched the women for what the news reports simply called "other unhealthy lifestyles."; What those unhealthy lifestyles might be was not detailed.

Dr. Sheila Bingham, deputy director of the Human Nutrition Unit, was quoted as saying, "The study shows that there is an emerging link between eating too much fatty food and increasing the risk of breast cancer."; She went on to add, "The effect seems to be related particularly to saturated fat found mostly in high fat milk, butter, meat, and some cereals such as biscuits [Dana's note: That's "cookies"; here in the US] and cakes.";

So, should we all panic, and give up our low carb diets?

What, did you really think I was going to say yes? Look, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on television. However, I have a few thoughts, regarding this study.

First of all, this is only one study, and it comes on the heels of several years of studies that turned up no positive correlation between fat intake and breast cancer. Indeed, more than one study -- including the truly immense and astoundingly long-term Harvard Nurses' Study -- found that the women with the lowest fat intake had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer. This one study, while provocative, and a good cause for further research, does not suddenly render all the previous studies meaningless.

Secondly, while we're still unclear on the causes of cancer, we are quite sure that cancer, once established, feeds on glucose -- blood sugar. There is also a strong correlation between high insulin levels and insulin resistance, and breast cancer. And, indeed, there are also studies that have shown that high intake of carbohydrate, and especially high impact carbohydrate, increases breast cancer risk.

Third, given the fact that we know that insulin levels are tied to breast cancer risk, it would be interesting to know what the effect is of eating saturated fat is in the absence of a high carbohydrate intake. We can gather from Dr. Bingham's statement that these women were, indeed, eating sugar and white flour -- biscuits and cakes -- (indeed, at the BBC site the illustration was a piece of chocolate cake: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3074561.stm ) and one assumes they also were eating bread, potatoes, pasta, and the like. Is it not possible that there is some interaction between saturated fat and dietary carbohydrate? Without a study of saturated fat and breast cancer risk in the context of a low carbohydrate diet, we simply don't know.

Another factor that I found myself wondering about was calcium intake. There are now several studies suggesting a protective effect against breast cancer -- and colon cancer, too -- from a high intake of calcium -- and while milk and cheese are high in saturated fat, they are also high in calcium. (Butter, cream, and sour cream are not good sources of calcium.)

Most importantly, there is nothing in this study that indicates that carbohydrates are good for you. Even if, indeed, we learn that saturated fat is a causal factor for breast cancer, that won't somehow make sugar less devastating to health, or make white flour less than a total nutritional wasteland. It won't change the fact that grains are not a part of the evolutionary diet of human kind, nor will it make carbohydrates less of a trigger of high triglycerides, diabetes, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

I've said it before, and it bears repeating: We don't know exactly what balance of fats is safest yet. We do know that farm-raised, grass-fed meat has a different fatty acid profile than the game and grass-fed meats that our ancestors ate for millennia; it is unclear yet how big a problem this may be. We do know that some fats that come along with the saturates appear to be darned healthy -- most particularly CLA, found in beef and cheese, which decreases fat storage and reduces cancer risk, and stearic acid, a major component of beef fat, which has a similar LDL lowering, HDL raising influence to olive oil and other monounsaturated fats.

One thing is clear, and has been since long before this study hit the press: A low carb diet that consists of nothing but beef and cheese would be a bad idea -- both boring and nutritionally limited. There's every reason to eat not only beef, but pork (which, despite a bad image, is one of the most nutritious meats -- and which contains more monounsaturates than saturates) and lamb. There's even more reason to eat poultry -- not only chicken, but turkey, duck, Cornish hens, and even quail and the like if you can get them and afford them -- and overwhelming reasons to eat fish on a regular basis. All of these flesh foods are just as low carb as beef, of course.

There's also no reason not to use lean cuts of meat if you are concerned -- again, beef round and pork loin are just as low carb as fattier cuts like short ribs and pork shoulder, and they're almost as low in total fat as skinless chicken or turkey breast (not to mention higher in some nutritients.) If you choose to do this, you can add more fat calories -- since of course fat is where low carbers get most of their fuel -- by sauteing in olive oil, adding guacamole, topping salads with nuts or seeds -- or simply snacking on them -- in short, by adding more monounsaturates.

I, on the other hand, am unlikely to panic. I am unconvinced that this one study outweighs the many that show no danger from fat, and I am quite convinced that cheap, trashy, high impact carbs are the biggest dietary cancer risk.

But however

WOW !! WOW-WOW-WOW!

As all but my very newest subscribers are aware, last week I put out the call for stories of those of you who have successfully controlled or treated diabetes with a low carb diet. Within 48 hours, I had 92 posts, all but a couple of them truly wonderful and exciting success stories. The other few were from folks wanting to know if a low carb diet was helpful for diabetes. Well, folks, I'll start publishing the email I've gotten on the subject, and you tell me! Here's the first low carb diabetes success story:

Hi Dana! I've been getting your newsletter for a couple of years now, but this is the first time I've written you. Back in 1999, I was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes. At 5'11" I weighed in at 236 pounds and a size 20 or 22. My doctor suggested the Protein Power diet (he was on it!). My original thought was "moderation in all things". Ha!

I started on my low carb diet and have never looked back! 80 pounds later I'm at 156 pounds, a size 10 or 12 and have stabilized there for quite a while. I went for a blood test last month (July, 2003) and not only have I NOT been diabetic for a couple of years (my doctor and I have known that since I get blood tests on a regular basis for high cholesterol), but ALL of the blood test numbers test smack dab in the middle of normal! And I'm 56 years old! I'm no longer on medication of any kind and my blood pressure which had been in the hypertensive range in 1999 is now "low" (which is good).

My doctor is particularly interested in heart disease (it runs in his family and also in mine) and has recently discovered a direct correlation between adult onset diabetes and heart disease. By going on a low carb diet to initially lose weight and back away from the diabetes, I've also saved myself from heart disease! Go low carb dieting!!! (And by the way, if I read one more "expert" contending that low carb diets are unhealthy, my low blood pressure will be at serious threat of blowing!!).

Donna Hoff, Longmont Colorado

Too cool!! Donna, I'd love to have before-and-after photos. I'll continue to publish these diabetes success stories in upcoming issues. It's important that people realize just how effective low carb is for controlling this potentially devastating disease.

By the way, I'd love to have before-and-after photos from all of you. Don't make me send out a Special Notice! Send me your before-and-after photos, and let's show the world what low carb can do!

Posted by HoldTheToast at August 13, 2003 04:57 PM