HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - The traditional diet of Greece and cancer.

R.B. · 06-04-2012, 03:50 PM

The risk associated with saturated fats may be because of how we process it, and what is defined as saturated fat e.g. lard, which in fact contains significant amounts of Omega 6 etc, and or saturated fats in processed foods that are derived from 'artificial' saturated fats such as trans and interestified fats.

For me it is clear that excess Omega 6 increases the risk of a number of diseases, as does a lack of Omega 3.

I think the story on saturated fats is more complex, and as we learn more it will become recognized that natural dietary unprocessed saturated fats have a place as part of a healthy diet. This comment comes with a lot of caveats which are too complex for this post, including calorie intake, the type of saturated fats, exercise, industrial processing, the source, what we are feeding our animals on, the wider diet etc.

New insights into the health effects of dietary saturated and omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content...7015-10-50.pdf

Michel DE Lorgeril and Patricia Salen

Cardiovascular diseases and cancers are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Reducing dietary saturated fat and replacing it with polyunsaturated fat is still the main dietary strategy to prevent cardiovascular diseases, although major flaws have been reported in the analyses supporting this approach. Recent studies introducing the concept of myocardial preconditioning have opened new avenues to understand the complex interplay between the various lipids and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The optimal dietary fat profile includes a low intake of both saturated and omega-6 fatty acids and a moderate intake of omega-3 fatty acids. This profile is quite similar to the Mediterranean diet. On the other hand, recent studies have found a positive association between omega-6 and breast cancer risk. In contrast, omega-3 fatty acids do have anticancer properties. It has been shown that certain (Mediterranean) polyphenols significantly increase the endogenous synthesis of omega-3 whereas high intake of omega-6 decreases it. Finally, epidemiological studies suggest that a high omega-3/omega-6 ratio may be the optimal strategy to decrease breast cancer risk. Thus, the present high intake of omega-6 in many countries is definitely not the optimal strategy to prevent CVD and cancers. A moderate intake of plant and marine omega-3 in the context of the traditional Mediterranean diet (low in saturated and omega-6, but high in plant monounsaturated fat) appears to be the best approach to reduce the risk of both cardiovascular diseases and cancers, in particular breast cancer.

06-04-2012, 03:50 PM	#378
R.B. Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,843	Re: The traditional diet of Greece and cancer. The risk associated with saturated fats may be because of how we process it, and what is defined as saturated fat e.g. lard, which in fact contains significant amounts of Omega 6 etc, and or saturated fats in processed foods that are derived from 'artificial' saturated fats such as trans and interestified fats. For me it is clear that excess Omega 6 increases the risk of a number of diseases, as does a lack of Omega 3. I think the story on saturated fats is more complex, and as we learn more it will become recognized that natural dietary unprocessed saturated fats have a place as part of a healthy diet. This comment comes with a lot of caveats which are too complex for this post, including calorie intake, the type of saturated fats, exercise, industrial processing, the source, what we are feeding our animals on, the wider diet etc. New insights into the health effects of dietary saturated and omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids http://www.biomedcentral.com/content...7015-10-50.pdf Michel DE Lorgeril and Patricia Salen Cardiovascular diseases and cancers are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Reducing dietary saturated fat and replacing it with polyunsaturated fat is still the main dietary strategy to prevent cardiovascular diseases, although major flaws have been reported in the analyses supporting this approach. Recent studies introducing the concept of myocardial preconditioning have opened new avenues to understand the complex interplay between the various lipids and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The optimal dietary fat profile includes a low intake of both saturated and omega-6 fatty acids and a moderate intake of omega-3 fatty acids. This profile is quite similar to the Mediterranean diet. On the other hand, recent studies have found a positive association between omega-6 and breast cancer risk. In contrast, omega-3 fatty acids do have anticancer properties. It has been shown that certain (Mediterranean) polyphenols significantly increase the endogenous synthesis of omega-3 whereas high intake of omega-6 decreases it. Finally, epidemiological studies suggest that a high omega-3/omega-6 ratio may be the optimal strategy to decrease breast cancer risk. Thus, the present high intake of omega-6 in many countries is definitely not the optimal strategy to prevent CVD and cancers. A moderate intake of plant and marine omega-3 in the context of the traditional Mediterranean diet (low in saturated and omega-6, but high in plant monounsaturated fat) appears to be the best approach to reduce the risk of both cardiovascular diseases and cancers, in particular breast cancer.