It's kinda of wierd when everything you've learned: BC and Fats

[al from Canada]

here is an article that shakes the foundations of accepted dietary wisdom.

Al

Feb. 7, 2006 - A study of almost 50,000 postmenopausal women shows little evidence that following a low-fat diet reduces the risk of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or even heart disease.

Researchers stopped short of calling findings from the $415 million Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Dietary Modification Trial disappointing, saying, instead, that longer follow-up of the women in the study may prove the disease-fighting benefits of a low-fat diet.

But significant reductions in breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and heart disease were not seen in the majority of women in the study who ate low-fat diets high in fruits, vegetables, and grains for an average of eight years.

Nonetheless, investigators at a news conference today called the findings consistent with current disease-prevention guidelines.

"The results of this study do not change established recommendations for disease prevention," says National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD.

"Women should continue to get regular mammograms and screenings for colorectal cancer, and work with their doctors to reduce their risks for heart disease, including following a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol."

Largest Low-Fat Trial

Results from this study, the largest intervention study to evaluate low-fat diets, are reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

From 1993 to 2005, the study included 48,835 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 who either agreed to follow a low-fat diet or were told to continue eating as they had been.

By the end of the first year, the low-fat-diet group had reduced their average total fat intake to 24% of their daily calories. By the sixth year of the study, 29% of their daily calories came from fat.

In contrast, fat accounted for roughly 35% of daily calories consumed by women in the nonintervention group during the first year of the study and 37% of daily calories in the study's sixth year........The entire article is here: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/118/112998.htm

[AlaskaAngel]

Actually it makes some sense to me. Maybe it is just showing that it isn't fats per se that are the problem, but non-organic food, whether or not it contains fats. What are they eating if they aren't eating fats... is it organic, or foods that are created with toxic substances?

A.A.
I'm delighted to hear that Linda is doing so well! Next stop Seattle for the Al/Linda odyssey....

I will read the full article and come back but would make the following points;

1. I have previously posted trials / articles on this site which suggest that the only way fat intake can be accurately assessed is by biopsy etc. It was suggested that hidden fats posed a significant problem, and recollections etc may be open to question, and types of fats may play a bigger role than absolute quantity. ( I recall now the posts were in realtion to a reference to the nurses trial which from memory had similar conclusions - I will try and refind them)

2. It is suggested in may books etc that the problem is more about balance and quality than quantity. If the omega threes and sixes are significantly out of balance it causes potential problems. The bodies basic needs are fairly low. Somebody may be consuming margarine and "healthy" polyunsaturates high in omega six (corn soy safflower etc......) as part of a low fat diet, and still have a very poor ratio of omega threes to sixes etc.

Factors such as the above could have a high impact on any test results.

RB

[CLTann]

I was very much disappointed or shocked in reading the result of the massive study. What the result showed is that all those careful dietary planning has been for naught. Suddenly, there is new world of order in health care. Black and white are not so extremes anymore. We lost our guiding light -- low fat, low saturated fat, high omega 3, etc. Throw all of these wishful thinkings out of window. The trouble is: we don't know where to re-start.

Regarding A.A.'s comment on organic food. Although I have a great deal of love, respect and appreciation for her exemplifying help and attitude, the choice of the word, organic, is very difficult for me to understand. This word, organic, was very clear to me for its meaning in chemistry. All compounds having carbon in their structure are organic compounds. Then in the financial world, someone started to use the term organic growth of a company. With a timid and cowardly approach to my trusted friend, I learned the meaning is for the company to grow without outside input (no buy-out or merger). Then I ran into the same word in food and diet. We see the word everyday in the grocery stores and newspaper ads. I am still unclear on what is an organic chicken; by intuition, I suppose that type of chicken is not caged and fed with standard mass produced chicken feed. Since higher price normally goes with better quality, I kept on buying organic chicken at a price of $12 to $14 each. Then, is organic food good for us? Are foods without carcinogens organic? How about preservatives, coloring agents, anti-oxidants and other ingredients other than food? Reading any food labels, you will see a long list of additives, many of which I, with a doctorate in chemistry, have never heard of throughout my career.

Ann

Start with the omega three and six balance, and the impact of our rapid change in dietary habits.

Please do not give up on the omega threes and sixes there are to many trials suggesting they are key factors.

I will come back on this as soon as I have some more time.

RB

[RhondaH]

I've read several follow ups to this study and all of them say that this study addresses only PART of the questions (as many studies do) and not all of them. I agree with AA comments about organic vs. non organic. I've seen studies that show especially with fruits and vegetables that organic has more active phytochemicals than non (especially studies where children were involved). Ann, organic as I am aware is antibiotic free (all the foods with antibiotics are making us immune to medicinal antibiotics), hormone free (this should explain itself and I actually had a friend tell me about a girl they knew of that LOVED milk and drank a lot of it and by age 6 had developed breasts and she was NOT overweight), pesticide free (it seems like every day we are finding out that the "latest and greatest" after further testing is not so great) not to mention I've found that a lot of OTHER organic foods (i.e. my sons cereal bars contain turmeric for color rather than color additives) not to mention "purer foods" rather than preservatives (for fun, compare the labels). I cook EVERYTHING from scratch (yes it takes more time, but my mom and I agree and SHE grew up on a farm, that the food tastes SO much better) AND I know exactly what is in it. I went to an interesting lecture recently on buying local foods and not only was the discussion about organic, but also of buying fruits and vegetables when they are in season rather than out of season and in the winter (especially in Michigan where I live) eating more of the root crop. No, organic is NOT cheap, but to me I buy my clothes at Goodwill (I get the cutest things there) and spend my money on as much organic food, etc. as I can, I want to KNOW whats going in and on my body. Look at teflon, plastics etc and how for "convenience" sake it was SO good and now it is found to NOT be so good. I'm also concerned about the chemicals/preservatives that make up the "low fat/low sugar" foods (i.e Splenda) we had a "sugar substitute" that was found to cause cancer and this is a "new" product so I'm sceptical of IT'S safety...PERSONALLY, I put a little brown sugar in my oatmeal in the morning, but I KNOW it's brown sugar. It seems to me that for "convenience and palate" people will eat/use more of the "unknown" rather than the purer foods/chemicals. I also feel that quantity of fruits and vegetables as well as of fats is a large factor. Did the people in this study eat the "NEW" food pyramids recommendation of 9 fruits and vegetables per day or the 5 AND...more importantly, did they eat a VARIETY of ALL the foods (even the ones they don't like). I also wonder (and I'm sticking my neck out on this one) if some of these studies aren't "purposefully" skewed in favor of the drug companies (i.e don't bother with diet and exercise, only the drugs will work). Don't get me wrong, I think the drugs are important, but I can't help but wonder why the incidence of cancer has become so high when not only has the diet gotten worse, exercise lax, the environment polluted...don't laugh and NO, I'm not crazy, but sometimes I wonder if it isn't some kind of conspiracy (politically motivated). I'm curious to see what the WHEL study says as it ALSO is a large scale, 8yr study, but is much more specific. THERE...my 1/2 cent worth

Rhonda

A trial on fats and estrogens showing fats and their type can alter estrogens.

RB

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum
1: Am J Clin Nutr. 1996 Jul;64(1):25-31. Related Articles, Links

Relation of energy, fat, and fiber intakes to plasma concentrations of estrogens and androgens in premenopausal women.

Dorgan JF, Reichman ME, Judd JT, Brown C, Longcope C, Schatzkin A, Forman M, Campbell WS, Franz C, Kahle L, Taylor PR.

Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.

To evaluate whether diet may influence the incidence of hormone-dependent cancers through an effect on blood estrogen and androgen concentrations, we analyzed diet-blood hormone relations in a cross-sectional study. Dietary energy, fat, and fiber intakes were estimated from 7-d food records completed by 90 premenopausal women on days 14-20 of their menstrual cycles. Fasting blood specimens were collected on days 5-7, 12-15, and 21-23 of each participant's cycle and pooled to create follicular-, midcycle-, and luteal-phase samples, respectively, for analysis. Energy intake was associated inversely with plasma androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), averaged across the three menstrual cycle phases, and directly with the probability of a luteal-phase rise in progesterone. For each additional 1 MJ (239 kcal) consumed, androstenedione decreased by 6.0% (95% CI: -8.4%, -3.6%), DHEAS decreased by 5.1% (95% CI: -9.6%, -0.4%), and the probability of a progesterone rise increased by 60% (95% CI: 5%, 145%). After energy intake was adjusted for, the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat (P:S) in the diet was significantly inversely associated with plasma estradiol and estrone during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. For each 0.1 increment in the P:S, there was a 7.6% (95% CI: -14.3%, -0.5%) decrease in estradiol and a 6.8% (95% CI: -12.7%, -0.6%) decrease in estrone. Results of this cross-sectional study support a relation between both energy and fat ingestion and plasma sex hormone concentrations in premenopausal women.

PMID: 8669410 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

And another one.

The question is can the effect be further enhanced by selection of fat types - viz omega six gla etc.

RB



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum
1: Cancer. 1995 Dec 15;76(12):2491-6. Related Articles, Links

Effects of a very low fat, high fiber diet on serum hormones and menstrual function. Implications for breast cancer prevention.

Bagga D, Ashley JM, Geffrey SP, Wang HJ, Barnard RJ, Korenman S, Heber D.

Division of Clinical Nutrition, UCLA School of Medicine 90024-1742, USA.

BACKGROUND. Low fat, high fiber dietary interventions that decrease blood estrogen levels may reduce breast cancer risk. Asian women consuming their traditional low fat, high fiber diets have lower blood estrogen levels before and after menopause and lower rates of breast cancer compared with Western women. The current controlled feeding study of premenopausal women was designed to determine the effects of a very low fat (10% of calories) and high fiber (35-45 g/day) diet on blood estrogen levels and menstrual function. METHOD. Twelve healthy premenopausal women with regular ovulatory cycles were followed for 3 months. Subjects consumed a diet providing 30% of their energy from fat and 15-25 g of dietary fiber per day for 1 month, and they consumed a very low fat, high fiber and libitum diet providing 10% of their energy from fat and 25-35 g of dietary fiber per day for 2 months. RESULTS. At the end of the second month of the very low fat, high fiber diet, there was a significant reduction in serum estrone and estradiol levels during the early follicular and late luteal phases. There were no significant changes observed in serum estrone sulfate, sex hormone binding globulin, or progesterone. Despite a significant decrease in serum estradiol and estrone levels after 2 months of a very low fat, high fiber diet, there was no interference with ovulation or the magnitude of the mid-cycle leuteinizing hormone surge. Small changes in menstrual cycle length of up to 3 days were not ruled out due to the small sample size of the study. CONCLUSIONS. A very low fat, high fiber diet in healthy premenopausal women can reduce estradiol and estrone levels without affecting ovulation, thereby providing a rationale for the prevention of breast cancer through a very low fat, high fiber diet.

PMID: 8625075 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

More of the same.

RB

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_DocSum
1: Cancer. 1994 Aug 1;74(3 Suppl):1125-31. Related Articles, Links

The effect of dietary fat and fiber on serum estrogen concentrations in premenopausal women under controlled dietary conditions.

Goldin BR, Woods MN, Spiegelman DL, Longcope C, Morrill-LaBrode A, Dwyer JT, Gualtieri LJ, Hertzmark E, Gorbach SL.

Department of Community Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, Medford, MA 02111.

The effect of dietary fiber and fat on serum sex hormones was studied in premenopausal women. After an initial control period during which the diet was high in fat (40% of calories as fat) and low in fiber (12 g/day), the amounts of fat and fiber were varied in the setting of a metabolic kitchen and carefully monitored meals. Forty-eight women completed 58 protocols. When the diet was changed to low-fat (20-25% calories as fat) and high fiber (40 g/day), there were significant decreases in serum concentrations of estrone, estrone sulfate, testosterone, androstenedione, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and near significant decreases in estradiol and free estradiol. When independent effects were examined, high fiber alone caused a decrease in estradiol and SHBG, whereas fat and fiber caused the observed decrease in estrone sulfate. Dietary fat independently influenced the serum concentration of androstenedione. Increased dietary fiber caused a lengthening of the menstrual cycle by 0.72 day and a lengthening of the follicular phase by 0.85 day.

PMID: 8039147 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

More of the same.


RB




http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_DocSum

1: Metabolism. 1995 Jun;44(6):749-56. Related Articles, Links

Changes in plasma lipoprotein concentrations and composition in response to a low-fat, high-fiber diet are associated with changes in serum estrogen concentrations in premenopausal women.

Schaefer EJ, Lamon-Fava S, Spiegelman D, Dwyer JT, Lichtenstein AH, McNamara JR, Goldin BR, Woods MN, Morrill-LaBrode A, Hertzmark E, et al.

Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.

We have investigated the effects of a low-fat, high-fiber diet on plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels and serum sex hormone concentrations in 22 normal premenopausal women (mean age, 25.8 +/- 3.8 years). Participants consumed a baseline diet for 4 weeks (40% of calories as fat, 16% as saturated fatty acids, 8% as polyunsaturated fatty acids, 400 mg/d cholesterol, and 12 g/d dietary fiber) and then a low-fat, high-fiber diet for 8 to 10 weeks (16% to 18% of calories as fat, 4% as saturated fatty acids, 4% as polyunsaturated fatty acids, 150 mg/d cholesterol, and 40 g/d fiber). Blood samples for determination of plasma lipids and serum hormones were obtained during the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle during both diets. Compared with the baseline diet, the low-fat, high-fiber diet resulted in significant decreases in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations during both the follicular and luteal phases (TC, -14% and -16%; LDL cholesterol, -14% and -17%; and HDL cholesterol, -15% and -18%, respectively). During the follicular phase but not the luteal phase on the low-fat, high-fiber diet, women exhibited significant increases in plasma triglyceride ([TG] 22%) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-TG (36%) concentrations. During the follicular phase, serum estrone sulfate concentrations decreased by 25% (P < .0001) when subjects were fed the low-fat, high-fiber diet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

PMID: 7783659 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

More of same

RB


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_DocSum



1: J Steroid Biochem. 1987;27(4-6):1135-44. Related Articles, Links

Effect of dietary components, including lignans and phytoestrogens, on enterohepatic circulation and liver metabolism of estrogens and on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG).

Adlercreutz H, Hockerstedt K, Bannwart C, Bloigu S, Hamalainen E, Fotsis T, Ollus A.

Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Meilahti Hospital, Finland.

A brief account of our present knowledge on the enterohepatic metabolism of estrogens and on the origin, metabolism and biological effects of mammalian lignans and phytoestrogens is undertaken. Furthermore, recently published results on the effects of dietary fiber, fat and carbohydrates on estrogen metabolism are reviewed. New preliminary results are presented on quantitative assays of lignans and phytoestrogens in urine of women belonging to various dietary and population groups and in a group of chimpanzees. The highest values of lignans and phytoestrogens were found in the non-human primates, and in macrobiotic, lactovegetarian and Japanese women, all groups considered having a low risk for the development of breast and other hormone-dependent cancer. New results on correlations between intake of various fibers, lignan and phytoestrogen excretion and plasma levels of estrogens, free testosterone and SHBG in women are presented. There is a significant positive correlation between the intake of fiber and urinary excretion of lignans and phytoestrogens, and the concentration of plasma SHBG. Fiber intake and urinary excretion of lignans and equol correlated negatively with plasma percentage free estradiol. Enterolactone excretion correlated negatively with plasma free testosterone. It is concluded that dietary macro- and micronutrients seem to play an important role in estrogen metabolism.

Publication Types:

* Review


PMID: 2826899 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Wow

RB




http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_DocSum


1: Am J Clin Nutr. 1986 Dec;44(6):945-53. Related Articles, Links

The relationship between estrogen levels and diets of Caucasian American and Oriental immigrant women.

Goldin BR, Adlercreutz H, Gorbach SL, Woods MN, Dwyer JT, Conlon T, Bohn E, Gershoff SN.

The relationship between diet and estrogens was studied in two groups of women with different dietary habits and breast cancer risks. Plasma estrogens and androgens and 24-h urinary and fecal excretion of estrogens were measured in premenopausal and postmenopausal Caucasians and recent Oriental immigrants from Southeast Asia to Hawaii. Premenopausal Caucasians had 30-75% higher plasma estrone and estradiol levels than their age-matched cohorts in Hawaii, and the postmenopausal Caucasians had 3-fold higher plasma levels of estradiol. The Oriental women excreted more than twice the amount of estrogen in their feces but they excreted significantly less in their urine. Thus, the ratio of urinary-to-fecal excretion was approximately 3-5 times higher in young Caucasian women. Analysis of dietary components and plasma estrogens in premenopausal women showed a positive correlation between daily intake of total fat and saturated fat and plasma estrone and estradiol concentrations.

PMID: 3024478 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]