Fat and
Breast Cancer Link Challenged
According
to a study of 5,000 Italian women, it is starch, not fat, that is linked
to breast cancer. This study, published in "The Lancet," could find
no correlation between breast cancer rates and fat. However, starch
consumption was a significant factor. The study authors could not
conclusively explain their findings, but suggest that a preponderance of
any particular food in the diet (such as wheat) could be harmful; and that
liberal amounts of olive oil accompanying meals high in animal fats have
a protective effect.
"The
Lancet" May 18, 1996; Dynamic Chiropractic, Vol.14, No.15, July 15, 1996
*
Comment:
Emanuel Revici MD, 1897-1998, extensively researched and documented the
role of lipids (fats) both in the cause and cure of cancer. Dr. Revici
found abnormal or "pathogenic" lipids wherever cancer occurs in the body.
Pathogenic lipids are pathogenic because they wreak havoc in cell and tissue
function. This is how disease begins. In many individuals a
diet that is high in carbohydrates (starches), and hence low in protein
and fat, promotes pathogeic lipids in body tissues. This explains
why starch is linked to breast cancer in this study. The Anabolic
and Catabolic Indices on the Health Equations Blood Test Evaluation measure
these pathogenic lipids in the body.
Fat:
Friend or Foe
A study reported in the
Journal of the American Medical Association compared the effects of a diet
with a fat content of 30% versus 26%, 22% or 18%. A decrease to 30%
lowered the LDL(so-called"bad") cholesterol as much as the lower fat diets.
However, a decrease in dietary fat to 18% or 22% caused a rise in triglycerides
and a drop in HDL(so-called"good") cholesterol. No increased benefits
in body weight, blood sugar, insulin or blood pressure were observed with
the diets containing less than 30% of calories from fat.
JAMA1997:278(18):1509-1515
*
Comment:
There are no apparent benefits from reducing fats lower than 30% of total
calories. Since a diet of 22% or 18% fat increases triglycerides
and decreases HDL cholesterol, these two diets increase cardiovascular
risk and are therefore not advised. See Literature Bite: Carbobydrates
and Heart Disease. It is important however not to conclude from
this study that everyone should eat a diet of 30% fat all the time.
Some people need more, some less. The same person may need more or
less at different times. Dietary fat requirements are based on many
variables, from body weight and percent body fat to stress and physical
activity. Further, which dietary fats a person eats is as important
as the amount of fat eaten. Generally speaking, if the Catabolic
Index is low and the HDL is above minus 20 on the Score Plot, eat saturated
(animal) fats. If the Anabolic Index is high, eat monounsaturated
fats, eg., olive oil, almonds, avocados.
Redeeming
Animal Fats
In
recent years the association between dietary saturated fat, hypercholesterolemia,
and coronary artery disease has been re-explored .... Several new,
sometimes controversial, concepts have arisen that challenge underlying
assumptions:
1.
Although saturated fats as a class raise LDL, they also have a primary
responsibility among dietary fatty acids for raising HDL, possibly depending
on a balanced intake of polyunsaturated fats.
2.
Not all saturated fatty acids are equally responsible for changes in LDL
or HDL.
3.
The saturated fat effect is both related to the dietary cholesterol and
the lipoprotein set point of the host.
(Hayes
KC, "Saturated Fats and Blood Lipids: New Slant on an Old Story" Can J
Cardiol Oct. 1995.)
*
Comment:
HDL is so-called "good" cholesterol while LDL is "bad" cholesterol.
The prevailing belief since the Framingham Study 50 years ago, and from
similar and even larger studies to follow, is saturated fats, i.e., animal
fats, contribute to heart disease by raising "bad" cholesterol. Now
we are learning that some saturated fats can raise good cholesterol depending
upon:
(1)
the type and amount of fat;
(2)
the other types and amounts of fat in the diet; and
(3)
the "lipid setpoint" of the individual, the genetically determined amounts
and kinds of fats each body makes regardless of fat intake.
There
are other factors that must be considered in dietary fat intake.
These include, and are not limited to, the following:
(1)
the feed sources, and the soil management of the feed sources, of the animal
(e.g., grass fed animals have different amounts and types of fat
than grain fed animals);
(2)
the percent body fat of the individual;
(3)
the protein and carbohydrate in the individual diet; and
(4)
the excesses of either anabolic lipids (fats) and/or catabolic lipids in
the cells and tissues of the individual.
See:
Jack
and Jill, Metabolic Opposites
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