High-fat diet linked with increased breast cancer risk, study suggests

Friday, April 18, 2014 by: Luke Jones
Tags: high-fat diet, breast cancer, nutrition

(NaturalNews) A new study published on April 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that high total and saturated fat intake are linked with a greater risk of oestrogen receptor- and progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer, as well as an increased risk of human epidermal growth factor 2 receptor-negative disease.

Sabina Sieri, Ph.D., and colleagues studied a heterogeneous cohort of 337,327 women from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study in 10 different European countries. The study examined dietary fat intake, along with alcohol consumption, smoking, education, pregnancy and breast cancer as co-variables. Breast cancer hazard ratios were calculated using Cox proportional hazard modelling.

After an 11.5-year period, 10,062 incidences of breast cancer were recorded. To correct the dietary questionnaire data for measurement errors, intake data were calibrated with standardized 24-hour dietary recall interviews, administered to a random sample of the cohort.

The study suggests that high total and saturated fat intake was linked with a greater risk of ER⁺PR⁺ disease, and high saturated fat intake alone was significantly associated with a greater risk of HER2^-.

The authors conclude, "a high-fat diet increases breast cancer risk and, most conspicuously, that high saturated fat intake increases risk of receptor-positive disease, suggesting saturated fat involvement in the etiology of receptor-positive BC."

Although the results from the study are certainly interesting, further investigations may be needed before definite conclusions can be drawn.

The study would perhaps be more valuable if the predominant sources of dietary fat were noted, or if the percentage of calories from fat were recorded. Information such as this may give us more of a complete picture and allow us to form better recommendations in terms of eating health-promoting foods.

Sources for this article include:

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:
Luke Jones is the creator of Health Room, the blog dedicated to investigating and sharing ideas in plant based nutrition, moving freely, living mindfully and existing sustainably.

Luke is a graduate of Imperial College London, a martial artist, and plant based nutritionist.

He enjoys exploring natural movement and eating a whole-food, plant based diet. He also loves seeing other people chase their dreams, and realise their health potential.