Surprising Finding About Dietary Fat And Breast Cancer

Posting Date: 11/01/2000

When looking at the relationship between certain foods and cancer, there?s a lot we don?t know and surprising findings keep cropping up.

For example, it?s been generally believed that women who eat a high fat diet are at a greater risk for breast cancer, but a new study by Harvard researchers comes to the opposite conclusion.

The latest finding shows that fatty diets don?t increase the production of estrogen, high levels of which have been implicated in the development of breast cancer. Instead, consuming high fat foods seems to lower the hormone levels, according to a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The study comparing diet and hormone levels in 381 women reports that a five percent increase in energy from fat results in a 2.3 percent decrease in estrogen levels.

This inverse association between fat and estrogen levels certainly comes as a surprise to me because it?s contrary to previous beliefs. At least having fat in the diet is one less thing women have to worry about when it comes to risk factors for breast cancer.

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nov. 1, 2000 (Michelle Holmes, M.D., et al, Harvard Medical School).

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