Study Finds Low-Fat Diet Won't Stop Cancer or Heart Disease

Interesting finding just released:

[quote]"The largest study ever to ask whether a low-fat diet reduces the risk of getting cancer or heart disease has found that the diet has no effect.

The $415 million federal study involved nearly 49,000 women ages 50 to 79 who were followed for eight years. In the end, those assigned to a low-fat diet had the same rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks and strokes as those who ate whatever they pleased, researchers are reporting today.

“These studies are revolutionary,” said Dr. Jules Hirsch, physician in chief emeritus at Rockefeller University in New York City, who has spent a lifetime studying the effects of diets on weight and health. “They should put a stop to this era of thinking that we have all the information we need to change the whole national diet and make everybody healthy.”

The study, published in today’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, was not just an ordinary study, said Dr. Michael Thun, who directs epidemiological research for the American Cancer Society. It was so large and so expensive, Dr. Thun said, that it was “the Rolls-Royce of studies.” As such, he added, it is likely to be the final word.

“We usually have only one shot at a very large-scale trial on a particular issue,” he said.

The results, the study investigators agreed, do not justify recommending low-fat diets to the public to reduce their heart disease and cancer risk. Given the lack of benefit found in the study, many medical researchers said that the best dietary advice, for now, was to follow federal guidelines for healthy eating, with less saturated and trans fats, more grains, and more fruits and vegetables."

"Some medical specialists emphasized that the study did not mean people should abandon low-fat diets.

“What we are saying is that a modest reduction of fat and a substitution with fruits and vegetables did not do anything for heart disease and stroke or breast cancer or colorectal cancer,” said Dr. Nanette K. Wenger, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “It doesn’t say that this diet is not beneficial.”

But Dr. Freedman, the Berkeley statistician, said the overall lesson was clear.

We, in the scientific community, often give strong advice based on flimsy evidence,” he said. “That’s why we have to do experiments.”
NYTimes[/quote]
Sounds like they share this trait with acadeamia in general.

I guess it’s not about the diet but about how the state of your body is in, fat people are going to have more chance in getting some of the illnesses than skinny people, plus the environment you live/work in will count too …

Sounds like they share this trait with the Bush administration, too. :laughing:

Sounds like they share this trait with the Bush administration, too. :laughing:[/quote]

You made my day!!!
:laughing: :bravo: :laughing: :notworthy:
Bodo

[quote]The $415 million federal study involved nearly 49,000 women ages [color=red]50 to 79[/color] who were followed for [color=red]eight years[/color]. In the end, those assigned to a low-fat diet had the same rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks and strokes as those who ate whatever they pleased, researchers are reporting today.
[/quote]

You could do the same study with 10 year old cars that have been run on crap oil for 10 years then give them the good stuff for a few years to see if their engines last longer than the ones that still use the crap oil.

Of course not…

Agreed. We just have to do the best we can with the information we have and common sense.

Even this statement sends a message that is one or two decades out of date. The current trend is toward a balanced intake of protein, fat and carbs.

If people want to read things like this to justify themselves being fat f&^ks then go for it.

Bottom line for me personally is that when I carry a lot of weight I feel lazy. When I’m at a reasonable weight I have more energy.

I’m not going back to being a fat lazy f^%k becasue some elderly test subjects had the same cancer and heart risk. That is not what it is all about in my opinion.

It’s about feeling good. If you’re fat and feel good then keep shovelling the food in.

and this:

and this:

Others said that diet could still make a difference, at least with heart disease, if people were to eat the so-called Mediterranean diet, low in saturated fats like butter and high in oils like olive oil. The women in the study reduced all kinds of fat.

[quote]The diets studied “had an antique patina,” said Dr. Peter Libby, a cardiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School. These days, Dr. Libby said, most people have moved on from the idea of controlling total fat to the idea that people should eat different kinds of fat.

But the Mediterranean diet has not been subjected to a study of this scope, researchers said. [/quote]

[quote]The diets studied “[color=blue]had an antique patina[/color],” said Dr. Peter Libby, a cardiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School. These days, Dr. Libby said, [color=blue]most people have moved on from the idea of
controlling total fat to the idea that people should eat different kinds of fat
.[/color]

But the Mediterranean diet has not been subjected to a study of this scope, researchers said. [/quote]

I was so close to buying my friend [color=blue]Costco Olive Oil[/color] butter instead of the [color=blue]blocks of Dansih cow puss[/color] the other day. But, it’s not my problem and I’d feel guilty if they did not enjoy the taste of the olive oil butter.

I quoted enough of the article to give the general gist of it and perhaps spur enough interest to actually read the article. There is also the forum request to post excerts rather than lengthy articles. As well as staying on topic if it is possible.

This is the largest and longest run study in this area to date.
I neither advocate nor denigate the findings of the study; I have merely posted excerts and a link. I personally believe that a balanced diet, a bit lower in carbs, containing as few hydrogenated oils as is possible and with minimally cooked veggies and lots of fresh quality meat is best for me. I use olive oil and sunflower oil for my cooking and herbs for most flavour. YMMV.
If you have specific information to add regarding these findins please be so generous as to share them with the forum.