Diets high in animal fats may increase risk of pancreatic cancer
This could be a bit of bad news if you do the low carb diet thing and eat unlimited quantities of meat, bacon, hot dogs, etc. It appears that heavy intake of meats and animal fats may increase your risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a recent study:
Researchers followed 500,000 people who had completed a food diary for an average of six years.
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute paper found those who had the most animal fats in their diet had a higher risk of developing the cancer.
UK experts said cutting down on the fats was a way of reducing risk.
There has previously been confusion over whether there was a link between animal fats and pancreatic cancer, with different studies reaching opposite conclusions.
About 7,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK each year, with smoking being the biggest risk factor.
[snip]
Men who consumed the highest amount of total fats had a 53% higher relative rate of pancreatic cancer compared with men who ate the least.In women, there was a 23% higher rate of the disease in those eating the most fat compared with those who ate the least.
Overall, people who consumed high amounts of saturated fats had 36% higher relative rates of pancreatic cancer compared with those who consumed low amounts.
[snip]
"We did not observe any consistent association with polyunsaturated or fat from plant food sources."Altogether, these results suggest a role for animal fat in pancreatic carcinogenesis."
Link (bbc.co.uk)
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Pancreatic Cancer "study"
I see no where was it mentioned that the subjects were eating a low carb diet. Sounded more to me like they ate a regular diet that was high in animal fats, which, of course, makes the study irrelevant to those of us who don't eat grains, sugars, and starches. Since smoking is the highest risk factor for pancreatic cancer, I wonder if these subjects were all non-smokers? (Hot dogs? Blech, those things aren't healthy for anybody - low carb, in its purest form, is about real food, not processed with additives.)
Just a few, off-the-top-of-my-head comments :).
Good points
I agree that the study isn't specifically about a low-carb diet and may not be relevant. I know that some low-carbers do (or did) eat a lot of processed meats, cheeses, and other goodies high in animal fats... so I thought the study might be 'food' for thought.
As with all studies, it's important to keep in mind that there may be flaws in the methodology, or there may be other biases that alter the outcome. Still, it's another data point, and we may be able to learn from it.
Thanks for the comment!
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