High-Fat Dairy Foods Cut Cancer

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Study: High-Fat Dairy Foods Cut Cancer

NewsMax.com Wires

Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005

Here's some cheerful news for the holidays - all those rich creamy

dairy desserts you're enjoying could well be cutting your risk of

colorectal cancer, according to a new study from Sweden.

 

Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute found that people who

eat a lot of high-fat dairy foods and conjugated linoleic acid, a

component of dairy foods, appear to have a reduced risk of colorectal

cancer.

 

Dr. Susanna Larsson and colleagues examined the association between

long-term consumption of high-fat dairy foods and colorectal cancer

among more than 60,000 women between 40 and 76 years old.

 

Women who consumed at least four servings per day of high-fat dairy

foods had a 41-percent lower risk of colorectal cancer than did women

who consumed less than one serving of high-fat dairy foods per day,

the authors report.

 

The association remained after accounting for other risk factors,

including alcohol consumption, family history of colorectal cancer,

smoking, physical activity, and the use of multivitamin supplements,

aspirin, oral contraceptives, and postmenopausal hormones.

 

Further analysis of the data identified a relationship between levels

of high-fat dairy food in the diet and extent of colorectal cancer

risk, with each additional two servings of high-fat dairy foods

reducing the risk of colorectal cancer by 13 percent.

 

The lowest risk of colorectal cancer was associated with high

consumption of cheese, according to the study, which appeared in the

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 

Increased dietary linoleic acid levels also correlated with decreased

colorectal cancer risk, the investigators observed. Subjects who had

the highest levels of dietary linoleic acid had a 29-percent

reduction in risk compared with subjects who had the lowest levels of

linoleic acid.

 

Dr. Larsson said more research is needed before she can positively

recommend increasing consumption of high-fat dairy products.

 

But for now, it's time to go ahead and enjoy the holidays!

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