High Carb Diet Linked to Breast Cancer- More Deceit

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Misty L. Trepke

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High Carb Diet Linked to Breast Cancer – More Deceit

McDougall Newsletter

http://www.drmcdougall.com

 

Friday's (August 6, 2004) newspapers worldwide scared some people

into believing there is further reason to follow the low-carb diet

craze, with headlines like, " High carb diet linked to breast cancer –

Study finds Mexican women who ate lots of carbohydrates twice as

likely to get disease " (San Francisco Chronicle). According to this

newspaper article, these women from Mexico City were getting their

main carbohydrates from tortillas, soft drinks, and bread. You might

think it is time to change your diet – as far away from what

McDougall recommends as possible. Now is not the time for people to

make the switch to Atkins or South Beach to save their breasts, but

rather now is the time to sort out the undeniable truth.

 

Confusion has been created – and I believe willfully so by reporters

and researchers – by lumping highly processed foods, like sugars and

refined flours, and natural carbohydrates, like starches (corn

tortillas), vegetables and fruits, together. The only excuse for

such obviously irresponsible reporting is that sensational headlines

justifying people's bad habits sell newspapers and flatter the egos

of researchers by providing them a moment in the spotlight.

 

The truth, as mentioned much later in the article, is that the

cancer-producing diet is one high in sodas and desserts, and lacking

in insoluble fiber from whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

 

What the Study Actually Says

 

The study published in the August 2004 issue of the journal Cancer

Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention clearly reported more breast

cancer in women who ate more calories, protein, total carbohydrates,

sucrose, and fructose.1 Sucrose is table sugar and fructose is the

primary sugar found in soft drinks (sodas); usually reported as high

fructose corn syrup. Eating more fiber and starch (often referred to

as complex carbohydrates), both only found in plant foods, meant less

breast cancer according to the study.

 

The explanation for carbohydrates increasing breast cancer rates was

that an increase in dietary carbohydrate raises blood sugar and

insulin levels. This results in an elevation of Insulin-like Growth

Factor-1 (IGF-1), which raises the risk of cancer. IGF-1 does play

an important role in cancer, however, research shows this

growth-stimulating hormone is increased in our diets primarily by

animal proteins,2 and especially those derived from dairy products.3

My guess is these important facts were overlooked because this

information did not fit into the authors' pet theory.

 

Regardless, what is clear is that the diet of Hispanics in Mexico and

the USA has progressively deteriorated over the past 50 years, and as

a result, their rates of obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and

cancer of the breast, colon, and prostate have increased as

expected.4,5 If you have been to a major city anywhere in Mexico, or

Central or South America, like Mexico City, then you know what I am

talking about. There is a fast-food restaurant on every corner; the

supermarket shelves are lined with greasy corn and potato chips, and

other " junk " carbohydrates; and meat and dairy products are coveted

by people wanting to share in the American dream.

 

Women Following the Traditional Mexican Diet Have Much Less Breast

Cancer

 

The truth about the diet of women of Mexican ancestry and breast

cancer is summed up in an article from the New York Academy of

Science6, " …the age-adjusted rate of breast cancer in countries such

as Mexico is among the lowest in the world. In addition, although one

of the fastest-growing minority groups in the United States, Hispanic

women living in this country have been shown to have the lowest

incidence of the mortality rates from this disease across most

geographic regions of the United States. Therefore, one might

speculate that dietary factors, which have been shown to play a role

in breast cancer prevention, may account for this difference. It is

well recognized that the traditional Hispanic diet is rich in

protective nutrients such as dietary fiber. It is known that through

complex mechanisms, dietary fiber works to reduce the amount of

estrogens in the body. "

 

The traditional Mexican diet has been one of corn (tortillas), beans,

fruits and vegetables. This kind of eating is associated with very

low rates of breast cancer and all other diseases common to people

living in Western societies.7 There are many qualities of

traditional plant-based foods that prevent diseases, qualities that

include their dietary starch, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other

phyto-nutrients. On the other hand, animal-based, and

highly-processed, foods encourage cancer growth because they lack

these plant-food ingredients and are high in cholesterol, fat,

protein, and environmental chemicals.8

 

Breast cancer in Mexico is on the rise, affecting younger women with

more frequency for one obvious reason. The younger generations are

targeted by, and most easily fall prey to, the marketing efforts of

the food industries. Articles like this one that appear in our press

serve to confuse people and further compound our worldwide health

problems. Newspaper reporters who write this nonsense, and

researchers that allow this dishonesty to go on uncorrected, should

be ashamed of themselves, and may someday be held accountable for the

human suffering caused by twisting the truth.

 

References:

 

1) Isabelle Romieu, Eduardo Lazcano-Ponce, Luisa Maria

Sanchez-Zamorano, Walter Willett, and Mauricio Hernandez-Avila

Carbohydrates and the Risk of Breast Cancer among Mexican Women

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2004 13: 1283-1289.

 

2) Yu H. Role of the insulin-like growth factor family in cancer

development and progression. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000 Sep

20;92(18):1472-89.

 

3) Holmes MD. Dietary correlates of plasma insulin-like growth

factor I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3

concentrations. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2002

Sep;11(9):852-61.

 

4) Jimenez-Cruz A, Bacardi-Gascon M, Turnbull WH, Rosales-Garay P,

Severino-Lugo I. A flexible, low-glycemic index mexican-style diet

in overweight and obese subjects with type 2 diabetes improves

metabolic parameters during a 6-week treatment period. Diabetes

Care. 2003 Jul;26(7):1967-70.

 

5) Rivera JA, Barquera S, Campirano F, Campos I, Safdie M, Tovar V.

Epidemiological and nutritional transition in Mexico: rapid increase

of non-communicable chronic diseases and obesity. Public Health

Nutr. 2002 Feb;5(1A):113-22.

 

6) Jones LA, Gonzalez R, Pillow PC, Gomez-Garza SA, Foreman CJ,

Chilton JA, Linares A, Yick J, Badrei M, Hajek RA.. Dietary fiber,

Hispanics, and breast cancer risk? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1997 Dec

26;837:524-36.

 

7) Malin AS, Qi D, Shu XO, Gao YT, Friedmann JM, Jin F, Zheng W.

Intake of fruits, vegetables and selected micronutrients in relation

to the risk of breast cancer. Int J Cancer. 2003 Jun

20;105(3):413-8.

 

8) Kushi L, Giovannucci E. Dietary fat and cancer. Am J Med. 2002

Dec 30;113 Suppl 9B:63S-70S. Review.

 

9) Romieu I, Hernandez-Avila M, Lazcano-Ponce E, Weber JP, Dewailly

E. Breast cancer, lactation history, and serum organochlorines. Am

J Epidemiol. 2000 Aug 15;152(4):363-70.

 

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