Go Low Fat to Reduce Cancer Risk

This letter to the editor ran May 31, 2005, in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In the battle against breast cancer, low-fat diets may be our most potent weapon, according to a new study by researchers at the UCLA Medical Center. Breast cancer patients in the study who reduced their fat consumption lowered their risk of tumor recurrence by as much as 42 percent.

As a dietitian with The Cancer Project, I know that low-fat eating habits may also prevent other types of cancer. The China Healthy Study and other research on populations around the world have shown that people on low-fat, plant-based diets have strikingly low cancer rates.

This is because vegetarians, whose diets are based on beans, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, typically eat less fat, more fiber and cancer-fighting compounds, and are, on average, slimmer than meat-eaters. Fatty foods, such as meat, dairy, and vegetable oils, can boost the hormones that cause cancer.

For more information about making healthy food choices to prevent cancer, please go to www.CancerProject.org.

Sincerely,

Jennifer K. Reilly, R.D.
Managing Director
The Cancer Project
5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20016-4131