by Samara Alpern
Daily Lobo columnist
"Study Finds Low-Fat Diet Won't Stop Cancer or Heart Disease."
That was the New York Times front-page headline earlier this month shrieking the results of the largest study ever conducted examining the link between diet and cardiovascular disease. The Women's Health Initiative study included 49,000 subjects over a nine-year period.
Based on the headlines, it seems logical to assume the advice to eat a low-fat diet - long preached by groups like the American Heart Association - is no longer valid. Oh, wouldn't it be sweet if science were that straightforward?
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Before we start ordering extra bacon in the name of good health, let's take a closer look at this massive study.
A major limitation of this research is that it tested a hypothesis now widely considered outdated. The study was initiated about the same time thong bathing suits were in fashion - at that time we were also much more concerned with the amount of fat consumed in the diet. Since then, we have begun to be more concerned with the type of fat - and less concerned with the amount - consumed.
For example, we have learned that trans-fats, such as hydrogenated oils found in many processed foods, can have a very negative effect on health. Meanwhile, omega-3 fats, found in foods like salmon and walnuts, can have a significantly positive effect on health.
A further limitation of this research is that, while the study intended to examine the effects of a low-fat diet, in reality it didn't exactly work out that way. The researchers were pretty unsuccessful at getting people to stick to the low fat diet they wanted to investigate. The goal was to get the experimental group to consume 20 percent of their calories from fat, but the experiment group ate a diet of almost 30 percent fat after six years.
The final consideration in analyzing these findings is that, while gargantuan in size and scope, the study was limited to post-menopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79. Are you a post-menopausal woman between the ages of 50 and 79? If not, these findings may not apply to you. Women are a woefully under-researched group, and a study of this magnitude is of significant value to understanding women's health. However, to extend the findings to the general population is a suspect practice.
Do all of these caveats mean that this $415 million dollar study is worthless? No. For those of you who don't spend your time perusing the peer reviewed scientific literature, I've got news for you - all the research that gets reported as fact is riddled with caveats like these. Scientists don't like to talk about it, but divining wisdom from research data is much more of an art that you might think.
So where does that leave you, the health-conscious citizen?
Cumulative research about reducing risk of cancer and heart disease recommend the following:
Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Depending on your overall calorie intake, as many as nine to 12 servings are recommended. Scientists are just beginning to learn how fruits and vegetables are protective to health, but their consumption reduces risk for a lot of chronic diseases.
Avoid saturated and trans-fats found in red meat, butter, full-fat dairy and processed foods. Choose instead olive and canola oil, and fatty fish like salmon or anchovies. Choose lean meats.
Choose whole grains.
Exercise - every day.
Hey - isn't that the same formula for good health we've been hearing for quite some time?
Yes. While the Women's Health Initiative study did illuminate that reducing the amount of fat slightly does not reduce risk of cancer or cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women, the study did nothing to discredit the majority of common-sense approaches to lifetime wellness for the general population.
In the future, when the latest alarming headlines turn everything you thought you knew about good health on its head, take a deep breath. Know that there's probably a lot more to the research than can fit in a headline space.
