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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN. An international team of researchers from the Karolinska
Institute, the University of Uppsala and the Harvard Medical School has just
released a major research study dealing with the relationship between fat intake
and the risk of breast cancer. The study which began in 1987 involved over
61,000 Swedish women born between 1914 and 1948. The women completed a food
frequency questionnaire listing 67 commonly eaten foods and also answered more
specific questions about their fat consumption. Between March 1987 and March
1993 a total of 674 confirmed cases of invasive breast cancer occurred among the
women. Analysis of the collected data showed that a high intake of
monounsaturated fats (eg. olive oil) is protective against breast cancer while a
high intake of polyunsaturated fats significantly increases the risk of
developing breast cancer. A five-gram increment in the daily intake of
polyunsaturated fats was found to correspond to a 69 per cent increase in risk.
The largest contributor to polyunsaturated fat intake was margarine at 33 per
cent followed by bread and cereals at 23 per cent, meat at 17 per cent, and
dairy products at 11 per cent. The main polyunsaturated fat in the Swedish diet
is linoleic acid. The researchers found no correlation between the intake of
saturated fats and breast cancer risk nor between total fat intake (after
adjustment for total energy intake) and risk although the already known
association between body mass index and breast cancer risk was confirmed by the
study. Note: Linoleic acid, an n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, should not be
confused with linolenic acid, and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid. Alpha-
linolenic acid (found in flax oil) has actually been found to be beneficial in
some cases of breast cancer.
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