The cancer establishment has been sent, in the words of a researcher, “back to the drawing board.” She was referring to a large study that sprouted headlines such as “Study: Diet doesn’t help cancer fight” and “No Cancer Shield Found in Fruit and Vegetable Diet.” And it is good that they feel compelled back to the drawing board because of how poorly such research is typically designed.
But let’s start with the headlines that, as you should expect, misrepresent what the study actually examined and found. It wasn’t about cancer but breast cancer. And not just breast cancer but the re-occurrence of breast cancer among women who were previously treated. The study also wasn’t about the effect of diet or even the exclusive effect of the amount of fruits and vegetables in these women’s diets. It was about the effect of increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fiber, and decreasing the consumption of fat.
One thing the study gets right is to look not only at the recurrence of breast cancer and breast cancer deaths but also at all other causes of death. No significant relationship was found between the low fat veggie diet and any of these so-called endpoints. Unfortunately, the study is limited because it only covers a four-year follow up period. However, no one was optimistic about better results by extending how long women were tracked.
The study is further compromised by the way in which the women’s diets were shaped. The study divided the women into two groups. One group—the “intervention” group—received intensive training and support to increase their fruit, vegetable, and fiber consumption, and to decrease their fat consumption. But the other group—the “comparison” group—was not simply left to its own devices. It too received support, just less intense and focused on a standard low fat, five servings of fruits and vegetables per day diet. One of the interesting outcomes was that by the end of the study, the intervention group was consuming fewer calories but had gained more weight.
Critics committed to a very low fat, very high veg diet are attacking this study vigorously. One criticism is that the intervention group didn’t get their fat low enough nor their fruits and vegetables high enough. Yet when I look at the study’s actual data, I find no support for this idea at all. The researchers and the critics are on the same side in this issue: both want to show that low fat, high veg reduces the risk of breast cancer recurring. The researchers faced the data they found honestly. Critics want to deny it. Kind of like the troop surge that promises to turn things around in Iraq.
Another criticism, based on the apparent anomaly of fewer calories but greater weight gain among the intervention group, claims that participants obviously lied about what they ate. In my opinion, what the anomaly points to is the metabolic derangement caused by such a low fat, high veg diet.
This study and its poor design leads me to ask: Where’s the research on the effects of a diet like that promoted by the Weston A. Price Foundation—a diet of organic produce and meat from ethically raised livestock that is rich in healthy fats? This isn’t just speculation. Fats, particularly those allegedly villainous saturated fats, are the foundation of healthy hormones and robust immunity. Both are essential in combating cancer.
The researchers for the cancer establishment along with their critics really do need to go back to the drawing board and design some real science.
