Benefits Of A Low-Fat Diet: Risk Of Death Reduced For Breast Cancer Patients, According To Study

Most people adopt a low-fat diet in order to lose weight and to prevent diseases such as cardiovascular disorders, hypertension and stroke. However, new study results show that a low-fat diet can also dramatically decrease the risk of death for women with breast cancer.

The results of this secondary analysis were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting, Healio reports. "There is a nearly 50-year-old concept across countries that [reduction of] dietary fat intake may lead to a reduction in breast cancer incidence," UCLA professor Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD said during his presentation.

"The randomized Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification trial included 48,835 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years with no history of breast cancer and a dietary fat intake greater than 32 percent," Healio explains. One group of women was given a low-fat diet plan while the other group was given health reports but was not asked to change anything in their dietary pattern.

After eight years, the researchers found that there are fewer incidents of breast cancer diagnosis and breast cancer-related deaths in the group that implemented the low-fat diet plan. A secondary analysis of the results showed an even more significant reduction in risk of death for breast cancer patients who adopted a low-fat diet even for deaths that are not related to breast cancer.

Eating a low-fat diet is very beneficial for a person's overall health and wellbeing. Examples of harmful saturated fats include chicken skin, meat fat, butter, lard, cream, margarine, coconut oil, palm oil and shortening, according to Livestrong.

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