Excess Carbs = Cancer?

[marco25]

Eating Lots of Carbs May Raise Cancer Risk

19 minutes ago Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!


By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

High-carb diets may increase more than just waistlines. New research suggests they might raise the risk of breast cancer. Women in Mexico who ate a lot of carbohydrates were more than twice as likely to get breast cancer than those who ate less starch and sugar, scientists found.

carbohydrates and cancer (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=541&ncid=716&e=6&u=/ap/20040806/ap_on_he_me/fit_cancer___carbs)

~ There's so little you say of the life you have known, why you keep to yourself, why we're always alone. So dark, so dark and deep, the secrets that you keep.~ Cosette, Les Miserables, the opera

[chick]

From Results:

How applicable the results are to American women is debatable. Carbohydrates make up half of the typical American diet - less than what most of the women in this study consumed - women from Mexico City, whose self-reported caloric intake from carbs was 62% for top category and 52% for lowest category.

"The main carbohydrates these women ate were corn-derived, including tortillas, and soft drinks and bread," said Dr. Eduardo Lazcano-Ponce, one of the Mexican physicians who did the study.

In the study, women who ate a lot of insoluble fiber - found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables - had somewhat less risk of breast cancer. Fiber can modulate the absorption of carbohydrates.

"It leads me to believe that healthier carb sources, or at least diets containing fiber, would be less strongly associated with breast cancer," said Marji McCullough, a senior epidemiologist and nutrition expert at the American Cancer Society (news - web sites).

Experts say more research is needed through a study that, instead of relying on women's memories about what they ate, asks them to keep food diaries and then follows them for years afterward to see which ones develop cancer.
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*This is pretty much a "Duh", that's being reported in such way it will scare and/or discourage people from eating carbs and jump on the "Low-carb" bandwagon. What this study reveals is that high fiber, less processed carbs, are still good and may REDUCE your risk of many cancers.

The primary carb source of the women in the study were tortillas, soda and bread - highly processed, high fat, high sugar, foods.

People are being programmed to fear carbs, and for me, that has been an annoying trend.

[marco25]

Chick the article and topic title emphasize that consuming "excess" carbs leads to "potential" problems. Just something to be aware of, especially for women/breast cancer.

To be fair and balanced http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif, here's an article about the benefits of carbs ...

Carbohydrates: The 55% Majority Winner

Carbohydrates add taste, texture and variety to our food. They are the single most important source of food energy in the diet. Carbohydrates in the form of sugars, starches, oligo- and polysaccharides and fibres form one of the three major macro-nutrients that supply the human body with energy. A landmark report recommends that at least 55 percent of daily energy intake should come from a variety of carbohydrate sources - cereals, sugars, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Good news for carbohydrates. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (FAO/WHO)(1) recently published a report on Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition. It reviews, for the first time in nearly 20 years, the role of all forms of carbohydrates in health and disease. The way carbohydrates enhance nutrition and influence health is now more fully understood. This is due to better awareness of carbohydrate digestion, absorption and metabolism.

Carbohydrates and Health

Whereas it is important to maintain an appropriate balance between energy intake and expenditure, research suggests that people who eat a high carbohydrate diet are less likely to accumulate body fat compared to those on a low-carbohydrate/high-fat diet. The reasons for these observations include:



Carbs add taste, food energy (http://www.eufic.org/gb/food/pag/food11/food113.htm)

~ There's so little you say of the life you have known, why you keep to yourself, why we're always alone. So dark, so dark and deep, the secrets that you keep.~ Cosette, Les Miserables, the opera

[chick]

Martha, balance is good http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif

But that was partly point of my earlier post. The "excess" carbs from the study were from typically high fat, high sugar foods that are also highly refined/processed foods. There are studies that show that these factors contribute also to increased cancer risk, so the discussion can be/IS misleading, especially since television news reporting of this story did not discuss the study in depth, not include all the variables which could have contributed to the results, and not just the fact that they were "carbs". Carbohydrates encompass many foods and food groups, so lumping foods simply as "Carbs" distorts reality and encourages fear/confusion among many who do not understand the differences.

They also don't tell us the calorie intake of women between the two groups and what other non- carb foods they were ingesting (may have been higher fats as well, which could contributed to results). Nevertheless, ALL the women in the two groups were eating high fat, high sugar foods anyway, so it seems difficult, from what is being reported, to conclude that it was carbs that is related to the breast cancer risk, even if it was excess carbs.

Anyway, I'm always critical of whatever studies are reported- be they good or bad claims.

Self-reporting (esp reporting from memory as this study method used) also makes studies more biased and less reliable.

[chick]

btw, Im not a member of "Carbohydrates of America" or anything http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[marmalady]

I have to say I agree with Chick - I am SO tired of new 'studies' every day saying this is good - this is bad - this may cause problems. Crossing the street MAY get me hit by a car - am I gonna quit crossing the street???

Signed,

Tired of science and cranky!

_____________
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

[booster]

Yea, that's great science. Like most research articles the media picks up on, this one being no different, only a few highlights are touched on. First, I need to see the actual article, to review their methodology because from the sounds of it, it's a bit skewed. That said, just about anything in excess can cause cancer, sheeez how'd our ancestors live? That's right the only lived a max of 40-50 years... hmmmm what's logic tell us?

[marco25]

Marm, I feel your pain ... http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif I agree, too, that there's been a lot of fear mongering about certain foods = cancer for years now, though some of it may be valid. For good measure, I found this link. Might be interesting ...

Food Scares (http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/food_scares.html)

~ There's so little you say of the life you have known, why you keep to yourself, why we're always alone. So dark, so dark and deep, the secrets that you keep.~ Cosette, Les Miserables, the opera

[marmalady]

Not in pain at all, Martha - just sick and tired of all the useless studies and the media types who hype them as 'the next best thing'.

_____________
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

[NoDecafPlz]

Do you have any idea how many bagels and how many pillow cases of Halloween and baskets of Easter candy I have eaten???

I might as well be giving the grim
reaper a piggy-back ride!!

CRIPES!

J.

[marmalady]

LOL, NoDecaf, don't believe everything you read. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

_____________
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa