Good news on the food front

I love cheese, almost any kind of cheese. I think I could live on good bread and cheese and be quite satisfied. I also prefer real butter and it is one of my few grocery indulgences. But, the older I've gotten, the more I've worried about high fat foods such as cheese and butter. But no more ... from Newsmax:

Hi-Fat Dairy Cuts Cancer Risk 

Here's some cheerful news for the holidays - all those rich creamy dairy desserts you're enjoying could well be cutting your risk of colorectal cancer, according to a new study from Sweden.

Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute found that people who eat a lot of high-fat dairy foods and conjugated linoleic acid, a component of dairy foods, appear to have a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

Dr. Susanna Larsson and colleagues examined the association between long-term consumption of high-fat dairy foods and  colorectal cancer among more than 60,000 women between 40 and 76 years old.

Women who consumed at least four servings per day of high-fat dairy foods had a 41-percent lower risk of colorectal cancer than did women who consumed less than one serving of high-fat dairy foods per day, the authors report.

The association remained after accounting for other risk factors, including alcohol consumption, family history of colorectal cancer, smoking, physical activity, and the use of multivitamin supplements, aspirin, oral contraceptives, and postmenopausal hormones.

Further analysis of the data identified a relationship between levels of high-fat dairy food in the diet and extent of colorectal cancer risk, with each additional two servings of high-fat dairy foods reducing the risk of colorectal cancer by 13 percent.

The lowest risk of colorectal cancer was associated with high consumption of cheese, according to the study, which appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Increased dietary linoleic acid levels also correlated with decreased colorectal cancer risk, the investigators observed. Subjects who had the highest levels of dietary linoleic acid had a 29-percent reduction in risk compared with subjects who had the lowest levels of linoleic acid.

Dr. Larsson said more research is needed before she can positively recommend increasing consumption of high-fat dairy products.

But for now, it's time to go ahead and enjoy the holidays!

All cheese baskets gratefully accepted.

Comments

[Francis W. Porretto]

It simply isn't possible to live decently, without undue anxiety, if you're constantly wondering whether what you eat is likely to kill you.

In other words: Relax, pass the Cheez Doodles, and pour yourself another drink.