Doesn a high-fat diet increase cancer risk?
During a recent European Conference on Nutrition and Cancer in Lyon, France, numerous studies under the heading European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) were presented. EPIC linked dietary factors and lack of exercise to an increased risk of cancer and supported the long-held belief that some food could increase the risk of cancer, while other foods have a protective effect. An epidemiological study of the diets of more than 500,000 people from 10 European countries, EPIC has confirmed once again that eating vegetables and fruits can lower the risk of cancer. Preliminary results of EPIC have also raised questions about the long-held belief that eating red meat or other animal-based foods can increase the risk of cancer. The new data do not strongly support the red meat theory, although one study distinguished between processed and fresh meat, suggesting that meat processed with nitrates, rather than fresh meat, may be the culprit. The conference presented many thought-prov
