Cutting Fat May Prevent Ovarian Cancer

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If there weren’t already enough reasons to eat healthy, there may one more for women to add to their list. New research reveals a low fat diet may help reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in post-menopausal women.

Previous research discovered a healthy diet could reduce the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women. Now researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., have found the same correlation between a healthy diet and preventing ovarian cancer.

Nearly 50,000 postmenopausal women were studied. One group of about 20,000 women was randomly assigned to the diet modification group. This group was to reduce their fat intake by 20 percent, eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and six servings of whole grains a day. The remaining 30,000 women studied were not to modify their diet at all.

Researchers followed study participants for an average of eight years. During the first four years, the risk for ovarian cancer was similar between the two groups. In the following four years, women in the diet modification group had a lower risk of ovarian cancer. The women who saw the greatest risk reduction were the ones who had the highest fat intake prior to the study.

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SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2007;99:1534-1543

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