The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition [EPIC] study "is being carried out in seven European countries and it will collect data on diet, other lifestyle and environmental factors, anthropometry as well as biological samples in a cohort of about 400,000 healthy European adults. The subjects will be followed up to investigate the incidence of and mortality from cancer in relation to epidemiological data and biochemical markers."
EPIC has generated almost a thousand papers. The sort of boondoggle, perhaps, that gives the European Union a bad reputation. The author of the 1992 paper was Elio Riboli and, 27 years later, his name is on the current paper too.
There is an assumption in many PCa papers that saturated fat must contribute to PCa initiation or progression, or both. There are a dozen potential reasons why a 16 oz porterhouse steak twice a week night be inadvisable, but some researchers go straight to stearic acid. After all, the stearic acid in beef tallow causes heart attacks, doesn't it? Didn't Wendy's fry their fries in beef fat? & didn't Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendey's die young from a heart attack? He did have a heart attack, but liver cancer killed him at 69. OK, James Near, Chairman of Wendy's, did die of a heart attack at 58.
Anecdotes aside, after many years of public abuse stearic acid was exonerated a while back (cardiovascular-neutral). But 60+ years of anti-saturated fat propaganda has left its mark & many in the U.S. try to avoid fat of all kinds. & more so after a PCa diagnosis, it seems. I've never heard a newly-diagnosed guy say "I must eat more fat."
There are more than 7 countries here: U.K. (soon to depart - that will improve the stats, LOL), France, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden & Norway.
142,239 men - 142,239 dietary questionnaires - 13.9 years of follow-up, 7,036 prostate cancer cases and 936 prostate cancer deaths.
"Intakes of individual fatty acids were not related to overall prostate cancer risk."
"However, a higher intake of butyric acid might be associated with a higher risk of advanced".
"might be"? Cheese or butter? This is important - I can't give up butter.
"There were no associations with fatal prostate cancer, with the exception of a slightly higher risk for those who consumed more eicosenoic acid ... and eicosapentaenoic acid". Eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] is the healthy fish oil we are all trying to get more of - but they did say only "slightly".
It seems to me that the dietary patterns of the countries listed above are quite diverse, & it would be nice to see the data by country. Is oleic acid (primarily from olive oil) protective? We aren't going to learn much by commingling Greek & Swedish data, Spanish & Dutch data.
While olive oil is an important cooking oil, most of the fatty acids estimated from the questionnaires are components of food. Difficult to analyze EPA risk without accounting for sources. Maybe EPA from a nice grilled herring is protective, but from fast-food fried fish not. But then one is on the slippery path to defining "healthy" & "unhealthy" eating patterns.
Lots more work to do for those EPIC statisticians. Many more papers to come.
Patrick, Thanks for posting. Have you ever seen anything that separated sat fat based on source. Of course, in my case, I'm interested if there is evidence that sat fats from plants are different from those from meat & dairy?? Or are sat fats just sat fats regardless of source?? Thanks also for any insights you can provide. Be Well - cujoe
A lot of the fatty acids are promiscuous throughout nature & it doesn't matter where they come from. What matters is the baggage they bring with them. For instance, that tasty porterhouse steak comes with saturated stearic acid ... and heterocyclic amines & polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the grill.
Another thing to remember is that the body makes an array of fatty acids. It starts out making saturated palmitic acid (which incidentally, is a preferred energy source for the prostate) & can use that to create longer chain fatty acids, with double-bonds in various positions, & can use the resulting fatty acids in all sorts of ways.
About the only fatty acids the body cannot make are linoleic acid & alpha-linolenic acid, which have to be in the diet.
Another complication, when considering dietary fatty acids, is that some are quickly modified. The idea that the blood is packed with saturated stearic acid after a porterhouse, and the waxy substance is deposited on arterial walls is fanciful. Stearic acid can quickly be converted to monounsaturated oleic acid.
Brazil nuts are 67% fat & almost a quarter of that is saturated. If the same fat were in a cookie, it would be unhealty, but in a nut it's totally OK. Same fat.
Patrick, Well, I think you confirm what I suspected about the fats-is-as-fats-does thing. When i see blanket recommendations for nuts and nut butters and I look at total fat/sat fat content I see pretty high numbers for small (usually 1/4 cup) servings. While I'm not a no/low fat advocate, I do try to keep things from getting skewed too far in that direction.
Thanks for the continuing ed course on nutrition, metabolism, etc. Where should I send my tuition check?
Since this is the subject of fats. Any thoughts and opinions on Avocado oil ?
(especially for stir frying and drizzling on veggies for roasting.. high temps) I generally try not to use too much oil but need options for other times. (FYI: My husband has Neuroendocrine PCA) From other posts here if I understood them.. coconut oil is to be minimized.(So I try not to use this)
Love this post, PJ. Talk of fatty acids isn't just a general health topic, but relates directly to our condition that is so intimately entwined with our hormonal system - thus the need for such studies in the first instance. We often talk of the downside to fats, but they are key to a balanced system's healthy functioning.
Fatty acids in particularly are precursors to eicosanoids - very clever substances that are closely related to our body's infection responses like inflammation and fever, usually by aiding in the production of substances like prostaglandin (no, this is NOT related to the prostate). Prostaglandin is a unique hormone created by the body, but not by a gland - it is created at the very site where it is needed for things like prevention of fibrosis ("scarring", for want of a better term)! Unsurprisingly, ADT inhibits the body's production of prostaglandin, and I am amazed that our bodies tolerate and adapt to such insult when I think of the myriad side effects that could affect us.
Let's connect the dots on a very specific example affecting most of us - erectile dysfunction (ED)... ADT affects the production of prostaglandin and so promotes fibrosis that interferes with blood flow to smooth muscle in the penis...(See ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl... .... Sorry, guys, our ED is not simply psychological....
However, as sad as this is, I just use it as an example of a confirmed fibrotic process. I wonder what other more insidious fibrotic effects we are subject to....? Alas, we may never know. - Joe M.
Making me hungry. Be 69 if I make it 3 and a half months. So, Wendy guys, sorry, I win. I am the poster child for unhealthy diet. Bought some fish sticks yesterday, but that was mainly as a ruse to buy the tarter sauce. I think I will go and buy some real butter now that you mentioned it. I deserve it. Not giving up the cheese. Had Carls Jr. last night. Almost 1,000 calories in that hamburger. And what luck, I had the buy one get one coupon! Porterhouse steak is on sale this week, and I will get some to add to my collection of rib eyes. Summer is almost here. Need to buy a new grill. The sales haven't started yet. Just a little rambling and added words to make j-o-h-n happy. Enjoy.
Thanks.... second time this week that I'm happy, first time is when I saw an old lady hit by a garbage truck. No need to worry... the truck is just fine....
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