Reuters – People who have high levels of high-fat dairy foods and conjugated linoleic acid, a component of dairy foods, in their diet may have a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"High-fat dairy, and not only low-fat dairy, may be beneficial," Dr. Susanna C. Larsson from Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, told Reuters Health.
Larsson and colleagues examined the association between long-term consumption of high-fat dairy foods and the rate of colorectal cancer among more than 60,000 women between 40 and 76 years old who participated in the Swedish Mammography Cohort.
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, the results indicate.
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.
"More research on conjugated linoleic acid and high-fat dairy foods in relation to colorectal cancer as well as other cancers and diseases are needed before we can recommend increased consumption of high-fat dairy," Larsson added.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2005.
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