Step Away From the Brownies

Guys, if some extra weight around your waist is not reason enough for you to cut your Twinkie consumption in half, maybe this will be: A new animal study suggests trimming fried foods and baked goods out of a diet may lower a man’s risk for prostate cancer.

Scientists at the Jonsson Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, fed mice a diet made up primarily of fat found in corn oil, which consists of omega-6 fatty acids—fats in processed baked goods and fried foods. One group of mice ate about 40% of calories coming from fat, comparable to the amount found in a typical Western diet. The other group consumed 12% of their calories from fat. The study, which will be published this month in the journal Cancer Research, found a 27% lower occurrence of prostate cancer in the low-fat diet group. Precancerous cells, which can eventually become cancer, also grew at a much slower rate in the mice eating a low-fat diet.

And, while the findings have yet to be tested on people, researchers say it is logical to assume the findings will translate to men (clearly—mice and men are just the same). What the study does prove now, however, is that lowering dietary fat could result in increased levels of a protein that slows prostate cancer development by stopping the factor that allows prostate cancer to grow.

A low-fat, high fiber diet in conjunction with exercise is healthy for anyone, and will reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Curious about what kind of fat is healthy? Try omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, like salmon, or other good fats including monounsaturated fats found in almonds, pecans, avocados and olive oil. [New York Times]