The scientists were very disappointed when announcing on Tuesday, that putting elder women on a low-fat diet did not decrease their risk of breast or colon cancer or heart disease, as they had hoped before.
However, they noted that the results should not be understood as a license to "rush out to the nearest fast-food store and stuff your face," as one the investigators put it.
"There’s a stay-tuned message here," said Dr. Henry Black, one of the study’s researchers.
The research was federally funded. It involved almost 50,000 women aged 50-79 and was part of the Women’s Health Initiative. The participants were recruited in the 1990s and followed for an average of 8 years.
Some of the participants carried on their usual eating habits, while others were randomly assigned to a low-fat diet group. They also attended group sessions and other behavior-modification techniques to help them limit dietary fat and eat more vegetables, fruit and grains. However, they were not asked to avoid saturated fat, lose weight or exercise, which some experts believe may have made a difference.
The data contained some hopeful information: Although the trend was not statistically considerable, the women who were controlling their fat intake were a bit less likely to get breast cancer, their average cholesterol was lower and their risk of developing colon polyps was reduced.
