Hi K,

In an earlier post, you stated: "If you want to prevent
getting cancer in the first place, I think a paleo diet is a good start,
although I'm not convinced that a lot of sat fat is entirely safe in certain
cancers."  I'm just curious why you singled saturated fat out here as opposed
to polyunsaturated fats.  Are there particular studies or articles that you
could refer me to on this issue? I'm wondering if the studies purporting to
find a connection between saturated fat and certain cancers are those where
people are eating a high carb AND high fat diet. Cancer cells feed on glucose --
that is why ketogenic diets have been shown to shrink tumors or at least stop
their growth.  Someone posted an interesting reference to this a while back.
Anyway, I've yet to see evidence that a low carb, high saturated fat regime
increases cancer risk.   I worry more about consuming too much polyunsaturates
whether from fish oil supplements or flaxseed oil  because regardless of the
source, these oils are both highly polyunsaturated and therefore prone to
oxidation.  I think I pointed to a reference on Barry Groves' site (author of Eat Fat
Get Thin) where it was mentioned that they were using fish oil as an
immunosuppresive agent to treat autoimmune diseases at Oxford rather than sunflower oil
precisely because it was even more polyunsaturated and therefore more
immunosuppresive.  Anyway, not to start up the old fish/flax versus lard/coconut oil
debate.  I'd just be interested in  taking a look at any references looking at
saturated fat in the context of a low-carb regime. When saturated fat is
blamed for increased cancer risk in the context of a mixed or high carb diet, I
believe that the excess carbs are the culprit, not the saturated fat.  On the
other hand, I'm no expert -- this is just my layperson's opinion based on my own
reading/research.