David PerlmutterPresident,, Perlmutter Health Center · Board-Certified Neurologist | Functional Medicine Pioneer | #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author | International Speaker | Host of The Empowering Neurologist Podcast

Dietary Fat Colon Cancer

26 Jun 2014 · 2 min

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1:36

In this monologue, Dr. David Perlmutter advises patients to increase their intake of dietary fat and addresses the common concern that higher fat consumption might raise colon cancer risk. He cites a 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study involving nearly 50,000 women followed for 8.1 years, which found a slight increase in colon cancer incidence among those on a low‑fat diet compared to those consuming higher levels of fat. Perlmutter emphasizes that not all fats are equal: trans fats should be eliminated, while healthy fats such as olive oil, nuts, seeds, wild fish, and grass‑fed beef should be increased. He further claims that healthy fats support brain function, the immune system, and heart health. The overall message is that dietary fat is beneficial and does not increase the risk of colon (or breast) cancer when the right types of fat are chosen.

Chapters

Day in and day out, I'm telling my patients, you've got to eat more fat. And occasionally somebody might say, well, gee, might that increase my risk for something like colon cancer? And the answer is, it will not. As a matter of fact, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, it has no bearing on a person's risk for colon cancer. Let's take a look at the studies. Here's one published in the Journal of the American Medical Association back in 2006. Close to 50,000 women, they were actually given a low-fat diet, some of them, and the others were not given a low-fat diet. They were followed for about 8.1 years. And interestingly, there was a slight increased risk of colon cancer in the group that actually ate the low-fat diet compared to those who ate higher levels of fat. So the point is dietary fat is a good thing for you. It is not associated with increased risk for colon cancer. Or breast cancer for that matter. But importantly, you've got to remember that we're not talking about all fats. We're not talking about trans fats. Those have got to be eliminated. But increase your consumption of good fats, things like olive oil, nuts, seeds, wild fish. If you want to eat beef, grass-fed beef. Fat is your friend. It's good for your brain, it's good for your immune system, and good for your heart. I'm Dr. David Perlmutter.