Flawed Study Interpretation
It all depends on how you define “very high” fruit and vegetable intake.
Topics
Supplementary Info
Sources Cited
JAMA. 2007 Jul 18;298(3):289-98. Influence of a diet very high in vegetables, fruit, and fiber and low in fat on prognosis following treatment for breast cancer: the Women's Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) randomized trial. Pierce JP, Natarajan L, Caan BJ, Parker BA, Greenberg ER, Flatt SW, Rock CL, Kealey S, Al-Delaimy WK, Bardwell WA, Carlson RW, Emond JA, Faerber S, Gold EB, Hajek RA, Hollenbach K, Jones LA, Karanja N, Madlensky L, Marshall J, Newman VA, Ritenbaugh C, Thomson CA, Wasserman L, Stefanick ML.
Acknowledgements
Image thanks to U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Transcript
Here I am saying eat lots of fruits and veggies to prevent cancer, but you may have heard about this study published last Summer. Took women diagnosed with breast cancer asked them to eat a diet very high fruit and veggie diet to see if they’d live longer, and… they did not live any longer, leading to headlines like this: “Diet high in fruits and veggies no particular benefit” “Extra servings of fruits and veggies fail.” And you can always count on the British tabloids: “Cancer fruit flop,” and “veggies blow!”
Before you empty out your crisper Just what exactly did they mean by very high consumption. At baseline, before the study began, these women were eating 3.5 servings of fruit a day. Then, after three years of nutritional counseling, cooking classes and newsletters meant to boost fruit and veggie consumption, they started at 3.5 and ended up at the “very high” intake of… 3.4. Fruit consumption went down. No wonder they didn’t live any longer.
Now they did eat a few more veggies, but combined, after 3 years, their fruit and vegetable consumption went up 1.8 servings. That, ladies and gentlemen, is their idea of a diet “very high” in fruits and veggies. What a joke.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Dianne Moore.
To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org
Doctor's Note
Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. And check out the other videos on women's health. Also, there are 1,449 other subjects covered in the rest of my videos--please feel free to explore them as well!
Also, be sure to check out my associated blog posts: Breast Cancer and Diet and Eating To Extend Our Lifespan
-
Michael Greger M.D.
-
Michael Greger M.D.
-
Becky Austin
Next Video
-
Repairing DNA Damage
Greater DNA repair capacity may explain why those eating plant-based diets appear to have fewer breaks in their chromosomes as they age.
Watch Now
Previous Video
-
Cancer Fighting Berries
Do organic strawberries block human cancer cell growth in a Petri dish more than conventional berries?
Watch Now
Related Reading
-
Breast Cancer and DietOctober is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a concept invented more than 25 years ago by.. -
Inflammation, Diet, and “Vitamin S”Last month an update was published on the intriguing suggestion that low levels of salicylic acid—the.. -
The Best Foods: test your nutrition knowledgeToday I’m highlighting twenty questions from twenty NutritionFacts.org “best of” videos ranking.. -
Treating COPD With DietThe three top killers in the United States are no longer heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Stroke just.. -
Acai to Zucchini: antioxidant food rankingsIn honor of Chinese New Year (of the dragon), today’s NutritionFacts.org video-of-the-day..