Jewish people generally maintain a typical American diet: high in fat and sugar, low in fiber. Yet an unknown but significant percentage of the Jewish population takes in much more of a food substance that is shown to be harmful to health. And one scientist/researcher has taken the lead in publicizing what she believes is a link between the high intake of this substance and a disproportionately high rate of breast cancer among Jewish women. Only 2.2 percent of the U.S. population is Jewish, but given the high rate of breast cancer among American women overall, it appears we may all benefit from information on this substance.
But first a little background. What I’m about to discuss is highly controversial (as usual) and pits the conventional scientific community (read: Goliath) against a growing number of research mavericks (read: David) who believe information to the American public on this issue has been distorted and controlled. The issue is whether eating saturated fats (which are naturally occurring) is better than eating partially hydrogenated fats (which are man-made by a method of adding hydrogen molecules to vegetable oils in order to make them semiliquid). Partially hydrogenated fats, which I’ll call PHFs, are abundant in packaged, refined foods of all types as well as margarine, shortening, spreads, dressings, and bottled salad oils. Food technologists say these oils give foods a better "mouth feel" and are cheap to produce; but most importantly, hydrogenation imparts an antispoilage property that allows packaged foods to be stored in warehouses and on grocery shelves for months without becoming rancid.
At first blush this may sound like a marvelous cost-saving alternative but of course "mouth feel" and "anti-spoilage properties" have nothing to do with supporting good health. That didn’t matter back in 1910 when hydrogenation of vegetable oils was first introduced. The producers of these altered fats didn’t get a real toehold until after World War II when packaged foods emerged in a big way. At that point, producers could use their PHFs not only in the baking and snack-food industry but also in the burgeoning fast-food business. Today, PHFs producers hold an entrenched high-powered niche in the food industry, which is why many researchers believe we consumers have heard little about the health problems associated with PHFs.
PHF-related health problems were first suggested in a 1956 paper by nutrition pioneer Ancel Keys. He linked their use to the escalating rates of heart disease, which was the leading cause of death in 1950 (and still is). Interestingly, forty years earlier, when butter and animal fats (e.g., lard) were used, heart disease was responsible for no more than 10 percent of all U.S. deaths. In the 1970s researchers again questioned the use of PHFs noting their increased use corresponded with rising rates of heart disease and cancer.
One of those researchers was Mary Enig, Ph.D., a nutritionist and lipid (fat) biochemist at the University of Maryland, who was one of the earliest and most tenacious critics of PHFs. Dr. Enig is Jewish and maintains a kosher home. A basic tenet of keeping kosher is not to mix dairy and meat at a meal. PHFs simplify keeping kosher because they are parve, that is neither dairy nor meat, and when they are used in baked and packaged store goods, Jews can buy them and eat them at any meal. Enig laments, "Many of my [Jewish] acquaintances over the years have admitted to being lazy when it comes to baking and preparing foods, and also, even if they were not orthodox [strict Jews], they have friends and relatives who are and some justify [buying the products and] having the kosher seal for them." As a result, she says, such habits foster an excessive use of PHFs.
For more than twenty years, Dr. Enig has focused steady scholarly attention on the unsettling health concerns around the consumption of PHFs as they relate to the U.S. public and, specifically, to Jews. At the University of Maryland, she and colleagues had intended to carry out a study comparing the diets of Jews and non-Jews but could never get funding. No other researchers have pursued this particular area perhaps for the same reason. Still, the evidence is mounting. Some epidemiologists believe that Jewish women in the U.S. have higher breast cancer rates than the norm (which is one in every eight women), although such claims are tough to prove because most breast cancer studies don’t note the religion of participants. In Israel, the incidence of breast cancer has been increasing as in most advanced industrialized countries. However, the rate in Israel is three-and-a-half times higher for Jewish women than that of their non-Jewish counterparts.
Studies of gene mutations in U.S. Jewish women have not offered anything that would show a definitive predisposition toward breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute writes, "The researchers calculated that only about 7 percent of the breast cancer in Jewish women is due to these [gene] alterations...." This would appear to mean that 93 percent of the breast cancer cases in Jewish women are being caused by something else. Dr. Enig, as a scientist and a Jewish woman who keeps kosher, firmly believes that a food supply loaded with partially hydrogenated fats is a major culprit of breast cancer, "I was part of this group [that keeps kosher] and I started seeing a lot of my friends developing breast cancer and their mothers hadn’t had it, their grandmothers hadn’t had it."
At seventy years old, Dr. Enig no longer works in the lab but has an encyclopedic recall of lipid research in this area and is a vocal activist in bringing the issue to light. Moreover, the evidence supporting her theory is growing as there are several recent studies from Europe and those of one American researcher that connect breast cancer with the use of PHFs. Nonetheless, rabbis and other Jewish leaders instrumental in kosher-certifying organizations have been unresponsive to Dr. Enig’s pleas about warning the Jewish community about this issue. "I think it’s probably because they truly didn’t understand the science," Dr. Enig says, "and because the [partially hydrogenated] oils and shortenings are parve [making them very convenient]."
Enig contends there is scant evidence that shows eliminating saturated fats actually reduces death from heart disease or in any way increases one’s life span. In addition, the scientific literature attributes a number of vital functions to saturated fats — for instance, they enhance the immune system, boost the body’s use of essential fatty acids and are the preferred food for the heart. In addition, saturated fats are necessary for the structural integrity of the hundred-trillion cells that make up a human body while PHFs disrupt the integrity of the cells.
Enig recommends the use of animal fats (organic when possible), such as fresh butter, eggs, meat and cheese as well as the non-animal saturated fats of unrefined coconut and palm oils. She also uses olive and peanut oils in her kosher kitchen. Personally, I believe it’s a good idea to become a habitual label reader and avoid anything with partially hydrogenated fat in it.
This month Jews will be commemorating one of the more important holidays on their calendar: Passover. And for those who observe the eight-day holiday, strict rules govern the kosher tradition. It’s Dr. Enig’s hope that Jewish people, and others as well, will take the opportunity to begin embracing the wholesome foods that support health and forsake the "imitation foods" that undermine it.
Disclaimer: This column is for information only and no part of its contents should be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, recommendation or endorsement by Ms. Ephraim.
Rebecca Ephraim is a registered dietitian, certified clinical nutritionist and a nutrition reporter specializing in integrative medicine issues.
© Rebecca Ephraim. All rights reserved.