Dr Oscar Duke has shared his thoughts on a simple dietary change that could potentially reduce cancer risk. His comments come in the wake of new research from Harvard University and increasing acclaim for the ‘Mediterranean diet’.
On BBC Morning Live about recent health news, he said: “This is about butter. Almost every day, there is some sort of diet that is promising to be the new big thing, and I guess the one that really has stuck with is the Mediterranean diet.
“It’s shone through, if you will, from the Mediterranean. Having that olive oil, fresh vegetables, fish, all of those things have been shown, particularly with our cardiovascular health, to be the most useful in terms of a good diet.
“So, going into that oil part of it particularly, a group in Harvard have looked at the difference in health between butter and oil.” Dr Oscar referred to a study published last week that analysed data from 221,054 people over more than three decades.
Subjects were asked about their eating habits every four years, with scientists keen to determine the exact amounts of butter and plant oils consumed. The study also considered individuals who had died during the research period, noting their cause of death.
Findings showed that people who indulged in plant-based oils, such as soybean, olive oil and canola, had a 16% lower risk of death than those who consumed the least. In contrast, participants who ate the most butter had a 15% higher risk of dying than those who ate the least.
Corresponding author Dr Daniel Wang said: “People might want to consider that a simple dietary swap — replacing butter with soybean or olive oil — can lead to significant long-term health benefits. From a public health perspective, this is a substantial number of deaths from cancer or from other chronic diseases that could be prevented.”
The US team also explored the potential benefits of swapping butter with plant oils in everyday meals. Their ‘substitution analysis’ revealed that even a small change, like swapping less than a tablespoon (10g) of butter for an equivalent amount of plant oils, could reduce the risk of cancer deaths and overall mortality by 17%.
“What’s surprising is the magnitude of the association that we found — we saw a 17% lower risk of death when we modelled swapping butter with plant-based oils in daily diet.” lead author Yu Zhang, MBBS, said in light of the findings. “That is a pretty huge effect on health.”
Dr Wang added: “Even cutting back butter a little and incorporating more plant-based oils into your daily diet can have meaningful long-term health benefits.”
Despite the encouraging outcomes, it’s essential to acknowledge that the study has several limitations. Most participants were health professionals, which raises questions about the results’ applicability to the broader public.
Additionally, Dr Duke highlighted a concern regarding the classification of butter in the research, pointing out that ‘total butter intake’ included pure butter and margarine blends.
He explained: “Now, of course, margarine is what we talk about now as being a very ultra-processed food and one of those things that we now know has a huge impact on your health as well.”