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American Morning

Is There a Link Between Cancer and Carbohydrates?

Aired April 26, 2002 - 08:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The question at this hour, is there a link between cancer and carbohydrates? A new study is making a lot of people think twice about eating many common foods loaded with carbs. Is there an ingredient in them that could cause cancer?

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with the answer.

Say it ain't so. So everything that we're attracted to is probably filled with really, really nasty stuff. What does this study actually show?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

And, Paula, what you just said, no, that's not true, you don't have to stop heating these foods. This is a study that took so many people by surprise, Paula. It was done in Sweden. And when it first crossed on the Reuters wire, I read to some (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and they were like, what the -- and I won't tell you what the next word is that they said. But it just sounds pretty bizarre to them.

Let's talk about what the study found. The study found that when certain carbohydrates are baked or fried at a really high temperature, so we're talking about potato chips, french fries, fried potatoes of any kinds, biscuits or bread that they they contain these high levels of a know carcinogen called acrylomite (ph). Now acrylomite definitely definitely is a carcinogen. The EPA recognizes it as such, but it's this new and kind of weird finding that no one ever knew that it contained these, but this is one study done by one group, and what we don't know is just because it has what are considered relatively high levels, what does that mean if you eat it? That doesn't necessarily mean that you would get cancer just because you eat it.

For example, some doctors here when we told them about this story, they rolled their eyes, and they were like, look, if these foods cause cancer, everyone in the United States would have cancer, because everyone pretty much eats these foods. Acrylomite is also known to cause terrible nerve damage and paralysis, and you don't see people chowing down on potato chips and becoming instantly paralyzed.

So the cynics who I talked to said, if these really caused nerve damage and paralysis, we would be seeing it all over the country, and it would be totally unexplained, but that is happening, so how could this be? On the other hand, though, there are some folks, who are saying, you know what, this research was done by respected researchers out of Sweden. The Swedish government is taking it seriously enough to call for more research. Let's just call for more research. Let's look into this a little bit further.

ZAHN: All right, but that isn't terribly comforting to those of us who want to make sure that we're eating right, and our kids our right. So in the meantime, while these scientists are trying to figure out what is going on. Should we skip the potato chips over the weekend? What would you recommend?

COHEN: No, I mean, everyone we talked to, including the folks who did the study said keep eating the way that you're eating. Some of these foods you might not want to be eating in high quantities for other reasons. I mean, you shouldn't be eating french fries and Potato chips all day anyhow. But there is no reason to change your diet based on this study. That is what everyone says, including the people who did the study. So this is definitely a time to sit back and let the scientists take over, it is not a time to change your diet, because this one study doesn't really mean a whole lot.

ZAHN: Yes, well, every time I can take a bite of a french fry, I'm going to think I have acrylomite.

COHEN: Yes, I really wouldn't worry about it.

ZAHN: All right. Let's talk about Dr. Atkins, of course the author of the famous Dr. Atkins diet plan. What happened to him?

COHEN: Well, What happened to Dr. Atkins, one of the best known people in the diet business, he went into cardiac arrest last Thursday and was released from the hospital two days ago. Now, of course, the first thought in your mind is, gosh, this is the man who advises that people eat food like steak, and cheese, and bacon and eggs, no wonder he went into cardiac arrest.

But he says that what happens to him is something called cardiomyopothy (ph), which is where the heart muscle becomes inflamed, often due to an infection. Cardiomyopothy is not caused by clogged arteries. And even a doctor at the American Heart Association said yes, that's true, it has nothing to do with his food. The American Heart Association really dislikes Atkins' diet, but even they're saying, you know what, the diet didn't cause this, something else caused this.

ZAHN: It nevertheless gives people another reason to view that diet with skepticism, no matter what the truth is here.

Elizabeth, have a good weekend, and filled with carbohydrates.

COHEN: Absolutely.

ZAHN: That's what our house is going to be doing over the weekend.

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