An experiment that indicates cheeseburgers may contain a cancer-fighting compound could have promise, but researchers say don't put down that salad fork yet.
"I don't want to advocate that people consume high-fat diets," said Terry Shultz, a nutritional biochemist at Washington State University.It is, however, ironic that the much-reviled combination of cheese and hamburger could have the potential to fight cancer, he said Thursday.
Shultz has been working for nearly a year with a compound called conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA. The compound occurs in cheese and some types of meat - particularly the processed varieties - and to a lesser extent some plant oils.
One day, CLA could possibly be synthesized and used as a dietary supplement to fight cancer, Shultz said.
Shultz's research did not generate much enthusiasm from Colin Campbell, a nutritional biochemist at Cornell University.
Campbell said there's so much wrong with the addition of fats to the diet, he doesn't even like to see stories about it.