BREAST CANCER AND NUTRITION

Smart nutrition and a diet that keeps you at a healthy weight can help reduce your risk of breast cancer.

Among post-menopausal women, the age group most susceptible to breast cancer, the evidence continues to implicate weight gain as a risk factor for breast cancer. In one recent study, obese women in their post-childbearing years had a 3.2 times greater chance of breast cancer than women of a healthy weight. The researchers took into account several other factors that affect breast cancer risk, including a woman’s age, age at menopause, family history of breast cancer, and history of childbearing.

Among breast cancer survivors, researchers are beginning to associate excess weight with an increased risk of recurrence and mortality.   It’s tempting to think that a low-fat or vegetable-filled diet would reduce breast cancer, but the association between these diets and breast cancer prevention really hasn’t panned out.

Diet and Breast Cancer: The Effect of Eating Soy

For promoting general good health, nutritionists like to recommend soy-based foods. They are high in protein and their low-fat content earns them a spot in a weight-control regimen. In and of themselves, however, soy foods do not appear to help reduce cancer in general or breast cancer specifically.

“Tofu certainly fits within our message to eat a plant-based diet.  There are plenty of other reasons to eat soy. Soy is packed with phytochemicals and antioxidants, which are beneficial for health.” Soy contains a very weak plant-based estrogen, raising the question of whether soy-based foods could fuel hormone-related cancers such as breast cancer. The recommendation is not more than 2 serving a day. 

Alcohol seems to increase the risk of breast cancer, particularly if a woman has low levels of folate, the water-soluble B vitamin found in leafy green vegetables and beans. For now, the American Cancer Society recommends women consume no more than one glass of alcohol/day.

Complicating the picture is the fact that moderate use of alcohol has been established to lower the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of mortality among women in the United States. “The message for women about alcohol and breast cancer prevention is that it’s important to look at your risk of breast cancer and heart disease and make an informed decision about whether you drink at all. If you don’t drink, there’s no reason to start.