Monday Feb 1, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study published on Feb 1, 2016 in Pediatrics suggests that eating fiber rich foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, in early adulthood and adolescence can reduce risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women.
Premenopausal women when diagnosed with breast cancer are at higher risk of dying from the disease because the disease tends to be more aggressive in women at younger ages. The study implies dietary fiber can be used to lower the risk for the disease, which is diagnosed in 220,000 American women every year.
Scientists at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed data from 90,534 women who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II and found women who ate more dietary fiber in early adulthood were up to 19% less likely to develop breast cancer, compared to those who ate less fiber. Those who ate more of foods high in dietary fiber during adolescence were found at 16% lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer.
Among all women studied, fiber intake was strongly inversely associated with breast cancer incidence. Specifically, for each additional 10 grams of dietary fiber ingested, the breast cancer risk was reduced by 13%.
It remains unknown how dietary fiber could reduce the risk of breast cancer. But the scientists believe that dietary fiber can affect the serum estrogen levels. Estrogen is known to be a risk factor that promotes that the growth of breast cancer.
