As a woman concerned about preventing breast cancer, broccoli and bran flakes may be doing more good for your overall health than you think.
A new study from researchers at Harvard, published in the journal Cancer, found that a diet high in fiber can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by about 8 percent. Study authors compared the women who consumed the most fiber with those who consumed the least across 17 cohort studies, two nested case-control studies and one clinical trial to arrive at these numbers.
Read MoreDr. Cate points out that a diet that is healthier overall will cause a reduction in fat cells, which may be linked to a lower risk of cancer.
How Does Fiber Help?
Fiber is found naturally in many fruits, such as apples, oranges and bananas, and vegetables, such as broccoli, peas and brussels sprouts. It can also be found in foods such as whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, bran and even popcorn. Fiber has long been linked to an overall healthy diet because of how easily it moves through the digestive tract, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s been linked to a reduction in the risk for obesity, heart disease, diabetes — and now, breast cancer.
Dr. Cate says the new research adds to the understanding of how intricately diet is linked to many cancers.
“Weight and diet are strongly connected,” she says. “It may be that the healthier the diet, i.e. one higher in fiber, causes patients to be a healthier weight and therefore have a lower risk of breast cancer. As [the new research was] a meta-analysis, it does not carry the same weight as some other trials, but adds to our knowledge that diet is very important in preventing many cancers.”
What Do We Know About Diet and Cancer?
As Dr. Cate points out, dietary factors have been linked to many different types of cancer. And while there is no cancer-prevention diet, there is a diet pattern that we can all attempt to stick to to improve our overall health — and that is an anti-inflammatory diet.
Registered Dietician Krista Maruschak explains the benefits of cutting pro-inflammatory foods from your diet.
While it’s fine to indulge every now and then, generally avoiding foods that cause inflammation in the body can help reduce the risk of developing cancer down the line.
“Things that are pro-inflammatory in your diet are going to be refined carbohydrates, like white breads, white pastas, white rice, sweet desserts, as well as high fat, saturated fat meats, like red meat, processed meats … things like that,” Krista Maruschak, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. “These types of things are going to be pro-inflammatory in the body … which could increase your risk for cancer and other co-morbidities in the future.”
Maruschak went on to note that things like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats should be utilized to keep nutrition up and inflammation down.
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