High Fiber equals lower risks of Breast Cancer

Just under 12% of women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer at some point in their lives. This translates as about 226,870 new cases diagnosed in women in the U.S. this year. An estimated 39,510 women will die this year from invasive cancer. There will be additional incidents of non-invasive cancer.   There is also a smaller number of men who are diagnosed with invasive or non-invasive breast cancer.  

Recent overseas research has discovered that women who have a diet that is high in fiber from plants such as vegetables are less likely to get breast cancer.  However, when it comes to the incidence of breast cancer, the difference between being a high consumer of fiber and a low consumer of fiber is small, placed at 11%.

People who have diets high in fiber have lower levels of estrogen. Estrogen is a risk factor for breast tumours. This is thought to be the reason for the reduced rate of breast cancer in those who eat a high fiber diet.

In a study of 710,000 women over seven to eighteen years, researchers have found that 2.4% ended up with breast cancer. The difference between those with the highest fiber intake over this time period and those with the lowest fiber intake was 11%.

It is possible that those who consume a high-fiber diet could have lower risk factors overall as they have better overall health. While the researchers did allow for other risk factors such as a family history of breast cancer, use of hormone replacement therapies and other dietary factors, there may be other unknown factors at play that were not taken into consideration in the research.

The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender, i.e. being female, and age, i.e. growing older. One risk factor is being overweight or obese. This is because fat cells make estrogen and extra fat cells mean more estrogen in the body. Fat around the belly proves to be a greater risk factor than fat on the hips, buttocks or thighs.

The rate of breast cancer is decreasing in older women, this being the most at-risk group. It is possible this is as a result of a reduction in the use of hormone replacement therapy in recent years.