Skip to content

According to a recently published study, “Women who eat more high-fiber foods during adolescence and young adulthood–especially lots of fruits and vegetables–may have significantly lower breast cancer risk than those who eat less dietary fiber when young, according to a new large-scale study.”

Furthermore, “The researchers looked at a group of 90,534 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study II, a large long-running investigation of factors that influence women’s health. In 1991, the women–ages 27-44 at the time–filled out questionnaires about their food intake, and did so every four years after that. They also completed a questionnaire in 1998 about their diet during high school. The researchers analyzed the women’s fiber intake while adjusting for a number of other factors, such as race, family history of breast cancer, body mass index, weight change over time, menstruation history, alcohol use, and other dietary factors.

Breast cancer risk was 12%-19% lower among women who ate more dietary fiber in early adulthood, depending on how much more they ate. High intake of fiber during adolescence was also associated with 16% lower risk of overall breast cancer and 24% lower risk of breast cancer before menopause. Among all the women, there was a strong inverse association between fiber intake and breast cancer incidence. For each additional 10 grams of fiber intake daily–for example, about one apple and two slices of whole wheat bread, or about half a cup each of cooked kidney beans and cooked cauliflower or squash–during early adulthood, breast cancer risk dropped by 13%. The greatest apparent benefit came from fruit and vegetable fiber.”

We have talked about the importance of fiber in diets for years, this is just another crucial piece of information.

Click here to read more!

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Higher dietary fiber intake in young women may reduce breast cancer risk.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 February 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160201084354.htm>.