Researchers are suggesting that breast cancer risk can be lowered by maintaining a healthy diet and weight. Therefore, it makes sense to remove food out of your daily menu, which can increase your risk.
Here are 5 everyday foods that can increase your breast cancer risk, and the foods that can lower your risk.
5 Foods to Avoid for Breast Cancer:
1. Dairy
To maintain production, dairy farmers ply their milk-producing animals with all kinds of chemicals and hormones. Included in these chemicals is rGBH, which is commonly used in American dairy cattle.
Cows’ milk that were treated with rGBH contains higher levels of another hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 or IGF-1. This hormone is present naturally in humans, and it regulates division and cell differentiation. Studies have associated elevated levels of IGF-1 tan o increased breast cancer risk.
2. Fats
Studies suggested that not all fats are bad. Fat from processed foods is associated to an increased risk of breast cancer, but, fat from vegetables and fruits are linked with a decrease in risk.
Trans fats have now been linked with an increased risk of breast cancer and should be avoided. Trans fats are commonly found in processed food such as crackers, fried foods, donuts, and packaged pastries or cookies.
3. Red Meat
Some studies have reported a link between red meat, and an increased likelihood of breast cancer, most especially if the meat is “well done.”
Also, processed meats and cold cuts, tend to be high in salt, fat, and preservatives and are not considered to be an effective food for breast cancer prevention.
4. Sweets
Women who reported consuming the most sweets, including sweetened beverages, desserts, and added sugars, had a 27% greater risk of breast cancer, as compared to women who consumed less, according to the journal Cancer Causes and Control.
A diet high in refined carbohydrates such as those found in sweets is linked with higher levels of blood glucose, therefore, forcing your body to release insulin. This insulin encourages cancer cells to grow, and could therefore result in higher levels of estrogen, that may promote the development of breast cancer.
5. Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oils, including safflower, soybean, corn and sunflower, are high in polyunsaturated fats, that increase cancer-promoting oxidation in the body.
5 Foods to Eat to Prevent Breast Cancer:
1. Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables contain phytonutrients that prevent the spread of cancer and stop cancer cells from forming. Also, these phytonutrients shift estrogen metabolism, so your body produces a form of estrogen, which does not drive breast cancer.
2. Fatty Fish
Women who consumed fish oil supplements had a 32% lower risk of developing breast cancer after 6 years, as compared to non-users, according to a study from the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Fatty fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, that may help decrease inflammation in the body. Researchers believe chronic inflammation may help encourage breast cancer development.
Although the women participants in the study took supplements, researchers recommend getting omega-3s by consuming fish.
3. Olive Oil
Olive oil is rich in risk-reducing phytonutrients and antioxidants, including squalene that inhibits tumor growth, and higher monounsaturated fat content than other oils.
Monounsaturated fats do not oxidize in the body. Oxidation, is a process that increases cancer risk and produces chemicals called free radicals.
4. Sweet Potatoes
Orange-colored vegetables are top sources of carotenoids. Sweet potatoes, are rich in a specific carotenoid called beta-carotene.
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute’s study, reported that women with the highest levels of beta-carotene in their blood, had a 17% lower risk of developing certain types of breast cancer. The theory is that carotenoids have compounds that help in regulating cell growth, repair and defense.
5. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are loaded with lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that gives tomatoes their redness. Also, it protects against breast cancer by preventing cancer cell growth.
Sources:
Healthline
NaturalNews
5 Foods That Increase Your Breast Cancer Risk (and 5 Foods That Reduce It)
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