Reducing your risk of breast cancer

By Tracy Satov MS, RD, October 26th, 2012

In 2012, an estimated 22,700 women and 200 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada. One in 9 women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime and one in 29 will die of it.
What can you do to beat these odds? Here are my tops foods and tips to reduce your risk:

Fruits and vegetables
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables can decrease your risk of cancer. For breast cancer, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage) are the most effective as they contain sulforaphane that can change estrogen to be protective from cancer growth. Including a colorful variety of fruits such as the color orange for beta-carotene, red for lutein and purplish/blue for anthocyanins are all cancer fighting antioxidants.
Choosing fruits such as cantaloupe, pink grapefruit, watermelon, pomegranates, berries and apricots will be both tasty and nutritious. Eating these fruits and vegetables can reduce your risk by almost 40 percent.

Whole grains
Eating whole grains can improve your metabolism, boost your immunity and decrease inflammation. Whole grains contain energy, antioxidants, and dietary fiber. One study showed that premenopausal women who eat a high fibre diet reduced their risk of developing breast cancer by half.  It is recommended to consume approximately 25-35g of fiber /day.
Whole grains also contain lignans, a plant-based estrogen that can protect cells against cancer. One bowl of high-fibre cereal can give almost a third of your dietary fiber needs, and packs a powerful punch of vitamins and minerals.

Omega-3 fatty acids
Eating Omega-3 fatty acids has anti-inflammatory properties that increase immunity and ward off cancer. A recent study came out showing that women who regularly consumed fish oil supplements reduced their risk for breast cancer by 32 percent. Eating 3 servings of fish per week is one way to ensure that your body is getting the amount that it needs. Non-fish sources of Omega-3 fatty acids are flax seeds, walnuts, and soybeans.
Other ways to reduce your risk of breast cancer are to maintain a healthy weight or lose those extra pounds (extra weight has been linked to increased risk). Limiting your alcohol consumption to 1 glass/day for woman (drinking up to two glasses/day increases your risk by 21 percent).
Finally, making exercise part of your healthy lifestyle with as little 30 minutes/day can reduce your risk by 18 percent.

Here’s to Eating Well
Tracy