High Fiber Diet While Young May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Given the known benefits of high-fiber diets and the growing evidence that fiber may play a role in preventing disease, the government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans say most people do not get enough.

“From many other studies we know that breast tissue is particularly influenced by carcinogens and anticarcinogens during childhood and adolescence”, said Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard University, in a news release. Adolescence is “a period when breast cancer risk factors appear to be particularly important”, she said.

Reuters Health reports that the extensive research involved a long-term study of more than 44,000 women.

Overall, out of the 44,263 women who responded with food frequency data from high school, the team recorded 1,118 cases of breast cancer. Increased estrogen level, a hormone that is important for sexual and reproductive development, mainly in women, is strongly associated with the development of breast cancer.

A USA study in the journal Pediatrics found lower breast cancer rates among women who ate more fibre when they were adolescents and young women that those with lower dietary fibre intake.

Women who reported eating more dietary fiber during young adulthood were between 12 and 19 percent less likely to develop breast cancer, depending on how much they ate.

Researchers showed that every 10 grams of fiber per day consumed during teenage years was associated with lowering the risk of breast cancer by 14%.

Eating a diet high in fiber as a teen including a large amount of vegetables and fruits might be one more tool to help lower the risk of women in developing breast cancer later in life. “Further study of the relation between early life diet and risk of breast cancer is needed”. In a group of 45,000 women, those who ate more fiber were less likely to end up with breast cancer. A diet containing high levels of fiber may cut down on estrogen levels through changes in the gut microbiome.

Twenty years later, the researchers looked to see who developed breast cancer and when. Fruits and vegetables offered the greatest improvement. Among all the women, there was a strong inverse association between fiber intake and breast cancer incidence.

What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study? Higher fiber intake was also linked to lower alcohol consumption, lower adult BMI, and slightly higher rates of mammography screening.

“We recommend that parents of young daughters provide plenty of high-fiber foods at home and make sure their children eat enough fruits and vegetables, whole-grain pasta, dark bread or brown rice, legumes and nuts in their diet”, Farvid said.

Farvid was supported by the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.