What you put on your plate can influence your risk of developing breast cancer during menopause. Indeed, a French study published on June 14 in the scientific journal Current Developments in Nutrition reveals that adopting a vegan diet rich in fruits and vegetables can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Indeed, the study shows that opting for a diet limiting the consumption of products of animal origin for the benefit of unprocessed plant foods can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer from 14% in postmenopausal women.
Unbalanced vegan diet: a 20% higher risk of breast cancer
Unlike similar studies that have looked at the relationship between cancer and diet, researchers from the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health at the University of Paris-Saclay in Gif-sur-Yvettes, Essonne, have focused on the difference between a healthy vegan diet and an unbalanced diet.
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The research team looked at two decades of data from more than 65,000 postmenopausal women living in France and compared the eating habits of women with healthy vegetarian diet to those of women with an unbalanced vegan diet and who consume animal products. In practice, the women completed questionnaires about their diet at the start of the study, in 1993, then in 2005, at the end of the experiment.
White bread, refined cereals… Beware danger
The researchers’ findings were clear. They found that women who followed a healthy vegetarian diet consisting of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, and who also drank coffee, were less likely to get breast cancer than those who ate an unbalanced diet, including high-fructose fruit juice, cereals (such as pasta or white bread made with processed white flour), sweet desserts and high sugar drinks such as sodas.
The data revealed that not only did the participants have 14% less risk of developing a cancer be you with a healthy vegetarian diet, but that an unbalanced vegan diet actually increased the risk of breast cancer. Women with the least healthy diets had a 20% higher risk of breast cancer than the general population. “These results highlight that increasing the consumption of healthy plant foods and reduced consumption of less healthy plant and animal foods could contribute to prevent all types of breast cancer“said the study’s lead author, Sanam Shah, in a statement.
Plant foods can be lacking in nutrients
“These results add to a body of evidence that shows that highly refined foods, such as that crisps, fries and fruit juice, although vegetarian, lack many nutrients which help to reduce the risk of cancer, including fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients,” explains to “Eat This, Not That !”Nutritionist-dietitian Elizabeth Ward, co-author of The Menopause Diet Plan, A Natural Guide to Hormones, Health and Happiness.