Plant-focused diet linked to lower breast cancer risk

A diet rich in vegetables and low in meat was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer in a US study, Yle reports. The risk was about 10 percent lower among women who mostly followed a planetary health diet, and about 20 percent lower for one type of breast cancer.

The study analysed data from two long-term US health studies involving more than 160,000 women. The studies ran from 1986 to 2018 and from 1991 to 2019, and participants were asked about their diets every four years.

A planetary health diet is mainly plant-based and includes vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, fish and nuts. The comparison group ate fewer of these foods.

The strongest association was for estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer, whose growth does not depend on estrogen. About 20 percent of breast cancers are this type.

A recent meta-analysis of 17 studies also found that vegetarians were 13 percent less likely than meat-eating omnivores to develop cancer overall. The association was stronger for some cancers, including bowel and breast cancer.

Duodecim’s news service says a vegetarian diet may lower cancer risk by helping with weight management and preventing type 2 diabetes. Red meat, particularly processed meat products, is also known to increase the risk of bowel cancer. About 5,000 women in Finland are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.