A Healthy Plant-Based Diet Can Reduce Cancer Risk for Middle Aged Women

Research shows diet quality is important in breast cancer prevention

There is evidence that the foods we eat can affect how likely we are to develop cancer, but it is not always clear which foods or dietary habits are most effective in reducing cancer risk. The overall quality or wholesomeness of a person’s food may be crucial, a new study finds.

Based on data from more than 65,000 postmenopausal women, the study found that a healthy plant-based diet was associated with a 14 percent lower risk of breast cancer, while an unhealthy plant-based diet plants was associated with a 20% increased risk. women who were followed for more than two decades. Across all breast cancer subtypes, the findings were similar.

“These findings highlight that increasing consumption of healthy plant foods and decreasing consumption of less healthy plant and animal foods could help prevent all types of breast cancer,” said Sanam Shah, a doctoral candidate at the Center for Research in Epidemiology. and Population. Health at Paris-Saclay University, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, France, lead author of the study. Shah presented the findings at NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE, the American Society for Nutrition’s premier annual meeting held June 14-16.

Numerous dietary patterns, including the Western diet, the Mediterranean diet, and vegetarian diets, have been the subject of previous research looking at cancer risks. Although some studies claim that diets with little or no meat intake are beneficial, the evidence is quite conflicting. In the new study, the researchers focused on differentiating between plant-based foods that were classified as less healthy, such as fruit juices, refined grains, potatoes, sugary drinks and desserts, and healthy plant-based foods. vegetable, such as whole grains , fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, vegetable oils, and tea or coffee.

“What is different about our study is that we were able to tease out the effects of plant food quality, which has not been the focus of previous studies on other dietary patterns,” Shah said. “When rating healthy, unhealthy and animal-based foods, we comprehensively looked at food intake by considering the ‘healthiness’ of the food groups.”

The researchers analyzed data from 65,574 postmenopausal women living in France who completed dietary intake questionnaires in 1993 and 2005 and were followed for an average of 21 years. During the course of the study, 3,968 study participants were diagnosed with breast cancer. Comparison of breast cancer rates among women with different dietary quality revealed significant differences in cancer risk between those with healthy and unhealthy diets.

The researchers used 18 food groups to categorize the degree to which participants adhered to a plant-based versus animal-based diet and ate healthy versus less healthy foods. Shah noted that a plant-based diet does not equate to a vegan or vegetarian diet, but instead describes a general emphasis on plant-based foods over animal-based foods.

While the findings suggest that healthy plant-based food choices are likely helpful for cancer prevention, Shah noted that more research is needed to assess the connections between diet and cancer risk in various populations, particularly to determine the causality.

Meeting: NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE