Breast Cancer Risk Less In Teens Who Eat More Fruits: Study

Breast cancer risk may have a connection with how much fruits you eat. These are the findings of a new study conducted by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

That is, breast cancer risk is reduced in girls who eat more amounts of fruits. On the other hand, another report explains how the excessive consumption of alcohol might end up increasing the risk of the disease among women, even though the risk of heart disease may get reduced.

According to the researchers, eating fruits such as grapes, apple and banana during teenage years is strongly connected to a drop in the risk of developing breast cancer as adults. As compared to consuming just half serving per day, having three daily servings can reduce the risk of the disease by more than 25 percent, the researchers claim.

While drinking fruit juice everyday does not seem to lower the breast cancer risk, having fruits such as kale and oranges can also help provide some protection against the disease. But, this is only true if the fruits are regularly consumed as young adults.

This is the first study in the history of medical science that suggests a link between fruit consumption and reduced risk of breast cancer. However, the research team did not establish a cause and effect relationship. Their findings only suggest an association between the drop in breast cancer risk and fruit consumption during adolescence.

During the study, the researchers looked at the food questionnaires submitted by a group of over 90,000 women in 1991. All of the subjects were aged between 27 and 44 at the time of the survey, which focused on dietary patterns during early childhood. The team tracked the breast cancer status of each subject every two years.

At the end of the analysis after almost two decades, the researchers found higher fruit intake to be linked with lower risk of breast cancer.

The complete details of the study have been published in the British Medical Journal.