Breast cancer, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO), is one of the most common diseases among women, impacting 2.1 million women each year. It is a form of cancer that is developed from the breast tissues. WHO also stated that while the breast cancer rates are higher among women in more developed regions, rates are increasing in nearly every region globally. A study, published in the journal Lancet in 2016, cautioned that the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer each year can reach up to 3.2 million by 2030. Hence, in an attempt to control breast cancer, experts advise healthy lifestyle and regular check-ups.Food is a major part of healthy living. A new study has suggested that young women, who eat fruits, vegetables and other fibre-rich foods in their adolescence, may have significantly lower risk of breast cancer than those who consume less amount of dietary fibre. The study, led by researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, was published online in the journal Pediatrics.”Previous studies of fibre intake and breast cancer have almost all been non-significant, and none of them examined diet during adolescence or early adulthood, a period when breast cancer risk factors appear to be particularly important,” said Maryam Farvid, a visiting scientist at Harvard Chan School and lead author of the study. He added, “This work on the role of nutrition in early life and breast cancer incidence suggests one of the very few potentially modifiable risk factors for premenopausal breast cancer.”The study analysed a group of 90,534 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study II, a large long-running investigation of factors that influence women’s health. The researchers, through the study, found that the breast cancer risks were 12 to 19 percent lower among women who consumed more fibre-rich diet in their early adulthood. It also depended on how much they ate.As per an ANI report, the study stated that that there was an inverse association between fibre intake and breast cancer incidents. “For each additional 10 grams of fibre intake daily- for example, about one apple and two slices of whole wheat bread, or about half a cup each of cooked kidney beans and cooked cauliflower or squash – during early adulthood, breast cancer risk dropped by 13 percent. The greatest apparent benefit came from fruit and vegetable fibre,” the report read.
