Breast Cancer Risk is Related to Meat Consumption

Breast Cancer Prevention

"It’s no surprise that breast cancer rates in China are one-sixth what they are here."

T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. former Senior Science Advisor to American Institute for Cancer Research;  Director, Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment, 1983-1990  - from Health Magazine, May/June, 1996, pages 84-86



                          Protein from Meat             Calories from Fat            Breast Cancer Rate

Chinese          11%                                      15%                                    1/6 of U.S.

American        69%                                       38%                                   6 times Chinese

 

The difference in breast cancer risk between a Japanese woman eating meat every day, and a Japanese woman who isn't, is a factor of eight. In other words, the meat-eating women are eight times more likely to have breast cancer.  The genetics are the same in these cases, so it's not a factor.

 

If a Japanese family comes to the U.S., their children eating a Western diet will have the same risk of breast cancer as the Caucasians living around them, and here again it is not an effect of genetics.”

Reference:  Dr. Neal Barnard, President of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PO Box 6322, Washington, DC 20015 - (202 686 2210)

 

“A low-fat plant-based diet would not only lower the heart attack rate about 85%, but would lower the cancer rate 60%.”

Reference : William Castelli, M.D., Director, Framingham Health Study; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.   From “The Food Revolution”, by John Robbins - p. 47

 

Preventing Breast Cancer in Adolescence

 

“Results from human studies support the findings of these laboratory studies. In a study of Chinese women, those who reported consuming three or four servings of soy foods a week as teenagers were half as likely to develop breast cancer as those who rarely ate soy foods. Soy consumption as adults had no effect on the women's breast cancer risk in this study. In another study, Asian-American women who ate soy even once a week during adolescence reduced their risk of breast cancer later. In this study, regular consumption of soy foods during adolescence lowered their breast cancer risk even if they did not eat it regularly later in life. But the women who continued eating soy as adults had the lowest risk.”

From:  American Institute for Cancer Research,  Nutrition Notes , Week of November 14, 2005

 

Red meat raises risk of breast cancer

One more reason to eat less of it, researchers say

WASHINGTON -- Younger women who eat red meat regularly appear to face an increased risk for a common form of breast cancer, according to a large well-known Harvard study of women's health.

 

The study of more than 90,000 women found the more red meat the women consumed when they were in their 20s, 30s and  40s the greater their risk for getting breast cancer fueled by hormones in the next 12 years. Those who consumed the most red  meat faced nearly twice the risk of those who ate red meat infrequently.

 

Although more research is needed to confirm the association and explore the possible reasons for a link, researchers said the findings provide another motivation to limit consumption of red meat, which is already known to increase the risk for colon cancer.

"There are already other reasons to minimize red meat intake," said Eunyoung Cho, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the study. "This just may give women another good reason."

Cho added that the findings could be particularly important because the type of breast cancer the study found associated with red meat consumption has been increasing. Eating less red meat may help counter that trend.

Other researchers said the findings could offer women one of the few things they can do to reduce their risk for the widely feared malignancy. Breast cancer strikes nearly 213,000 U.S. women each year and kills nearly 41,000, making it the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death among women.

The risk increased with the amount of red meat consumed, with those who ate more than 1 1/2 servings a day having nearly double the risk for the so-called hormone-receptor positive breast cancer compared to those who ate three or fewer servings per week. A serving is roughly equivalent to a single hamburger or hot dog.

"That's a pretty strong association," said Cho, who is also a professor of epidemiology at the Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.

By Rob Stein Washington Post,  November 14, 2006
Published on FRONT PAGE of Commercial Appeal, Nov. 2006

 

More Evidence of Meat-Breast Cancer Link Emerges

Nearly 75 Percent Higher Risk Associated with
High-Meat, Low-Fruit/Vegetable Dietary Pattern

  A study funded by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) published today in the scientific journal Epidemiology suggests that women who consistently consume a diet high in grilled, barbecued or smoked meat and low in vegetables and fruits significantly increase their risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer. Experts at AICR said these new results corroborate the link between meat intake and breast cancer risk, which has emerged more strongly in recent years.

 

“These findings offer further confirmation that the typical American dietary pattern, high in meat, low in plant foods, increases a woman’s chances of getting cancer,” said AICR Nutrition Advisor Karen Collins, RD. “It’s important that women concerned about their lifetime cancer risk start taking steps to reshape that pattern.”

 

Generally, those women with the highest lifetime intake of grilled, barbecued or smoked meats experienced a 47 percent greater risk of postmenopausal breast cancer than those who ate the least. (Risk was elevated even higher among women whose reported diets were a “perfect storm” of risk; those who ate the most grilled, barbecued or smoked meat and who also ate the least vegetables and fruit had a 74 percent greater risk than women eating low-meat, high-fruits-and-vegetable diets.)

American Institute of Cancer Research

Released: May 1, 2007
Contact: Glen Weldon, 202-328-7744 x312; Jeff Prince, 202-328-7744

Entire report available at:

      http://www.aicr.org/site/DocServer/steck_epid2007_meat_and_breast_cancer.pdf?docID=1221  

 

A Lowfat Diet May Help Protect Breast Cancer Survivors

 

“A recent study suggests that breast cancer survivors may reduce their risk of recurrence by following a lowfat diet. Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, who led the study, describes how to interpret the results of this clinical trial.

One of the first diet-cancer topics scientists ever explored was the possible link between breast cancer and fat. Some studies have indicated that adult overweight and obesity may raise breast cancer risk. Others suggest that eating a diet high in saturated fat from animal proteins, such as red meat and high-fat dairy products, could raise a woman’s risk for breast cancer.

Last spring, results from a study called the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) found that, for post-menopausal women who had been treated for breast cancer, a lowfat diet significantly reduced recurrence of the disease.

According to study leader Dr. Rowan T. Chlebowski, of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the results are encouraging.
"I think the results generated so much media publicity because they contradict the concept that only drugs are the answer," he says. "It's reassuring to the public to think they can do something about preventing disease by eating a healthy diet."

From: American Institute for Cancer Research , Newsletter 90, Winter 2006

 

“Will a low fat diet reduce the chance of breast cancer returning?

Answer: A large national study called the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) showed that women who reduced the fat in their diets to about 33 grams a day had 24 percent less breast cancer recurrence than women who consumed an average of 51 grams of fat a day. The reduction in fat could be the reason for the drop in breast cancer recurrence since saturated fat has been found to promote cancer development in laboratory studies.”

            From: American Institute for Cancer Research , Newsletter Week of January 2, 2006

 

            http://www.aicr.org/site/News2?abbr=pr_hf_&page=NewsArticle&id=9175

 

“Breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the

world and the most common cancer among women. Incidence rates are

about five times higher in industrialized countries than in less developed

countries”  (Industrialized countries consume far more processed meat)

From:  Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases, World Health Organization, Technical Report Series 916

 

“You can reduce your risk of cancer.

Just a few years ago most of us couldn't even imagine this. Today, however, things are changing. New research is confirming that small choices we make each day have an important impact on our cancer risk. What we eat, how we prepare it, whether or not we exercise, manage our weight, drink alcohol or smoke these simple decisions make an important difference.

Scientists estimate that 30-40 percent of all cancers could be prevented by eating a healthy diet, getting regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight.”

From:  American Institute of Cancer Research:  Simple Steps to Prevent Cancer

http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pub_ss_prevent_cancer

 

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