Eating fiber-rich foods may help reduce breast cancer risk: study

Eating high-fiber foods during adolescence and young adulthood may significantly reduce a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, a U.S. study said Monday.

The study, published online in U.S. journal Pediatrics, looked at more than 90,000 women who were surveyed about diet during high school.

The women also completed questionnaires about their food intake every four years since 1991 when they were aged 22 to 44.

Breast cancer risk was found to be 12 to 19 percent lower among women who ate more dietary fiber, especially lots of fruits and vegetables, in early adulthood.

High intake of fiber during adolescence was also associated with 16 percent lower risk of overall breast cancer and 24 percent lower risk of breast cancer before menopause.

Overall, for each additional 10 grams of fiber 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 fiber, said the study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The researchers speculated that eating more fiber-rich foods may lessen breast cancer risk partly by helping to reduce high estrogen levels in the blood, which are strongly linked with breast cancer development.

"From many other studies we know that breast tissue is particularly influenced by carcinogens and anticarcinogens during childhood and adolescence," senior author Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard Chan School, said at a statement.

"We now have evidence that what we feed our children during this period of life is also an important factor in future cancer risk." Enditem