Eat to Beat the Odds of Breast Cancer

By Rachel Johnson, Ph.D, M.P.H., R.D., September/October 2007

Health update: can diet make a difference?

READER'S COMMENT:

"Great article! There are a number of foods with phytochemicals that have been proven to prevent or fight cancer: Berries, cruciferous vegetables and tomatoes are 3 of them. There are some lists of foods that prevent cancer at http://www....

I need two hands to count the number of my friends and colleagues who learned in the past year or so they have breast cancer. I shouldn’t be surprised; after skin cancer, it’s the most common cancer women face.

Even women with extensive health knowledge, who seem to get everything right, get cancer. We know there are some things we can’t control. We can’t change risk factors like our family history; scientists predict that just over one-quarter of breast-cancer risk is due to inherited factors. But it’s clear that eating well is part of doing everything you can to tip the odds in your favor.

So what can we do (or not do) to lower our risk? For perspective, I checked in with colleagues who are experts in cancer and nutrition.

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