Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women and also the second leading cause of death for female cancer patients, reports the American Cancer Society. But the good news is that avoiding certain types of nutrients and foods that seem to promote breast cancer may help you fight this dreaded disease.
Watching Your Weight
It's crucial to avoid foods that cause you to gain excess weight, since obesity increases your risk of developing breast cancer, especially if you've already gone through menopause, according to the American Cancer Society. Obesity causes your body to produce more estrogen than it otherwise would, and estrogen can fuel the development of breast cancer, the University of Maryland Medical Center reports. Since your ovaries stop making estrogen after menopause, most of your estrogen then comes from fat tissue, and having unhealthy amounts of fat tissue after menopause can cause breast cancer by raising your estrogen levels too much, says the American Cancer Society. Eating a healthy diet can help you avoid obesity, which will then reduce your breast cancer risk, MayoClinic.com reports.
Saturated Fats
Saturated fats---which are often found in red meat like beef and pork---are associated with a high risk of getting breast cancer, says the American Cancer Society, which adds that women who eat diets low in saturated fats typically get breast cancer less than women who eat diets high in saturated fats. So the American Cancer Society recommends avoiding red meat and processed meat that contain a lot of saturated fats. The University of Maryland Medical Center suggests replacing cooking oils that contain saturated fats with oils that contain healthier fats, such as olive oil, which contains monounsaturated fats, a healthy lipid, in fact. Even if you already have breast cancer, eating fewer saturated fats may improve your symptoms, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Trans Fats
Avoiding trans fats---which are found baked goods such as cookies and crackers, and other foods like margarine, french fries and onion rings---can help improve breast cancer symptoms, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center. You may also be able to help prevent the development of breast cancer in the first place by avoiding trans fats, since a low-fat diet is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer than a high-fat diet, the American Cancer Society says.
Antioxidants
Antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamins C and E, may help prevent cancer by neutralizing substances called free radicals in your body before they can harm cells, says the American Cancer Society. But if you already have breast cancer, you should avoid consuming antioxidant supplements, because antioxidants may decrease the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy drugs, according to a 2005 study from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. So while antioxidants may be good for you prior to cancer, you may need to avoid them during chemotherapy treatments.
References
- American Cancer Society: What are the Key Statistics about Breast Cancer?
- American Cancer Society: What are the Risk Factors for Breast Cancer?
- American Cancer Society: Diet and Breast Cancer Risk: What's the Connection?
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Breast Cancer
- Mayo Clinic.com: Breast Cancer Prevention: How to Reduce Your Risk
- "CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians": Use of Antioxidants During Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy Should be Avoided; Gabriella M. D'Andrea; 2005
