THE ESSENTIAL
- Over 2.2 million cases of breast cancer were recorded in 2020, making it the most common cancer.
- Nearly one in 12 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.
According to a new study unveiled at a congress on nutrition, having a healthy diet can significantly reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.
“Prevent all types of breast cancer”
“Our results indicate that increasing consumption of healthy plant foods and decreasing lower quality plant and animal foods may help prevent all types of breast cancer,” said French research director Sanam Shah.
To reach this conclusion, his team analyzed the health data and eating habits of 65,574 French postmenopausal women for 21 years. When collecting the data, the researchers focused on differentiating healthy plant foods – such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, vegetable oils, tea or coffee – from plant foods. less healthy, such as fruit juices, refined cereals or potatoes.
A 14% reduction in risk
At the end of the experiment, 3,968 participants were diagnosed with breast cancer. Those who had favored the healthy foods mentioned above saw their risk of developing this pathology decrease by 14% on average.
Breast cancers at an early stage of development at the time of diagnosis have a survival rate of more than 87%. Each year, nearly 59,000 women learn that they have developed the disease and more than 12,100 die from it.