By David Liu, PHD

Saturday April 6, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment suggests calorie restriction can help prevent breast cancer.

Fang Fang Zhang from Tufts University and colleagues reported that women who had the highest intake of calories were 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Calorie restriction or energy restriction has already been known to extend lifespan in many small animals and prevent some diseases in humans.  Calorie restriction inhibits mammary tumor development in animals, according to the study report.

The current study was intended to examine how calorie intake, physical activity and body mass index are associated with the risk of breast cancer among 1,775 women diagnosed with breast cancer from 1995 to 2006 and 2,529 of the patients' sisters who did  not have the disease, all enrolled in the Breast Cancer Family Registry.

Women who had lowest calorie intake were found 60 percent less likely to develop breast cancer, compared with those who had the highest intake and this association was found only among premenopausal women or those with hormone receptor positive cancers.

The researchers also found calorie intake was an independent risk factors although physical activity and body mass index were also found to have a positive effect on the risk of breast cancer.

The study suggests that calorie restriction may help prevent breast cancer.  

One in eight American women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer and the disease is expected to kill 37,000 women each year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Breast cancer in many cases is preventable.  Many lifestyle parameters including diet can be modified to reduce the risk of breast cancer.