Previous studies suggest the diet a woman follows may affect her risk for benign breast disease and breast cancer.   A new study in British Journal of Nutrition identified two dietary patterns, healthy dietary pattern (healthy diet) and unhealthy dietary pattern (unhealthy diet), that are associated with the risk of benign breast disease, which is in turn linked to breast cancer risk.  

According to the study, women who ate mostly the healthy diet were 56% less likely to develop benign breast disease than those who ate mostly the unhealthy diet.   Other studies have linked benign breast diseases to malignant breast cancer.  For instance, a study found that girls using alcoholic drinks, which are a known carcinogen that can promote the development of breast cancer, were more likely to develop benign breast cancer (there is here an indirect association between breast cancer and benign breast diseases).   The current study offers some hint as to what women may or may not eat to lower their risk of breast cancer.

The healthy dietary pattern identified in the current study includes fish, poultry, eggs, low-fat dairy products, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, oil and mayonnaise, olives, fruits (This is somewhat similar to Mediterranean diet) while the unhealthy dietary pattern includes red meats, organ and processed meat, high fat dairy, refined grains, sweets, desserts and animal and solid fats (This is similar to the typical Western diet).  Some studies have already revealed an association between unhealthy diet with high fat, high sugar and high processed meats with increased risk for breast cancer. (David Liu)

Tiznobeyk Z, Sheikhi Mobarakeh Z, Qorbani M, Koohdani F, Sotoudeh G, Khajehnasiri F, Khosravi S, Doostan F. Dietary patterns and benign breast diseases: a case-control study.  Br J Nutr. 2016 May 20:1-7.