> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Not all folates are the same: Synthetic folate boosts breast cancer risk
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/synthetic_folate_breast_cancer_0903130236/
- Published: 2013-09-03T15:35:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:23:59.000Z
- Description: Comparing 749 breast cancer cases with 1,434 controls, researchers found black women in the highest quartile of natural folate intake were 54% less likely to have breast cancer. Among European American women, the highest synthetic folate intake tracked with 53% higher risk.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Supplements, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

Tue. Sept 3, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in International Journal of Cancer suggests that eating folic acid or folate rich vegetables can help reduce the risk of breast cancer while eating synthetic folate from fortified foods may increase the risk.

The study led by Z. Gong from Department of Cancer Prevention & Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY and colleagues shows that black women in the highest quartile of natural folate intake were 54% less likely to develop breast cancer, compared with those in the lowest quartile.

Black women or African American women were more likely than European American women to be diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages and more likely to develop agrressive tumors.

Folate and other methyl-group nutrients like methionine may be related to breast carcinogenesis, prior research suggests.

The current study compared 749 cases of breast cancer with 1434 control women without the disease in the Women's Circle of Health Study for their dietray intake of natural folate and found the associations.

Of African American women, premenopausal women in the highest quartile of natural folate intake were at 43% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, compared with those in the lowest quartile.

For estrogen receptor positive tumors, the highest intake of natural folate was associated with 42% reduced risk of breast cancer, compared with the lowest intake.

On the other hand, among European women, the highest intake of synthetic folate was associated with 53% more likely to develop breast cancer, compared with the lowest intake. (jd)