Diet and Breast Cancer

Read our blog, Understanding Diet and Breast Cancer Risk.

Healthy lifestyle choices are linked to a lower risk of different types of cancer and other health conditions, such as heart disease [27]. A healthy lifestyle includes maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy diet.

Learn more about a healthy lifestyle and breast cancer risk.

Learn about a healthy lifestyle and breast cancer survival.

Diet and breast cancer risk

Maintaining a healthy weight is linked to a lower risk of breast cancer after menopause [75-76,79].

However, only a few dietary factors appear to be related to breast cancer.

Studies show [24,164-168]:

Drinking alcohol is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer
Eating fruits and vegetables may be linked to a decreased risk of breast cancer

We also know some foods and beverages are not related to breast cancer risk. Others are under study for possible links to breast cancer.

This section gives a summary of the research on dietary factors and breast cancer risk.

Maintaining a healthy weight

Being overweight or obese affects breast cancer risk differently before and after menopause.

Before menopause, women who are overweight or obese have a modestly decreased risk of breast cancer [74-78].
After menopause, women who are overweight or obese have an increased risk of breast cancer [74,76-79].

Although women who are overweight or obese may have a lower risk of breast cancer before menopause, weight gain should be avoided [27]. Women who gain weight in adulthood have an increased risk of breast cancer after menopause [88-92].

Most breast cancers occur after menopause. Any weight you gain before menopause may be carried into your postmenopausal years, so it’s important to maintain a healthy weight throughout your life.

Learn more about body weight, weight gain and breast cancer risk.

Learn more about body weight, weight gain and breast cancer survival.

Alcohol

Women who drink alcohol have an increased risk of breast cancer [24].

A pooled analysis of data from 53 studies found women who had 2-3 alcoholic drinks per day had a 20% higher risk of breast cancer than women who didn’t drink alcohol [24].

Learn more about alcohol and breast cancer risk.

Learn more about alcohol and breast cancer survival.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits

Eating fruit may be linked to a lower risk of breast cancer [168].

A meta-analysis that combined the results of 15 studies found women who ate the most fruit had a slightly lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who ate the least fruit [168].

Vegetables

Eating vegetables may be linked to a lower risk of some breast cancers [165-168].

A pooled analysis of data from 20 studies found women who ate the most vegetables had a lower risk of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer (but not estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer) compared to women who ate the fewest vegetables [165].

Carotenoids

Carotenoids are natural orange-red pigments found in fruits and vegetables, such as melons, carrots and sweet potatoes. Dark, leafy green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach and kale also contain carotenoids.

Researchers can estimate carotenoid intake from a person’s diet or measure the level of carotenoids in a person’s blood.

Eating a lot of foods that contain carotenoids may be linked to a lower risk of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer (but not estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer) [173-175].

A pooled analysis of data from 8 studies found women with higher blood levels of carotenoids had a decreased risk of breast cancer (especially estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer) compared to women with lower levels [172].

Learn more about fruits, vegetables, carotenoids and breast cancer risk.

Studies show these dietary factors are not linked to an increased risk of breast cancer [546-551,578-594,615-617]:

Acrylamide (a chemical found in some foods cooked at high temperatures)
Caffeine (including coffee and tea)
Sugar (including sugar-sweetened beverages)

Learn about other factors not related to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Dietary factors under study

Many dietary factors are under study for possible links to an increased or decreased risk of breast cancer. These include:

Organic foods

According to the American Cancer Society’s Diet and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Prevention, research shows organic foods are no more nutritious or better for you than foods farmed by conventional methods [27].

Some people prefer to eat organic foods. However, people who eat organic meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables don’t appear to have a lower risk of breast cancer than people who don’t eat organic foods [27,357].

Organic meat and dairy

Scientific evidence doesn’t show a link between the growth hormones or the antibiotics used in conventional animal farming and breast cancer [27].

Learn more about meat and breast cancer risk.

Learn more about dairy and breast cancer risk.

Organic fruits and vegetables

Organic plants are grown without the use of conventional pesticides. Conventional fruits and vegetables may have low levels of pesticide residue.

According to the American Cancer Society, the benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables outweigh any health risks linked with pesticide residue [27].

Fruits and vegetables (both organic and conventional) are part of a healthy diet. Buying fresh (or frozen) conventional produce and thoroughly washing and rinsing it before eating is always a good practice [27].

Learn more about fruits and vegetables and breast cancer risk.

Learn more about pesticides and breast cancer risk.