How Does Fruit & Alcohol Impact Breast Cancer?

Those eating certain fruits may be helping to build up protection against breast cancer, but drinking that alcohol later in life can aggravate the risk. These are the results of two linked studies that were published in the British Medical Journal.

All those fruits and vegetables are important sources of fiber, vitamins and other biologically active substances, which are thought to offer protection against breast cancer. The conclusive evidence is lacking and most of the previous studies have been focused on consumption of fruit and vegetables starting from the midlife years. The breast tissue may no longer be so vulnerable to carcinogenic influences by that time.

Maryam S. Farvid of the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA and other researchers, wanted to investigate how eating fruits and vegetables in the teen years could impact breast cancer risk later in life. Data was used for the study of 90,000 nurses over 20 years. Their nutritional habits in early adulthood was reported by the nurses and half of them also reported their usual diet in adolescence.

A 25% lower risk of breast cancer was found among fruit eaters.

Consuming high amounts of fruit and vegetables was considered to be 2.9 servings a day, compared with low consumption of 0.5 servings. About 3,235 women had by 2013 received a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer and 1,347 of these had completed a questionnaire about their diet while they were 13-18 years old. A 25% lower risk of breast cancer diagnosis in middle age was reported with a high consumption of fruit and vegetables during their adolescence.

During adolescence consuming apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, and kale appear to be particularly beneficial. It was noted by the authors that fruits and vegetables that are rich in a-carotene could offer the most protection. Consuming fruit juice did not appear to make any kind of difference. Cancer prevention advice already includes getting a good supply of fruits and vegetables, but current findings are indicating that intake during the adolescence period might be especially important.

Professor Timothy Kay and Professor Gillian Reeves, both of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, said in a linked editorial that further evidence is needed to confirm the findings. They do note that fruits and vegetables have a well-known beneficial effect on health and efforts need to continue to increase the intake of both fruits and vegetables at all ages. The average 11-18 year old in the U.K. consumes only three portions of fruits and vegetables a day, with only 1 in 10 reaching the recommended daily target of five portions.

Another linked study by researchers and led by Marie K. Dam from the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen, Denmark, looked at data for 22,000 post-menopausal women to see how modifying alcohol intake might impact the risk of breast cancer and heart disease. This consumption does appear to increase the chances of breast cancer, while the rates of coronary heart disease seem to be lower among the light to moderate drinkers, compared with abstainers. Therefore, this shows that women who increased their alcohol intake by two drinks per day over 5 years had a 30% higher risk of breast cancer but a 20% lower risk of coronary heart disease, compared with those who did not change their alcohol consumption. Lowering alcohol intake over the 5-year period did not appear to alter the risk of breast cancer or coronary heart disease significantly.

There are always other factors to consider before drawing any firm conclusions about cause and effect of liquor as to the benefits and risks involved.

May I just throw out a thought? If you are fighting cancer, be careful with the fruit intake. I like to report on certain studies but it is also proven that certain fruits are not
good for cancer patients. It is wonderful to eat all the berries you would like since the science behind it proves they are good for cancer. Berries such as organic strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. Even the frozen ones are ok. We do not always want to just rely on one study.

–Dr Fredda Branyon