Dietary/Environmental Factors and Breast Cancer

Adhering to a healthy dietary pattern—specifically the modernized Mediterranean diet—may be critical to reduce breast cancer (BC) risk in high-risk women and in women who wish to decrease their BC risk. In the context of the Mediterranean diet, it is important to increase plant and marine n-3 and decrease plant and animal n-6. High flavonoid intake—which increases n-3—should be encouraged as it is associated with lower BC risk. To reduce insulin resistance and diabetes—which are associated with an increased BC risk—women should increase fiber consumption and favor low-GI foods. Women should choose organic foods because of their effect on the n-3/n-6 ratio and because they contain fewer contaminants—and lower levels of each contaminant—in particular endocrine disruptors. Finally, any drug thought to increase diabetes and/or BC risk—in particular, the statins and certain antihypertensive medications—should be prohibited. To lower blood pressure or to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, physicians do have lifestyle strategies, and it would be tragically unwise to persist in prescribing anticholesterol statins and antihypertensive drugs in women wishing to decrease their BC risk.