The western diet of red meat, starch and sweets may be a major cause of breast cancer among postmenopausal women. It could double the risk compared to a diet that's rich in vegetables, a new study has discovered.
The Shanghai Breast Cancer Study has been tracking the diets and lifestyle of women in the city who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and comparing them with 1,556 healthy women.
The diets of the women seem to fall into two distinct types: a vegetable-soy diet that consists primarily of vegetables, sprouts and tofu, and a western diet of meat, candy and sweets and desserts, otherwise known as the 'meat-sweet' diet.
The western diet was especially dangerous in women who were also obese.
(So
urce: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2007; 16: 1443-8).