LIFESTYLE AND DIET PREVENT CANCER

DIET PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PREVENTING BREAST CANCER

“Normal healthy diet for 5 days and fasting for 2 day (5:2)” by researchers

“Women who follow the 5:2 diet could reduce their risk of breast cancer" The Mail online report.  The 5:2 is based on the idea that you eat a normal healthy diet for five days of the week and recommendation that fasting diet of around 500 calories for women and 600 calories for men for the other two days. The study involved 24 women who were overweight or obese, aged 35 to 45, free of cancer or diabetes, and with a higher than average breast cancer risk. This women were told to drop their calorie intake by 75% on two days of a week and have healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, cereal grains, olive oil and fish, you can include small quantity of starchy foods such as bread and pasta for five days.

The study was led by researchers from the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Centre, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust.

Breast Cancer is one of the most common cancers but if it’s treated early enough, it can be prevented from spreading to other parts of the body and the chances of survival are high.

Studies show that losing weight and restricting your energy intake can lower breast cancer risk.

This study shows that intermittent calorie restriction has an immediate and fluctuating effect on our bodies that varies from person to person.

For the 24 inactive, overweight or obese, middle-aged women in this study, about half showed signs of genetic and biochemical changes to processes that might loosely be linked to breast cancer risk.

A very small number (three) had changes more directly associated with breast cells processes, but, again, loosely linked to breast cancer risk.

These links weren't consistent, clear or assessed over a long enough period to really know how the 5:2 diet or similar might affect breast cancer risk.

This means the study's findings don't support the Mail Online's headline that, "Women who follow the 5:2 diet 'could reduce their risk of breast cancer'."

Today's media coverage also implies that the tentative findings of between 3 and 11 women – those with the least vague chance of being linked to breast cancer – applied to most women with breast cancer.

If you pluck three people from a crowd of, say, 50,000 (the number of new invasive breast cancer cases each year in the UK in 2013) and try to make generalisations about specific parts of these people's lives, most people would clearly see you're more likely to get it wrong than right.

The same applies here. The study sample was small, and definitely not large enough to be able to make solid statements about breast cancer in general.

As the causes of breast cancer aren't fully understood, it's not known if it can be prevented altogether. Having regular exercise and a healthy balanced diet are recommended for all women because they can help prevent many conditions including heart disease, diabetes and many forms of cancer. Studies have looked at the link between breast cancer and diet, and although there are no definite conclusions but the benefits for women who maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly and low intake of saturated fat and alcohol.

Source: NHS Choices