- Learn what to eat and what to avoid.
- Discover why these recommendations may look familiar.
- Find out about Carilion’s new world-class Cancer Center.
Preventing breast cancer might be as easy as filling your dinner plate.
While a number of factors can cause the disease—including heredity and environmental factors, for example—researchers are taking a closer look at how we are affected by what we put into our bodies every day.
“What you eat or don’t eat can be an important tool in preventing a cancer that will strike one in eight women in their lifetimes,” said Dennise Lopez, a registered dietitian with Carilion Clinic who specializes in oncology nutrition.
What To Eat
According to Dennise, a cancer-prevention diet contains four key items:
- Whole grains and fiber
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Omega-3 fatty acids
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
That last one isn’t a food, but a component found in fish, vegetable oils and nuts—especially:
- Walnuts
- Flax seeds
- Flaxseed oil
- Green, leafy vegetables
Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation, which is thought to contribute to breast cancer and other diseases.
If this diet looks familiar, it’s because it is similar to the popular Mediterranean diet.
Antioxidants
You often hear the phrase “foods rich in antioxidants.” In addition to the Mediterranean-type diet listed above, eating foods that contain antioxidants may protect cells against free radicals, which can play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Free radicals are molecules that are produced when, among other things, your body breaks down food.
Dennise recommends aiming for a plant-based approach to eating to tilt the balance in favor of antioxidants. Some "foods rich in antioxidants" as mentioned above include:
- Nuts and seeds
- Fruits and vegetables (include a variety of colors every day)
- Beans
- Herbs and spices
- And, best of all, dark chocolate
What To Avoid
Eating well doesn’t just mean what you eat. It also includes what you choose to avoid. For your best health, learn to read food labels so you can reduce or avoid unhealthy foods.
Saturated Fats
Experts recommend limiting saturated fats to less than 10% of your total calories per day, and your overall fat intake to about 30 grams per day.
Saturated fats are found in:
- Butter
- Lard
- Coconut and palm oils
- Baked goods like cake and biscuits
- Fatty cuts of meat
- Sausages and bacon
- Cured meats like salami, chorizo and pancetta
- Cheese
Trans Fats
Try to avoid trans fats, processed meats and charred or smoked foods.
What does that look like on your grocery list? When you see these items, keep walking:
- Commercial baked goods, such as cakes, cookies and pies
- Shortening
- Microwave popcorn
- Frozen pizza
- Refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls
- Fried foods, including French fries, doughnuts and fried chicken
- Nondairy coffee creamer
- Stick margarine
Sugar
Finally, Dennise recommends reducing your sugar intake, as it is a source of inflammation, and limiting consumption of alcohol and red meats.
One More Step
A healthy lifestyle can help prevent illness, but staying on top of recommended screenings is essential to detect diseases in their earliest stages.
Carilion's Breast Care Center recommends women age 40 and older get a mammogram every year. Be sure you have your annual mammogram in addition to obtaining and maintaining a healthy body weight and increasing your physical activity.
Talk to your primary care physician about ways to plan a healthy, cancer-preventing diet.
Carilion Clinic’s Oncology team is here to help you through prevention, screening and, if needed, treatment. Visit the Carilion Foundation to learn about our plans to create a world-class Cancer Center that will enable us to care for even more patients
