Sugary, high-fat western diet tied to denser breast tissue Overweight and obese women who eat a Western-style diet may develop more dense breast tissue, possibly increasing their risk for breast cancer, Spanish researchers report. The women were about 41 percent more likely to have denser breast tissue than women who ate a Mediterranean-type diet. These include foods found in a Western-style diet, especially high-fat dairy products (whole milk, high-fat cheeses and ice cream), processed meats (bacon, ham and salami) and refined grains (white bread, pasta and white rice). Other examples include sweets and sweetened drinks, convenience foods (pizza, French fries and chips) and sauces (mayonnaise and ketchup), she said. Women who ate such a diet had a 46 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer, Pollan added, although these study findings do not prove that diet causes breast tissue to become denser. A Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of fish, vegetables, legumes, boiled potatoes, fruits, olives and vegetable oil and a low intake of juices, she said. "Women in the highest category of adherence to this pattern had a 44 percent lower risk of breast cancer than women in the lowest category of adherence," Pollan said. For the study, Pollan and her colleagues collected data on more than 3,500 women who were part of a breast cancer screening program between October 2007 and July 2008. See http://ift.tt/2avwQ9Z
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