Vegetables ‘reduce cancer risk’

Vegetables play a big part in many weight loss diets, but a new study has revealed that they can also help some women to avoid cancer.

Investigators from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) found that African American women who eat lots of vegetables are less likely to develop oestrogen receptor-negative breast cancer than those who do not consume many vegetables.

The study, which has been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, followed 51,928 women and found that, within 12 years, 1,268 cases of breast cancer developed.

Women consuming at least two vegetables per day were 43 per cent less likely to develop oestrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer than women who ate fewer than four vegetables per week.

Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center recently revealed that women who maintain a normal weight, exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes at least five days a week and drink a maximum of one alcoholic beverage a day, have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

How many portions of vegetables do you eat each week?