Preventing breast cancer
Diet and lifestyle
Regular exercise and a healthy diet are recommended for all women as 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 at the moment, there are benefits for women who maintain a healthy weight, do regular exercise and who have a low intake of saturated fat and alcohol. Use the healthy weight calculator to check if you are a healthy weight.
It has also been suggested that regular exercise can reduce your risk of breast cancer by as much as a third. If you have been through the menopause, it is particularly important that you are not overweight or obese. This is because these conditions cause more oestrogen to be produced, which can increase the risk of breast cancer.
Breastfeeding
Studies have shown that women who breastfeed are statistically less likely to develop breast cancer than those who do not. The reasons are not fully understood, but it could be because women do not ovulate as regularly while they are breastfeeding and oestrogen levels remain stable.
Want to know more?
- Breakthrough Breast Cancer: Breast cancer risk factors.
- Cancer Research UK: Diet and preventing breast cancer.
- Cancer Research UK: Screening for breast cancer.
