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STUDIES SHOW THAT BRAN REDUCES THE RISK OF WOMEN’S BREAST CANCER
24 March 2009
by
admin
Filed under
General health
Scientists have announced some encouraging news of a possible link between bran and a reduction in the risk of women’s breast cancer. New studies investigating which factors, including diet, might have an effect on estrogen levels in the blood, suggest that fat and fiber may be two useful dietary “tools” in helping to reduce the risk of breast cancer. Previous studies have indicated that a woman’s exposure to estrogen might increase her risk of breast cancer.
The new research includes one study in which 62 premenopausal women were placed on diets containing 15 to 39 grams of fiber in the form of wheat, oat and corn. Their intake of fat was kept constant, and their serum hormone levels were measured before, during and after the diet phase of the study. The measurements revealed that after eight weeks on the wheat-fiber diet, there was a significant reduction in serum estrone, a type of estrogen which has been inconclusively associated with increasing some cancer risk. At the same time, oat and corn fiber appeared to have little effect on the estrogen levels.
In another study, at Tufts University, 44 healthy premenopausal women were placed on diets in which both dietary fiber and fat were modulated to study the effect on estrogen levels. And, unlike the previous study, specific sources of fiber were not separated out. The study’s results revealed that even when the women were placed on diets which were high in fat content, the high-fiber component had a lowering effect on estrogen levels.
Researchers report that while the combination high-fat and high-fiber diet resulted in a “positive” lowering of estrogen levels—due to the high-fiber component— the low-fat and high-fiber combination produced the most favorable benefits. There was a 45 percent reduction in -estrone sulfate with the high- fiber, low-fat diet. The fiber component of the diet was also responsible for a 14 percent decrease in estradiol.
The studies suggest that fiber helps to lower estrogen levels independent of fat intake. According to some scientists, that may explain why in many foreign countries where fat intakes are similar to those in the U.S., cancer rates are actually much lower. It could be due to their high intake of fiber.
While no one is certain why fiber—especially wheat fiber—may have such a beneficial effect, some researchers speculate that it may be because the fiber helps to lessen the absorption of estrogens from the intestine, leading to their increased activity in the blood. Whatever the reason, the evidence indicates that bran, as fiber, may provide protection against breast cancer in women.
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