Have you eaten your vegetables and fruits lately? Young women who consumed fiber-rich foods are at a reduced risk of suffering from breast cancer in the future, a new study says.

Researchers have revealed that women who consumed high amounts of fiber during early adulthood had 12 to 19 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer compared with women who consumed only small amounts of fiber.

"Previous studies of fiber intake and breast cancer have almost all been non-significant, and none of them examined diet during adolescence or early adulthood, a period when breast cancer risk factors appear to be particularly important," says Maryam Farvid.

In the study published in the journal Pediatrics, the researchers have analyzed data from 90,534 women aged 27 to 44 years old. Information and data about food intake was collected through a dietary questionnaire at the beginning of the study in 1991 and every four years after. The researchers followed them for two decades and at 1998, they asked the women on what they were eating in high school.

The authors studied data on the fiber intake of young women and their breast cancer risk after the 20-year study. Aside from the reduced risk of breast cancer in later life, they also found about 16 percent and 24 percent reduced risks of overall breast cancer and pre-menopause breast cancer, respectively.

Among the participants, it was also revealed that with every amount of about 10 grams of fiber added daily in the past 20 years, the risk decreased by about 13 percent.

According to the authors, eating more foods rich in fiber may reduce the risk of breast cancer possibly by decreasing high estrogen levels in the blood. Increased estrogen level, a hormone that is important for sexual and reproductive development, mainly in women, is strongly associated with the development of breast cancer.

Though it is widely believed that fiber in the diet inhibits estrogen reabsorption in the body; studies in the past failed to establish a significant relationship between fiber-rich diet and breast cancer. This study aims to bridge the gap and demonstrate the relationship between fiber in diet and breast cancer risk.

Photo: Ali Karimian | Flickr