Since 1976, nurses have joined with the Harvard School of Public Health in a longitudinal study of women’s health that has provided a wealth of amazing information that helps all women stay healthy. Beginning with a cohort of 238,000 married nurses aged 30 – 55 living in the 9 most populous states, The Nurses Health Study is now in its third phase and continues to be the largest prospective investigation into major chronic diseases in women. The volume of information continues to grow!
A new study released July 6, 2018 in the International Journal of Cancer, provides the most complete picture of the importance of eating high amounts of fruit and vegetables to prevent breast cancer.
Yes, we have been telling our patient to eat five or more servings* of fruit and vegetables for many years but this study is much more specific: Women who ate 5.5 or more servings of fruits or vegetables per day had an 11% lower incidence of breast cancer than women who ate fewer than 2.5 servings per day.
And, while we all know fibre (or, as I like to refer to it, nature’s whisk broom) is beneficial in preventing cancer, the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption in this study were independent of fibreconsumption!
The research was conducted by Maryam Farvid, Wendy Chen and others at the Brigham & Womens Hospital and was summarized in Science Daily on July 19, 2018.
For more information visit sciencedaily.comor search the following citation:
Maryam Farvid, Wendy Chen, et al: Fruit and vegetable consumption and breast cancer incidence: Repeated measures over 30 years of follow-up. International Journal of Cancer, 2018; DOI: 10.1002/ijc.31653
For more information about the amazing Nurses Health Study, or to participate, visit www.nurseshealthstudy.org
N.B: One serving = one-half cup of raw fruit or vegetables or one whole cup of cooked fruit or vegetables