Ep. 155 | Can a Plant-Based Diet Help Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer?

Do you have a loved one in your family who had breast cancer or is currently fighting it? Maybe you’ve just received a breast cancer diagnosis yourself, or it’s a challenge you’ve been going through for a while now.

The question is – is it all just genetics? Just because your mother or grandmother had it, does it mean you will definitely get it too? Or can our risk be lowered through changes in the way we eat?

Let’s talk about this. In this episode, let’s see if breast cancer risk can be reduced by changing up the foods on our plate, particularly if it is including more plant-based foods. Listen to the full episode below or on your favorite audio platform:

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Did you know? In the United States alone, over 279,000 new breast cancer cases were reported in 2022, which is more than a quarter million people. And in 2023, the death toll from breast cancer was over 42,000 women. But in 2025, there were close to 317,000 new breast cancer cases reported, which is more than that reported in 2022. Worldwide, breast cancer costs about 670,000 deaths globally in 2022, and it is the most common cancer in women in 157 countries.

Even just on a personal level, I feel that breast cancer seems to be getting more common and affecting more people around me. So, is the chance of getting breast cancer just based on our genetics, or is there something more we can do about it?

Well, according to the World Health Organization, about half of women with breast cancers have had no other specific risk factors besides gender and age. And while having a family history of breast cancer does increase the risk of getting breast cancer, most women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have any known family history of it.

Now let’s look to see what’s in recent research on this topic. In 2021, the results of a large-scale prospective study were published by Romanos-Nanclares and colleagues. These researchers followed more than 76,000 women from the Nurses Health Study for about 32 years and more than 93,000 women from the Nurses Health study (II) for about 26 years. During this time, they looked at the incidence of breast cancer cases being diagnosed and how that compared to eating patterns through periodic food frequency questionnaires.

Here's what these researchers found. Women with greater adherence to the Plant-Based Diet Index and Healthy Plant-Based Diet Index, were at modestly lower risk of breast cancer. The strongest inverse association between the Healthy Plant-Based Diet Index and breast cancer, though was seen in those with estrogen receptor-negative tumors.

Now let's look at another study. In 2021, the results of a population-based case control study were published by researchers Rigi and colleagues. These researchers looked at the dietary patterns of 350 cases of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer and 700 age-matched controls who were apparently healthy. Dietary data was collected using a semi- quantitative food frequency questionnaire, and the intake of these women were also scored using the Plant-Based Diet Index, Healthy Plant-Based Diet Index and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diet Index.

The results? Researchers saw that those who had dietary patterns in the highest quartile of the Plant-Based Diet Index had two thirds lower odds of breast cancer compared to those in the lowest quartile of this Index. And for the women whose dietary pattern fell in the highest quartile of the Unhealthy Plant-Based Diet Index, there was a 2.23 times greater chance of breast cancer observed.

Are you surprised to hear these results? Even though research is continuing in this area, I think it is really encouraging to know that changing the foods on our plates can really potentially have positive impacts on our health and lower the risk of getting chronic diseases like cancer.

To learn more about these studies and about the potential impact of plant-based diets on breast cancer risk, LISTEN HERE.

Episode Highlights & Key Timestamps:

• [1:47] How you can get support to build the best health and life – it’s not too late!
• [3:48] The impact of breast cancer in the United States and worldwide
• [5:08] Learn about risk factors in the development of breast cancer
• [6:33] Nurses Health Study and Nurses Health Study (II) on diet and breast cancer cases
• [7:57] What researchers  Romanos-Nanclares and colleagues found
• [8:35] Results from a case control study conducted by researchers Rigi and colleagues
• [10:20] Some key limitations of both studies you should know 
• [11:24] Future possibilities to research
• [11:56] What we can learn from these highlighted studies and the overall trend becoming evident
• [13:05] How you can take proactive steps forward now to live an active, vibrant life with meaning

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