Two Foods Lower Breast Cancer Risk

[ElaineM]

Two Foods Lower Breast Cancer Risk
http://netscape.compuserve.com/homer...ooms/mushrooms

Women whose diets are rich in the unlikely combination of mushrooms and green tea appear to enjoy a lower risk of developing breast cancer, according to researchers from the University of Western Australia in Perth.
Reuters Health reports that this study of more than 2,000 Chinese women found that the more fresh and dried mushrooms the women ate, the lower their breast cancer risk. And the risk was lower still among those who also drank green tea daily.
It's long been known that the rate of breast cancer in China is dramatically lower--as much as four to five times lower--than in developed countries; however, the rate of breast cancer in China has been steadily climbing over the past few decades in more affluent areas of the country. Why is that? It appears the traditional Chinese diet, which includes large portions of mushrooms and green tea, may ward off breast cancer; however, as women adopt more Western habits, their risk for this disease climbs.The study: Led by Dr. Min Zhang, the team surveyed 1,009 breast cancer patients between the ages of 20 and 87, all of whom lived in southeast China. They also surveyed a control group of 1,009 women of the same age and geographic location, but who did not have breast cancer. The women each completed a detailed dietary questionnaire that asked them how often they ate specific foods.The results:

• The women who consumed the most fresh mushrooms, that is, 10 grams or more per day, were about two thirds less likely to develop breast cancer than those who did not eat mushrooms.
• Women who ate four grams or more of dried mushrooms daily had half the cancer risk of those who did not eat this food.
• Mushroom eaters who also drank green tea everyday had only 11 to 18 percent of the breast cancer risk of women who consumed neither, notes Reuters.

The researchers are quick to point out that the study does not prove cause-and-effect, but this is the first evidence that links high dietary amounts of mushrooms and green tea to lower breast cancer risk. Zhang says that mushroom extracts have been shown in the lab to have anti-tumor properties that can stimulate the immune system's cancer defenses. In addition, green tea contains antioxidant compounds called polyphenols that have been shown to fight breast tumors in animals.
And although it's too early to instruct women to eat mushrooms and drink green tea to avoid cancer, Zhang says it is biologically plausible they work.
The study findings were reported in the International Journal of Cancer.
--From the Editors at Netscape