More of These Antioxidants in Your Diet Could Increase Breast Cancer Survival
It should no longer be surprising that a healthy diet, loaded in, among other things, fruits and vegetables, fiber and healthy fats, can help prevent breast cancer and death from breast cancer. This exciting new study adds to the evidence and points to a particular class of antioxidant.
Polyphenols are flavonoids with strong antioxidant power. They are abundant in lots of healthy foods, like seeds, berries, olives, citrus fruit, pomegranate, tomato, peppers, greens, legumes, dark chocolate and green tea. They are also found in several antioxidant supplements like grape seed extract.
This study followed 95 women with breast cancer for an average of 11.5 years. It assessed their polyphenol intake and measured breast cancer mortality, survival and recurrence.
It found that intake of total polyphenols as well as of two types of polyphenols, phenolic acids and lignans, reduced the risk of dying specifically from breast cancer.
Phenolic acids are found abundantly in foods like green tea, coffee, red wine, grapes, berries, cherries, plums, apples, kiwi, corn and grain.
Lignans are found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, grain and algae. But they are especially found in flaxseed.
The study also found that phenolic acids reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and of all-cause mortality, that is, death from any cause, not just breast cancer. Total polyphenol intake was associated with significantly longer survival when considering breast cancer mortality.
This important study adds important details to the search for a better breast cancer diet.
British Journal of Nutrition. Published online 2026:1-12. doi:10.1017/S0007114526107909.
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