How Diet, Lifestyle Can Help Prevent Breast Cancer as Diagnoses Spike in Younger Women

Breast cancer mortality rates have fallen in recent years, but early-onset breast cancer is on the rise.
Driving breast cancer rates in all females, aside from any genetic predisposition, are myriad factors, many of which are modifiable byproducts of modern-day living.
Other factors, such as overweight and obesity, difficulty following a healthy diet, and exposure to environmental toxins, also play a role in breast cancer development.

“It’s important to know that the breast organ itself is more vulnerable than other organs to cancer, which is why breast cancer is more common and the price more vulnerable,” said Marisa C. Weiss, MD, chief medical officer and founder of Breastcancer.org.
“If you look at modern life, where people are not having babies until later, they’re not breastfeeding, they’re drinking a lot, or they’re overweight and not exercising, they’re not eating well, or they’re using pharmaceutical hormones for an extended time, it’s a combined set of reasons why breast cancer is more common today than it used to be, including in young women.”

Healthline spoke with Weiss to learn more about early-onset breast cancer and some of the modifiable risk factors, plus other tips for breast cancer prevention.
Risk factors influencing early-onset breast cancer
The explanation for the increase in the incidence of breast cancer overall, especially in younger women, is multifold. When it comes to steps you can take that have been proven to drop your risk of breast cancer you should try to:
• maintain a healthy weight
• exercise regularly
• eat a mostly plant-based diet (i.e., the Mediterranean diet)
• reduce exposure to environmental pollutants
• consider non-hormonal birth control
• quit smoking
• sleep well
• socialize with others
• consider genetic testing for BRCA gene mutations

Here’s a closer look at some of the main factors that may be affecting rising breast cancer rates in young females.
1. High prevalence of overweight and obesity
Weiss: Obesity or being overweight affects two-thirds of womenTrusted Source. Carrying extra weight increases inflammation, which irritates the cells of the body and can make it more likely that a cancer cell could occur. Extra weight brings puberty on earlier, which is a risk factor for breast cancer.
For people carrying extra weight, it’s often harder to exercise, and they’re less likely to eat well. One study linked a 30% higher riskTrusted Source of breast cancer in postmenopausal women with obesity compared to those without obesity.
Of course, it’s very hard to get to and stick to a healthy weight, but getting there reduces the risk of breast cancer and the risk of recurrence if you’ve been diagnosed.

۲. Increased exposure to environmental pollutants
Weiss: Pesticides and plastics, fragrances, and other types of pollutants — many of them are lipophilic, meaning they dissolve in fat after exposure.
If you had exposure to a pesticide years ago, let’s say DDT, you may still have residue of DDT in your fat tissue, which could raise your risk of breast cancer.
To reduce your exposure to pollutants, avoid products containing fragrances, and don’t cook in plastic.

۳. Hormones in conventional dairy products
Weiss: There are hormones in the products that we eat that could stimulate breast cancer cell growth.
The conventional dairy industry, not the organic one, keeps cows pregnant as often as possible because pregnant cows make more milk.
So, whatever’s in the pregnant cow’s milk is more likely to have hormones. Hormones generally live in the fat of the milk.
But in the organic milk industry, they’re not allowed to do that. They only take milk from pregnant cows at the beginning of the pregnancy, not toward the middle and the end, when hormone levels are higher.
If you want to avoid hormone exposure, buy organic fat-free milk.
testing for personalized risk management.