Tag Archives: women

Processed Meat Consumption Increases Risk of Breast Cancer in Women

As we’ve seen right here on The French Paradox in the past, strong adherence to the Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of breast cancer in women. On the other hand, studies have shown that increased meat consumption (one hallmark of a Western-style diet)

Photo by Flickr user  whity (https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitefield_d/6685238885)
Photo by Flickr user whity (https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitefield_d/6685238885)

is associated with increased all-cause mortality, diabetes, and certain types of cancer (including pancreatic and colorectal).

What is not exactly known is what the effect of poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet in the form of excess meat intake is on breast cancer risk in women.

A new study published in the journal Meat Science aimed to add a little more clarity to this issue by studying the effect of meat consumption on breast cancer in Greek women.

250 newly-diagnosed women with breast cancer (average age 56+/-12 years) were recruited for this study, as well as 250 age-matched controls without breast cancer.

Face-to-face interviews were conducted to obtain information regarding: socio-demographics, clinical, lifestyle, and dietary habits. For meat consumption habits, data for red, white, processed, and grilled meat were collected. Dietary habits were assigned scores based adherence to the Mediterranean diet using the MedDietScore.

Important Findings:

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Healthy Lifestyle Choices Significantly Reduce Heart Disease in Younger Adult Women

While heart disease is one of the top killers of Americans, the number of cases has actually been on the decline recently. Despite this supposed downward trend, cases of heart disease in young women have stabilized. One possible explanation for this lack of

Photo by Flickr user Global Panorama (http://www.flickr.com/photos/121483302@N02/15683243130)
Photo by Flickr user Global Panorama (http://www.flickr.com/photos/121483302@N02/15683243130)

further decline in heart disease cases in young women could be related to lifestyle choices.

A new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology explored this issue by evaluating the proportion of heart disease cases and cardiovascular risk factors among young women that may be related to poor diet and other lifestyle choices.

88,940 younger women between the ages of 27 and 44 were followed between 1991 and 2011.

Lifestyle habits were determined by self-reported questionnaires.

A “healthy lifestyle” was defined by: 1) non-smoker; 2) “normal” BMI; 3) being physically active for at least 2.5 hours per week; 4) watching TV for less than 7 hours per week; 5) eating a healthy diet (i.e. in the top 40% of Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 scores); and 6) consuming between 0.1 and 14.9g/day of alcohol.

Proportion of heart disease and risk factors (inc. diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia) were calculated.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Healthy Lifestyle Choices Significantly Reduce Heart Disease in Younger Adult Women