After a close acquaintance was diagnosed with breast cancer, I recalled that October is commemorated worldwide as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A quick check revealed some facts and statistics related to this disease. The two most important facts seem to be: The recorded incidence of breast cancer in women has been constantly rising each year. The death rate has been declining steadily. In the US, data suggests that breast cancer rates have declined with the decline in the use of hormone replacement therapy.

What causes breast cancer? Like most forms of cancer, there is no clear cut answer to this query.

There are many suspects and they could be working in tandem: family history, anti-perspirants, dietary and lifestyle issues including non-vegetarianism and stress.

But increasingly, research reveals that good dietary choices seem to help in significantly reducing the risk. Some dietary advice to reduce the risk of and even prevent breast cancer is as follows:

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables

The stars in this food group include the cruciferous variety of vegetables — cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, radish and turnips. They contain Indole-3-Carbinol, which lowers breast cancer promoting form of oestrogen. Overcooking does destroy the beneficial compounds and thus these items of food are best eaten raw or lightly cooked.

The dark green vegetables — spinach, fenugreek, mustard and the other varieties — available during winters are also included in the star group. In fact in one study, eating spinach (one serving) twice a week, reduced the risk to half.

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