If you spend enough time scrolling through WebMD, absolutely anything can start to look like a symptom, predictor, or side effect of cancer. From the rash on your neck to the strange ache you've felt in your right foot lately to that one day in July when you went to the beach without any sunscreen — all of it can become an omen.
When it comes to monitoring your health, finding the right balance (aka staying informed without becoming paranoid) can feel like walking a tightrope. This is why we wanted to explore the truth about how two common lifestyle factors — diet and exercise — actually affect your chances of getting breast cancer. There is certainly a lot out there about how food and fitness impact your risk of well...anything.
But before you empty your fridge or buy a very expensive exercise bike, we're getting to the bottom of these connections.
To find out, we spoke with Erika Hamilton, MD, director of breast cancer research at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, about how diet and exercise do (and don't) affect breast cancer risk.
Does exercise reduce breast cancer risk?
"The strongest connection we can make is between a healthy body weight and the chance of breast cancer after menopause," Dr. Hamilton explains.
Physical activity is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. The American Cancer Society recommends that adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity each week, or a combination of the two. That doesn't have to mean signing up for an intense workout program: Brisk walking and other moderate activities count.
Can your diet affect breast cancer risk?
"In terms of actual dietary factors and risk of breast cancer, some studies suggest that eating fruits and vegetables may be linked to a lower risk of breast cancer," Dr. Hamilton says.
But the relationship between any one food and breast cancer is less straightforward. Rather than focusing on a specific "cancer-fighting" food or restrictive diet, current cancer-prevention guidance emphasizes your overall eating pattern. The American Cancer Society recommends a diet that includes a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes and limits or avoids red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened drinks, highly processed foods, and refined grains.
What should you eat to lower your breast cancer risk?
There isn't one food — or one diet — that can guarantee you won't develop breast cancer. A healthy eating pattern can, however, be part of an overall approach to reducing cancer risk and maintaining a healthy weight.
Dr. Hamilton suggests taking a moderate, holistic approach to your diet rather than focusing on one defined by restriction. "I don’t advocate any specific diet such as low carbohydrate, vegetarian, or vegan," she says. "Having a well-balanced diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables and maintains your healthy weight is the important part, however you want that to look."
Does alcohol increase breast cancer risk?
Diet isn't just food, though. It also includes beverages like alcohol, and there's much more consensus about how alcohol affects breast cancer risk.
Alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer, and risk rises as alcohol consumption increases. For cancer prevention, the American Cancer Society says it's best not to drink alcohol. People who do choose to drink should limit themselves to no more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men.
This might not be the best news for those who like to unwind at the end of a long day with a nice glass of wine. But it also illustrates an important distinction: Lifestyle factors can change risk; they don't determine whether any one person will or won't develop breast cancer.
What lifestyle changes can lower breast cancer risk?
Some breast cancer risk factors — including getting older, family history, inherited genetic variants, and breast density — aren't things you can change. But others are potentially modifiable. The National Cancer Institute identifies being physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, and reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption among the factors that can help lower breast cancer risk.
"I counsel my patients to exercise at least several times per week," Dr. Hamilton says. "This doesn’t have to be fancy — it can be a simple 30-minute walk after dinner with a family member or friend."
Reproductive history and hormone use can affect breast cancer risk, too, but they're more complicated than a list of "lifestyle changes." Factors including age at a first full-term pregnancy, breastfeeding, and certain forms of menopausal hormone therapy have been associated with differences in breast cancer risk. If you're considering menopausal hormone therapy, talk to your healthcare provider about the benefits and risks based on your individual health history.
Most importantly, none of these factors makes breast cancer inevitable — or impossible. As Dr. Hamilton puts it, "Again, all of these can increase or decrease your risk by a little bit, but it doesn’t mean you're safe if you have none of them, or that you're doomed if you have them all."
What if you've already had breast cancer?
Healthy habits can matter after a breast cancer diagnosis, too, although no diet or exercise routine can guarantee that cancer won't return. Research cited by the American Cancer Society suggests that breast cancer survivors who are physically active have a lower risk of recurrence and improved survival compared with those who are inactive. ACS guidance for cancer survivors also emphasizes regular physical activity and good nutrition, and during treatment it recommends focusing on keeping your strength and maintaining, or even building, muscle. Research shows that women with obesity have a higher risk of breast cancer coming back and of dying from the disease, though ACS notes that the role of body weight in recurrence and survival isn't fully clear.
What makes sense during or after treatment can vary depending on your diagnosis, treatment, side effects, and overall health, so talk with your cancer care team before making major changes to your diet or exercise routine.
