Alcohol, fat and breast cancer

Better Nutrition, June, 2004

According to a Swedish study, post-menopausal women who drink more than 1.5 glasses of wine per day are twice as likely to get breast cancer compared to women with little or no alcohol intake. Women who drink less than 1.5 glasses of wine per day, meanwhile, were found to have a 12 percent lower risk of breast cancer. The American Dietetic Association advises women to reduce breast cancer risk by limiting their alcohol intake.

High dietary fat--long suspected to be a culprit in breast cancer--is also strongly associated with breast cancer, the authors report. Those who consumed the highest amounts of fat saw their risk of getting breast cancer rise by 34 percent.

The study appears in the March 17, 2004 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.