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We have known for a long while that fruit are very important to our well-being. The vitamins and other beneficial substances in these edibles serve to protect us from a wide array of disease, and also to help our bodies function to the best of their capacity. But it turns out that they have more beneficial effects than anticipated.
According to two different studies from the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Denmark, fruit lower breast cancer risk, alcohol increases it. Both studies had very large samples and they were observational. This means that whatever links they found, they were just associations, not cause and effect relationships.
Fruit and breast cancer
In the first study about which we’re going to be talking today, researchers looked at the records of ninety thousand female nurses over the course of more than twenty years, half of which provided their diet specifics starting with their early adolescence to the best of their abilities.
It turns out that a high consumption rate of apples, bananas, and grapes during the teenage years led to a decreased chance of developing breast cancer. When compared to the participants who ate just half a serving of the aforementioned fruits a day, the women who ate at least three servings had a twenty-five percent reduced risk of breast cancer.
Meanwhile, teenage girls who ate oranges and kale also revealed the same drop in their breast cancer risk. However, fruit juices were not reported to have the same effects as actually eating the fruit. This raises some interesting points regarding several cleansing programs, as well as regarding school cafeteria meals.
Alcohol and mixed results
For the second study, Danish researchers looked at the record of more than twenty-two thousand post-menopausal women. They revealed that the women who drank a number of two drinks every day over the span of five years had a thirty percent higher chance of contracting breast cancer.
However, it seems like there were also some benefits, as the same group of women showed a twenty percent lower chance of developing coronary heart disease when compared to women who limited their amount of drinks. But the same risk can easily be decreased by taking medication or by changing one’s lifestyle habits.
To conclude, while there may be some benefits to having two drinks every day, the increased chance of developing breast cancer, as well as other potentially fatal conditions makes it so that the risk is not worth it. The best approach is to lead a healthy life and to have a health-conscious lifestyle.
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