By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

A recently published study suggests that there is yet another reason to eat more fruits and vegetables. This study of 8,927 women, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, asked the women about their diet every 4 years after their diagnosis. Over the follow-up period, averaging 11.5 years, slightly more than a quarter of the women died; almost half of the deaths were related to breast cancer. Women who ate more fruits and vegetables and women who ate more vegetables after their diagnosis had a lower risk of dying from any cause than did women with lower intakes of these foods. Women with the highest intakes of vegetables and fruits averaged 7.4 servings per day; those with the lowest intake averaged 2.2 servings per day. When the investigators examined specific foods, they determined that women with a greater intake of green leafy and cruciferous vegetables (vegetables in the cabbage family) had a lower risk of death than did women with lower intakes of these foods. Vegetables and fruits high in vitamin C and vegetables high in beta-carotene (like carrots, winter squash, and sweet potatoes) were associated with a lower risk of death. Blueberries appeared to be associated with a lower risk of death. Each 2 servings/week of blueberries was associated with a 25% lower risk of dying from breast cancer and a 17% lower risk of dying from any cause. Higher fruit juice consumption., but not higher orange juice consumption, was associated with a higher risk of death from breast cancer and from any cause.

Farvid MS, Holmes MD, Chen WY, et al. Postdiagnostic fruit and vegetable consumption and breast cancer survival: prospective analyses in the Nurses’ Health Studies. Cancer Res. 2020;80(22):5134-5143.