If it does play a role in breast cancer, it is just one part of the dietary puzzle - and one that is still not fully understood. Chemicals in garlic limit production of an enzyme that promotes tumor growth. Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables contain chemicals that remove carcinogens from cells. Phytoestrogens found in soy and other beans mitigate the more powerful estrogenic effect of our natural hormones and of hormone-disrupting chemicals that we ingest or absorb. These are exciting findings, but there is still much to learn about the interaction between plant chemistry and our own.
Humans are complex organisms.
The variables in our diet are infinite. Breast cancer is a very complicated disease. No one is talking about the impact on our health of the man-made chemicals and contaminants that are also in the food we eat. The American diet is a product of the use of pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and gene modification. Until we are willing to address how these practices create the very carcinogens and free radicals that we are eating to get rid of, it is foolish to think we can prevent breast cancer through diet.