What Every Woman Should Know. Baron-Faust wrote the book in collaboration with the physicians at the New York University Medical Center's Women's Health Service and Kaplan Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York. Breast cancer risk seems to be tied to the amount and activity of estrogen in the body. Unhealthful behaviors, such as smoking, drinking and a sedentary lifestyle can promote excessive estrogen production or increase the hormone's effects on the body. Avoiding these behaviors helps reduce your risk.
Evidence suggests that fat plays a role in the development of breast cancer.
Studies have also linked high-fat diets to ovarian, prostate and colon cancers, which, like breast cancer, are affected by hormones. Foods that are high in fiber, such as beans, bran, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, help prevent breast cancer by removing excess estrogen from the body or reducing estrogen's activity. They also reduce the risk of heart disease and colorectal cancer. Smoking is known to cause lung cancer, and new evidence also links it to breast cancer. One study of 3,200 women found smokers were 60 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than nonsmokers.