High Carb Diets May Raise Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women

Diets that have a high "glycemic index" -- that is, they produce high blood sugar levels -- may increase the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women who've used hormone replacement therapy (HRT), study results suggest.

Typically, high glycemic index diets include a lot of sugars and refined starches and carbohydrates, which produce a rapid rise in blood glucose levels.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers used data from a large group of 49,613 Canadian women to examine breast cancer risk in association with overall glycemic index and dietary carbohydrate and sugar intake.

During a follow-up period of 16 years, 1,461 women developed breast cancer.

In the overall study population, the risk of breast cancer was not related to glycemic index or sugar and total carbohydrate intake, the team reports in the International Journal of Cancer.

However, in postmenopausal women, diets with a high glycemic index raised the risk of breast cancer by 87 percent.

Courtesy of Reuters 4/12/2005