Dietary Fiber Benefits: Breast Cancer Risk Is Lowered By High-Fiber Diet During Teen Years, Study Says

Dietary fiber has a lot of health benefits for people of all ages. And according to a new study in the U.S., a high-fiber diet for teens could even reduce the risk of developing breast cancer later on in life.

Reuters Health reports that the extensive research involved a long-term study of more than 44,000 women. The researchers found out that the participants who ate the most amounts of fiber-rich foods during their high school and early adulthood years were approximately 16 to 20 percent less likely to get breast cancer compared to those who ate the least amount of fiber in their younger years. The research team also noted that an additional 10 grams of fiber intake per day could decrease the risk of breast cancer by 14 percent.

"Most of the studies that evaluated association between dietary fiber intake in midlife or later, have not noted any significant association," lead author Maryam Farvid of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston told Reuters. "Therefore, it seems high-fiber diet in early life would be important in terms of breast cancer prevention."

Examples of foods that are rich in dietary fiber are beans, whole grains, brown rice, popcorn, nuts, baked potato with skin, berries, bran cereal, oatmeal and vegetables as reported by WebMD. The crunchier the vegetable, the more dietary fiber it contains.

Aside from lowering the risk of breast cancer, dietary fiber also has other health benefits. Fiber-rich foods can promote better digestive health by normalizing bowel movements; reduce the risk of heart disease by improving cholesterol levels; prevent diabetes by improving blood sugar levels; lower the risk of colorectal cancer; promote better skin health by flushing out toxins; and help in weight loss by providing fewer calories and making a person feel full as discussed by Help Guide.