Peanut Butter Improves Breast Health in Girls, Avoids Risk of Benign Breast Disease

Adolescent girls who eat more peanut butter have better chances of improved breast health in latter life, a latest study reports.

The study conducted by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard Medical School found that girls aged between nine and 15, who consume peanut butter daily had 39 percent less chances of developing any kind of benign breast diseases by age 30. The researchers noted that benign breast disease, although noncancerous, increases risk of breast cancer later in life.

The study published in the journal 'Breast Cancer Research and Treatment' examined health histories of 9,089 U.S. girls registered in The Growing Up Today Study from 1996 through 2001. Then from 2005 to 2002, the researchers diagnosed these participants when they were 18 to 30 years old. They found that some of the girls had benign breast disease.

The study authors found that girls who included peanut butter in their diet twice or thrice a week had 39 percent less chances of getting any breast disease. The researchers suggested that other food items such as lentils, soybeans and corn may also prove helpful in preventing breast disease. They further noted that the girls mostly did not eat these foods.

Previous studies have also showed a link between consumption of peanut butter, nuts and vegetable and decrease in the chances of breast cancer.

Lead study author Graham Colditz, MD,  associate director for cancer prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, advised girls to include nuts, peanut butter and other vegetables instead of junk food to avoid any type of disease related to obesity.