Eating peanuts at young age linked to decrease in breast disease, study finds

The chance of developing breast disease later in life decreases for children who consume peanuts or peanut products at least twice a month, found the Growing Up Today Study.

Posted 9:10 p.m. Sep 15, 2017 — Updated 9:10 p.m. Sep 15, 2017

This article was written for our sponsor, North Carolina Peanut Growers Association.

The chance of developing breast disease later in life decreases for children who consume peanuts or peanut products at least twice a month, found the Growing Up Today Study.

"These findings suggest that peanut butter could help reduce the risk of breast cancer in women," said Dr. Graham Colditz, a co-senior author of the study, which was released in 2013.

The study found that even in adolescent girls with a family history of breast cancer, consumption of vegetable protein and vegetable fat significantly lowered the risk of developing benign breast diseases.

Defining BBD

Benign breast diseases are a family of breast conditions, which are noncancerous, and not inherently life threatening.

BBD can include disorders like cysts, fibroadenoma, and fatty tumors. Not all BBD conditions are completely harmless, though. Proliferative BBD (P-BBD), is a subgroup which contains breast conditions that cause fast-growing, abnormally shaped cells. The most common kind, atypical hyperplasia, can infiltrate either the lobules, which make milk or the milk ducts, which carry them. And, for someone who has been diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia, the relative risk of developing cancer is four to five times higher than the average person.

Health professionals therefore considered it encouraging news when the study reported the risk of proliferative BBD can be decreased by one-third when women eat a minimum of one serving of peanuts per week.

Although all nuts had a noticeable effect, the amount of peanuts needed to gain the benefit is half as much than with any other nuts.

"Our work suggested that vegetable fat consumed by pre-adolescent girls and vegetable protein consumed by adolescents may be protective, while peanut butter and nuts, high in both protein and fat, consumed at any age may be associated with lower risk for BBD," the study found. "Our stronger findings for peanut butter and nuts, than for corn and beans (beans, soybeans, lentils), may be due to their higher levels of consumption in these girls, but peanut butter and nuts also contain considerably more protein and fat."

Because cells change most dramatically during adolescence, the best time to focus on preventative measures is when young girls are developing, the study indicated.

Revealing the Unique Breast Benefits of Peanuts

The high levels of fiber and vitamin E found in peanuts offer other important benefits, as well. While vitamin E has long been known to provide protective effects, high fiber can decrease the risk of P-BBD another 25 percent.

Peanuts also contain a substantial amount of healthy vegetable fats, and when vegetable fats and oils build up in the body from consistent consumption, the risks of BBD decrease by up to 44 percent in 11-year-old girls and the risks of P-BBD decrease by 27 percent in adolescent girls.

Over time, the consistent consumption of animal fats increases the risk of P-BBD by around 33 percent, so vegetable fats are an important alternative.

In regard to cancer protection more broadly, bioactive compounds phytosterols and resveratrol, both found in peanuts, shield the body from abnormal cell growth and hormones that encourage tumor growth, the study found.

This article was written for our sponsor, North Carolina Peanut Growers Association.

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