High Glycemic Index diet may increase risk of developing breast cancer says Urbod Nutritionist, Amanda Michie who practises in The City and Canary Wharf.
Over 60,000 post-menopausal women completed a diet history questionnaire that detailed food consumption such as carbohydrate intake. Results showed that consumption of high GI or rapidly absorbed carbohydrate foods was associated with a breast cancer risk among overweight women. More specifically, there was a direct link between the Glycemic load of the diet and breast cancer.
The glycemic load of food determines how much insulin is released in response to glucose, from carbohydrate food, entering the blood stream. A food that raises blood glucose levels rapidly will result in a large amount of insulin being pumped into the blood stream in order to get the glucose into the cells and out of circulation. It is hypothesized that chronically elevated levels of insulin stimulate cell division and tumour growth. This research is consistent with previous studies in this area.
