The Easiest Way To Lower Your Breast Cancer Risk

Your gut bacteria play a major role in your odds of developing the disease, scientists have discovered. Here’s what you need to know about this ground-breaking new research this World Cancer Day (Feb 4) – and how to get the protective benefits against the top cancer among women in Singapore.

- Mirel Ketchiff

By now you’ve heard a lot of news about gut bugs, the microbes that live in your intestines and help digest food. Now we’re learning that these tiny but mighty bugs may be even more powerful than researchers originally thought. In fact, the latest surprising findings indicate that gut bacteria could be instrumental in preventing breast cancer.

“Preliminary research shows that gut bacteria seem to play a role in regulating a woman’s oestrogen levels,” says Dr James Goedert, who authored a recent study on the topic. That’s important, because too much estrogen in the blood has been shown to increase breast cancer risk, he explains.

In his study, Dr Goedert found that healthy women who did not have as many kinds of gut bugs in their systems also had less oestrogen in their urine than those with more diverse intestinal bacteria. This suggests that their bodies were not as efficient at flushing out excess levels of the hormone.