A possible reason for the opposite effects of excess weight may be the connection between high exposure to estrogenic hormones over a lifetime and increased risk of both pre-and postmenopausal breast cancer. Heavier premenopausal women tend to have lower levels of estrogens and therefore decreased premenopausal breast cancer risk. In contrast, heavier postmenopausal women have higher estrogen levels. Although their ovaries no longer produce estrogen, this hormone can still be synthesized from other hormones present in fat tissue. This results in a greater lifetime exposure to estrogen and therefore increased breast cancer risk.

How shape plays a role

A number of studies have found that apple-shaped women who carry more of their body fat around their abdomen have higher rates of postmenopausal breast cancer than pear-shaped women who carry more of their body fat around their hips. (Whether or not body shape plays a role in breast cancer development in premenopausal women has yet to be determined.)

The possible reason for the shape/risk connection is that many women who have been relatively slim in their younger years, slow down as they grow older, and put on weight. As female sex hormones wane, the pounds tend to accumulate around the midsection, as opposed to the hips. This excess fat produces estrogen, increasing lifetime exposure to this hormone and increasing breast cancer risk.

The earlier, the better

When it comes to reducing abdominal fat and decreasing your risk for breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, the earlier, the better. The closer a woman is to menopause, the less easy it becomes for her to lose abdominal fat (and therefore the greater her lifetime exposure to estrogen).

Eating for prevention

What you eat, and when you eat it, can play a significant role in preventing or losing unwanted fat pounds. Always start the day with a breakfast that includes protein (think plain, lowfat yogourt and the occasional omelet made from an omega-3 egg with added egg whites), whole grains, and fruit for fibre. Keep both lunch and dinner lean, minimizing carbohydrates, and concentrating on healthy proteins (fish, chicken without skin, tofu), and fresh fruits and vegetables. Starchy carbohydrates should be limited to wholegrain rice, breads or crackers made from wholegrains, and sweet potatoes or yams. Yams, carrots and cantaloupe melons have the added benefit of natural carotenoids which may help to prevent the return of breast cancers.

A recent study conducted at the University of California, San Diego, the University of Arizona, and other research centers suggests that high intake of naturally-occurring carotenoids has a positive effect on recurrence-free survival in women who have experienced breast cancer. (Carotenoids are powerful antioxidants and have been linked to a protective effect against various cancers in a number of studies.) Compared with women whose carotenoid levels were among the lowest one-third of participants, the women whose levels were in the top two-thirds experienced a 33 percent lower risk of a recurrence, or the development of a new primary breast cancer.i Similar protective effects were noted in other studies.