The current webpage makes additional research available concerning how various nuts, seeds, beans and grains or their major bioactive components improve hormone receptor positive (ER+/PR+) breast cancer risk and prognosis. At the bottom of this webpage are links to studies relating to the beneficial nuts, seeds, beans and grains listed listed in Foods to eat and avoid for ER+/PR+ patients and survivors.
Nuts, seeds, beans and grains inhibit ER+/PR+ breast cancer through the actions of certain polyphenols, the plant sterol beta-sitosterol, the gamma-tocotrienol form of vitamin E, the hormone melatonin, or the trace mineral selenium:
- Alpha-linolenic acid (found, for example, in flaxseed, walnuts)
- Anthocyanins (black beans, black or red rice)
- Beta-sitosterol (flaxseed, pistachio nuts, walnuts)
- Enterolactone (flaxseed, rye bran, wheat bran)
- Ellagic acid (walnuts)
- Ferulic acid (brown rice, flaxseed, wheat bran)
- Gamma-tocotrienol (brown rice)
- Melatonin (black or red rice, pistachio nuts)
- Quercetin (buckwheat)
- Selenium (Brazil nuts, oats, wheat bran).
Please read the applicable food webpages when making your own food lists since these pages contain important advice, food rankings (e.g., highly recommended, recommended in moderation), consumption limits, and other pertinent information.
The beneficial compounds listed above should be obtained by eating the applicable nuts, seeds, beans or grains rather than taking supplements. When a beneficial micronutrient is administered at low doses by consuming food, it is likely to have subtle chemopreventive effects, whereas the same compound administered at high doses is more likely to have pharmacological effects, with possible unwanted outcomes. For example, quercetin has been reported to contribute to the growth of estrogen-induced mammary tumors once the tumors were established in female rats.