by Anna Pitkin

When it comes to supporting breast health, healthy fats play an essential role. These fats, particularly omega-3 fatty acids, are known for their anti-inflammatory properties and their ability to support hormone regulation—both of which are crucial in maintaining healthy breast tissue and potentially lowering the risk of breast cancer. Let’s dive into how healthy fats benefit breast health and which foods to incorporate into our diets.

Why Healthy Fats Matter

Healthy fats are essential for many bodily functions, from building cell membranes to supporting brain health. But when it comes to breast health, the spotlight is on omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that omega-3s can reduce inflammation and play a protective role against cancer development. Since inflammation is a known risk factor for various types of cancer, including breast cancer, incorporating anti-inflammatory fats into our diets can be a proactive step toward overall breast health.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in several foods, including fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel and sardines, as well as plant-based sources like flaxseeds, chia seeds and walnuts. These healthy fats not only lower inflammation, but also help balance hormones. For women, hormonal balance is critical in managing breast health as hormone imbalances can sometimes contribute to the development of breast cancer.

A 2017 study published in JAMA Oncology found that higher consumption of omega-3s was associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The study emphasized the importance of dietary fat composition, highlighting that it’s not just about cutting fat, but also focusing on the right types of fats—particularly omega-3s.

The Omega-6 and Omega-3 Balance

Another important aspect of healthy fats and breast health is maintaining the proper balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. While omega-6 fatty acids (found in vegetable oils like sunflower, corn and soybean oils) are essential, the typical Western diet often contains too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3. An imbalance can lead to increased inflammation, potentially raising the risk of breast cancer.

A 2020 review in Nutrients highlighted that reducing omega-6 intake while increasing omega-3 consumption can significantly benefit breast health by promoting anti-inflammatory processes in the body.

To boost omega-3 intake, try adding more fish, nuts and seeds to diets, while reducing reliance on processed foods rich in omega-6 fatty acids. A Mediterranean-style diet, rich in fish, olive oil and nuts, is an excellent way to maintain this balance and promote breast health.

Simple Dietary Changes for Breast Health

Incorporating healthy fats into our daily meals doesn’t have to be complicated. By adding foods rich in omega-3s, we can support our breast health naturally while enjoying delicious meals. Here are two easy recipes that feature some of these powerhouse ingredients.

Radiant Roots Recipe: Avocado Bake

 

20 to 30 minutes

Some of the many tasty ways this can be enjoyed include being eaten directly out of the skin boat, spread for toast, as a topper or “sauce” for noodles or zoodle (just add a little extra lemon + EVOO to warm noodles), a topper for salad or as a dip.

Variations can include melting cheese on top with the nut crust for dairy consumers, using other nuts, leaving out the tomatoes or adding rosemary.

3 large avocadoes

2 lemons

1 cup cherry tomatoes

¾ cup Brazil nuts

1 tsp salt

1 tsp crushed black pepper corn

2 cloves garlic or powdered garlic

Slice the avocados in half along the long side, try to keep in the skins intact as much as possible, remove the pit and scoop the flesh out into a bowl, also set aside the skins to use again later.

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Mince the garlic cloves finely. Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the bowl, add salt, pepper and garlic then mash the avocado; it can be pretty chucky to maintain texture.

Chop the tomatoes into quadrants and add to avocado mixture. Place the Brazil nuts into a sandwich bag or fine mesh bag, close it and use the butt end of a butter knife to smack the nuts until they are roughly crushed up, then add approximately ⅔ of the crushed nuts to the avocado mixture. Set the rest of the nuts aside in a bowl.

Taste the mixture to make sure if seasoning needs to be adjusted. Scoop the mixture back into the skins (there’s often a couple skins leftover). Take the filled skins and dip them into the bowl of remaining crushed nuts to top the filled skins. (If this causes nervousness, just spoon the left- over nuts on top.)

Place the filled skins on a cookie sheet and bake or air fry, suggested on the top rack of the warmed-up oven for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the oven being used; just keep an eye on them as when the nuts are nicely toasted, they are done cooking.

Slice up the second lemon into wedges. When they’ve cooled to edible temperature, squeeze a wedge of lemon on top and enjoy.

Recipe courtesy of Amrit Leilani of Radiant Roots. For more info, email [email protected] or on Instagram @radiantroots.life.