Nutrition and Breast Cancer 

Deb Vryser is hoping a big change in her eating habits now will lower her chances of getting breast cancer in the future. Deb watched in agony as her mother fought but eventually won the battle against breast cancer 25 years ago.

Deb Vryser/study partcipant - "She's a survivor and it's been over 25 years.  She's doing really well."

Deb is one of 60 women participating in a breast cancer prevention study with Karmanos Cancer Center of Detroit. All of the women in the study have a sister or mother with breast cancer are healthy between the ages of 21-50 non-smoking and are pre-menopausal. 

Deb Vryser - "I saw this as an opportunity that I could do, as ordinary woman and make a small difference perhaps."

The four year study is almost halfway complete.  Dr. Zora Djuric who is conducting the study is hoping to discover a link between diet and breast cancer.

Dr. Zora Djuric/ Karmanos cancer center - "About 1/3 of all human cancers are thought to be preventable by diet and that's a lot of lives."

A dietician put Deb and others in the study on high fruit and vegetable or low fat diets, but it's not about weight loss, it's about choosing foods for life.

When you're shopping in the grocery store for produce, think variety and strong bright colors, reds as in tomatoes, orange as in carrots and dark leafy greens compared to light iceberg lettuce, and the more the better.

Deb Vryser - "It requires that I eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day."

Dr. Zora Djuric - "All the different foods have different tastes and different colors and actually have different chemicals in them. They're called micronutrients, they're vitamins."

Deb hopes by doing her small part in the fight against breast cancer, perhaps her two teen daughters won't have to worry about what many women including their grandmother used to consider a death sentence.
 

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