The American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted a policy that endorses plant‑based diets, exercise, and other lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of breast cancer.

The AMA encourages doctors to educate their patients on these measures, as healthy plant‑based diets, regular physical activity, and limiting alcohol consumption have been shown to reduce the risk of developing this cancer.

Research tells us that a healthy plant‑based diet is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer, especially its most aggressive forms.

Although lifestyle habits are known to be key to preventing all types of diseases, medical associations rarely officially endorse or support a specific diet or habit to combat a particular disease. That’s what makes these recent recommendations from the AMA such a precedent.

The decision to publish the recommendations was made by an AMA committee that brought together 17,000 doctors.

This action came after a U.S. national poll showed that, although most women are aware of ways to detect breast cancer through mammograms and self‑examination, only 28% were aware of the dietary factors that may reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in the first place.

Plant‑based or plant‑predominant diets are centered on foods that primarily come from plants. These include not only fruits and vegetables but also nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, and legumes. [EE1]

A plant‑based diet doesn’t require becoming vegetarian or vegan, nor does it mean giving up meat or dairy altogether. It simply means making plant‑based foods the majority of what you eat.

One of the most popular plant‑based diets is the Mediterranean diet.

The 10 principles of this diet are: