Kathleen Arcaro, a UMass Amherst environmental toxicologist, thinks that fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of breast cancer. A recent pilot project engaged a community of highly motived, breast-feeding women to help test the concept by providing samples of their breast milk. When it was found that the levels of a helpful, normally-occurring hormone did go up as consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables increased, a long-term research study was begun.
UMass Amherst supports research on practical topics through its Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, whose Mass. Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) unit is devoted to funding faculty research in topics related to food, agriculture, nutrition, water, energy, and the environment. The Mass. Agricultural Experiment Station was founded in 1878. MAES is the Massachusetts partner in a national network of Experiment Stations, linked through its federal partner, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Transcript of Kathleen Arcaro of UMass Amherst Researches Ways to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
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We think fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of breast cancer. The results from our pilot study support more investigations of this potential benefit.
I work with young mothers who are breastfeeding to study signs of inflammation that can signal cancer risk. This project is being conducted in a much valued collaboration with my colleagues in epidemiology and nutrition. We're looking for a link between increased levels of helpful, normally occurring hormone in breast milk and increased consumption of fruits and vegetables.
In our small study, we recommended eating a wide variety of darkly pigmented vegetables, and asked the woman to eat in color categories-- orange, yellow, red, and green. What is amazing about this work are the women in the study. I call and interrupt them when they are busy. They have babies, but they still take the time to participate and thank us for doing this work. It's a community that's highly motivated to help other women.
I'm so grateful for them. This is a collaborative project. The Life Sciences Laboratory at UMass Amherst encourage and enable colleagues and students from all scientific disciplines to work together to find solutions from many different angles. This is research that matters.
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