Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review

Obesity in breast cancer (BC) survivors increase the risk of BC recurrence, second primary BC, BC-specific mortality, and overall mortality. Guidelines for BC survivors encourage healthy lifestyles by promoting healthy diets, engage in physical activity and avoid weight gain to achieve longer survi...

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Main Authors: Angela D'Angelo, Sara Vitale, Elvira Palumbo, Livia SA Augustin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Milano University Press 2024-02-01
Series:Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health
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Online Access:https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/ebph/article/view/22226
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author Angela D'Angelo
Sara Vitale
Elvira Palumbo
Livia SA Augustin
author_facet Angela D'Angelo
Sara Vitale
Elvira Palumbo
Livia SA Augustin
author_sort Angela D'Angelo
collection DOAJ
description Obesity in breast cancer (BC) survivors increase the risk of BC recurrence, second primary BC, BC-specific mortality, and overall mortality. Guidelines for BC survivors encourage healthy lifestyles by promoting healthy diets, engage in physical activity and avoid weight gain to achieve longer survival and improved quality of life. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the possible beneficial role of plant-based diets in body weight control and in BC risk and prognosis. Plant-based diets can be evaluated using dietary indices which provide a quantitative measure of how closely an individual’s diet aligns with a plant-based dietary pattern. However, there is a need to distinguish plant-based diets in healthy and unhealthy. This approach would address a research gap that often overlooks the quality and specific types of plant foods consumed. The aim of this narrative review is to analyze how a plant-based diet may impact on body weight in BC survivors, synthesizing existing evidence and discussing the potential mechanisms and implications. The findings suggest the importance of considering the quality of plant-based diets, as some may include vegetarian foods with a low nutritional profile which may negatively impact on body weight. This aspect could be crucial in preventing weight gain in women with BC, as body weight is considered a risk factor for poor BC prognosis and reduced survival.
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spelling doaj-art-bce38e2a36874854887703e67b7a16162025-08-20T03:17:32ZengMilano University PressEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health2282-09302024-02-0118210.54103/2282-0930/22226Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative ReviewAngela D'Angelo0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2981-3122Sara Vitale1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7198-3030Elvira Palumbo 2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2844-2452Livia SA Augustin3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6673-8281University of Naples Federico II, Naples, ItalyEpidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, National Cancer Institute, IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale, 80131 Naples, ItalyEpidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, National Cancer Institute, IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale, 80131 Naples, ItalyEpidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, National Cancer Institute, IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale, 80131 Naples, Italy Obesity in breast cancer (BC) survivors increase the risk of BC recurrence, second primary BC, BC-specific mortality, and overall mortality. Guidelines for BC survivors encourage healthy lifestyles by promoting healthy diets, engage in physical activity and avoid weight gain to achieve longer survival and improved quality of life. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the possible beneficial role of plant-based diets in body weight control and in BC risk and prognosis. Plant-based diets can be evaluated using dietary indices which provide a quantitative measure of how closely an individual’s diet aligns with a plant-based dietary pattern. However, there is a need to distinguish plant-based diets in healthy and unhealthy. This approach would address a research gap that often overlooks the quality and specific types of plant foods consumed. The aim of this narrative review is to analyze how a plant-based diet may impact on body weight in BC survivors, synthesizing existing evidence and discussing the potential mechanisms and implications. The findings suggest the importance of considering the quality of plant-based diets, as some may include vegetarian foods with a low nutritional profile which may negatively impact on body weight. This aspect could be crucial in preventing weight gain in women with BC, as body weight is considered a risk factor for poor BC prognosis and reduced survival. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/ebph/article/view/22226plant-based dietdietary patternsbody weightBody mass indexwaist circumferencebreast cancer
spellingShingle Angela D'Angelo
Sara Vitale
Elvira Palumbo
Livia SA Augustin
Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review
Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health
plant-based diet
dietary patterns
body weight
Body mass index
waist circumference
breast cancer
title Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review
title_full Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review
title_fullStr Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review
title_full_unstemmed Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review
title_short Healthy and Unhealthy Plant-Based Diets and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review
title_sort healthy and unhealthy plant based diets and body weight in breast cancer survivors a narrative review
topic plant-based diet
dietary patterns
body weight
Body mass index
waist circumference
breast cancer
url https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/ebph/article/view/22226
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AT elvirapalumbo healthyandunhealthyplantbaseddietsandbodyweightinbreastcancersurvivorsanarrativereview
AT liviasaaugustin healthyandunhealthyplantbaseddietsandbodyweightinbreastcancersurvivorsanarrativereview