Cadmium – a heavy toxic metal in the diet – may increase the risk of breast cancer, according to Cancer Research.
Cadmium is much more toxic than the well-known arsenic. This element is quite widespread in nature. Zinc ores and fossil fuels, including hard coal, contain significant amounts. As a result of their extraction and processing, large amounts of cadmium are released into the environment. It can also be found in fertilizers.
Cadmium can accumulate in crops. The main source of it in our diet are bread, grain products, potatoes and vegetables. When it enters the body, it is eliminated very slowly.
Dr. Agneta Akeson from the Swedish Karolinska Institutet based her research on the observation of 55 women over 987 years, assessing the amount of cadmium consumed from surveys. During that time, 12 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in the study group, and 2112 cases were found to contain estrogen receptors in the cancer cells.
The analysis showed that in the group with the highest cadmium consumption, breast cancer was 21 percent. often. Among slim and normal weight women, the risk was 27%. The risk of estrogen receptor neoplasms has increased as well as without the estrogen receptor.
Women who consumed a lot of vegetables and whole grain products were less likely to develop breast cancer than those who consumed cadmium in the form of other foods.