Combination of higher intakes of vitamin D and calcium (≥100 IU/d and ≥750 mg/d, respectively) were associated with a reduction of breast densities (OR, 0.28; 95% confidence interval, 0.15–0.54) compared with those consuming <100 IU/d and <750 mg/d.
Several lines of evidence suggest that vitamin D may play a role in breast density and breast carcinogenesis. Vitamin D reduces proliferation and promotes differentiation and apoptosis in breast cells in culture.
Current evidence suggests that taking a supplement of 1000 IU of vitamin D a day may help reduce your risk of cancer with the least chance of harm.
Can I change my breast density? No — breast density is determined by genetics, age, menopause status and family history. Weight gain and certain medications can also influence your breast density.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Safety and side effects
However, taking too much vitamin D in the form of supplements can be harmful. Children age 9 years and older, adults, and pregnant and breastfeeding women who take more than 4,000 IU a day of vitamin D might experience: Nausea and vomiting. Poor appetite and weight loss.
Your breast tissue tends to become less dense as you age, though some women may have dense breast tissue at any age. Have a lower body mass index. Women with less body fat are more likely to have more dense breast tissue compared with women who are obese.
Breast reduction surgery for dense breasts can remove breast tissue, fat, and skin to reshape and reduce the size of the breasts. The main aim of the surgery is to provide a more proportionate figure and alleviate any medical concerns caused by large, cumbersome breasts.
"We know that omega-3s help decrease inflammation in the body," she says. "You can also eat walnuts and seeds if you want a non-animal source." And just like olive oil, eating more omega-3s may also be linked to a reduction in breast density, according to a 2014 study in Cancer Causes & Control.
Research suggests that women with low levels of vitamin D have a higher risk of breast cancer. Vitamin D may play a role in controlling normal breast cell growth and may be able to stop breast cancer cells from growing.
Vitamin E and flaxseed oil supplementation have been shown to reduce breast pain and nodularity. Try reducing or eliminating caffeine. While the mechanism is not fully understood, many women report softening of “lumpy, bumpy,” and dense breast tissue following the removal of caffeine from the diet.
An increase in breast density often is seen in women taking exogenous hormones such as hormonal replacement therapy. Having conditions that change the fluid status of the body, such as heart failure or renal failure, can also change the person's breast density.
Breast density changes with age, for example. On average, older women have lower density breast tissue than do younger women. The greatest change in density occurs during the menopause years. Breast density also changes with certain types of hormone therapies, such as hormone treatments for menopause.
Vitamin D receptor genes operated by vitamin D have important roles in the mammary gland through regulation of calcium transport during lactation, hormone differentiation, and milk production.
While exercise can decrease the amount of fat in the breast, the glandular or dense breast tissue is not affected by exercise. So, if a woman loses a lot of weight due to exercise, her breasts can appear more dense due to loss of fat (the amount of fat decreases while the amount of dense tissue remains the same) [1].
Pettersson and colleagues [1] report that the greater the non-dense breast area (regardless of the dense breast area), the lower the breast cancer risk. In other words, fatty breasts have a protective effect on breast cancer risk.
Roughly half of women ages 40 to 74 have dense breasts. The breasts of aging women become less dense over time, although nearly a third of all women age 65 and older still have dense breasts, Braithwaite said.
For the majority of us, caffeine will not affect breast health and symptoms. It will not change breast density on your mammogram.
The recommended dose for neonates and infants is 400–600 IU/day, for children and adolescents 600–1000 IU/day and for adults 800–2000 IU/day [57].
Unless your doctor recommends it, avoid taking more than 4,000 IU per day, which is considered the safe upper limit.
As estrogen levels decrease, your breast tissue changes. The tissue in your breasts gets dehydrated and isn't as elastic as it used to be. This can lead to a loss of volume, and your breasts may shrink as much as a cup size.