Breast cancer is now the most common cancer women get, putting lung cancer second to this growing female epidemic. Although the exact causes of breast cancer still are not known, studies and statistics show that a woman's risk of getting breast cancer increases as she ages.

A new intriguing study suggests - no, concludes - that not only is a vegetable-rich diet good for preventing breast cancer, but it also significantly improves a breast cancer patient's odds of the disease returning after remission.

You may have been going all these years, thinking that eating your veggies was just a good health measure that was only the skinny minnies and health nuts. Well, new studies are showing that the consumption of vegetables is not only preventative maintenance against many kinds of cancers, but it also dramatically improves a woman's odds of breast cancer returning once she has gone into remission.

Not only is it the mere consumption of your leafy greens and brightly colored veggies, it's also got a lot to do with the variety of veggies that are consumed. The wider the variety, the better the women's chances were in the study of continuing on in full remission and recovery from their cancer.

The Carotenoid Connection

So, what exactly is the responsible factor for this improvement of odds against the return of cancer? It's a tiny little micronutrient, found commonly in many vegetables, called carotenoids which is believed to be responsible. The reason this conclusion was reached is that women who did not see their breast cancer return tested with very high carotenoid blood levels, while the women who did see their breast cancer return did not.

The same women who had high levels of this potent antioxidant compound said that they not only consumed a veggie-rich diet, but that they also consumed a wider variety of vegetables in their diet, which lends itself to higher levels of this antioxidant in the blood stream. This translates into a powerful anti-cancer message : Eat your veggies, just like your grandma said.