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].
Level of physical activity does not correlate with breast density.
Breast density is often inherited, but other factors can influence it. Factors associated with higher breast density include using menopausal hormone therapy and having a low body mass index. Factors associated with lower breast density include increasing age and having children.
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.
However, women with dense breasts can consider following a dense breast tissue diet, which can help decrease breast density and have healthy breasts. We recommend: Eliminating caffeine. Decreasing or eliminating red meat.
Breasts are composed of fat and glandular breast tissue, and the ratio of fat tissue to glandular breast tissue is what determines your breast density. Some women have less glandular breast tissue; this is referred to as not dense. Others have more glandular breast tissue, which means they have dense breast tissue.
Breast density reflects the amount of fibrous and glandular tissue in a woman's breasts compared with the amount of fatty tissue in the breasts, as seen on a mammogram. The breasts are almost entirely fatty (about 10% of women). A few areas of dense tissue are scattered through the breasts (about 40% of women).
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.
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.
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.
"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.
Mammographic density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer, but the underlying biology for this association is unknown. Studies suggest that vitamin D may reduce breast cancer risk and dietary vitamin D intake has been associated with reduced breast density.
Given the variability of these factors, breast density reporting can fluctuate year to year. For example, if your weight fluctuates, one year a woman may be told she has dense breasts, and the next year that they are not.
Is my breast density related to the fat in my diet? Fat content in what you eat and exercise do not directly change breast density. But if you lose or gain a lot of weight, your breasts can look more or less dense on your mammogram – though the amount of dense tissue will stay the same.
Breast density for each woman was measured with mammography. They found that women who followed more of a Western diet, including consumption of high-fat dairy products, processed meats, refined grains, sweets and sweetened drinks, fast foods, and sauces, were more likely to have high breast density.
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. Take hormone therapy for menopause.
As females get older, their bodies start to produce less of the reproductive hormone estrogen than before. Estrogen stimulates the growth of breast tissue, while low levels of this hormone cause the mammary glands to shrink.
Dense breasts make it harder for doctors to see breast cancers on mammograms. This increases the risk that cancers will be missed. Women with dense breasts have a higher risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who don't have dense breasts. The greater the amount of dense tissue, the higher the risk.
The only way to know if you have dense breasts is through a mammogram report, delivered by your radiologist. Your report should also reveal your level of breast density: Level 1: Your breasts are all fatty tissue. Level 2: You may have some dense breast tissue, but most of your tissue is fatty.
In general, smaller-breasted women tend to have dense breasts and larger-breasted women tend to have more fat in their breasts.
Average breast density decreases with age and at menopause however women with high alcohol consumption have been shown to have higher breast density.
Any woman who has dense breasts may want to consider supplemental screening, usually with breast ultrasound. Studies show that screening with ultrasound, in addition to mammography, improves detection of breast cancers in women with dense breasts.
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.
The perkier and firmer your breasts feel, the more dense they may be, but there are ligaments and other tissues that cause hardness or lumps that are unrelated to the amount of fibrous tissue.