I'm no cook. And I'll never claim a recipe is my own. Anyone who likes my taco salad should thank my friend Kim and her mom Kathy. My turkey meatballs: all credit goes to my brother-in-law's mom. The brownies I once whipped up and now have given up: kudos to Betty Crocker. And this recipe I'm about to share comes straight from the pages of the May 2007 issue of Family Circle magazine. It's such a simple recipe -- takes five minutes tops. I probably could have invented it on my own. But I didn't.

Go With The Grain

Top 1 cup whole-grain cereal with:

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/2 cup each strawberries and raspberries
1 cup 1% milk

A new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that postmenopausal women who eat healthy amounts of plant food rich in estrogen-like compounds called lignans may reduce their risk of developing breast cancer.

Lignans are found only in certain foods. Lignans only come from plant foods, such as whole grains, nuts, seeds, and beans. The best source of lignans are flax seeds.

The study, including over fifty eight thousand French women, showed that they had a 17 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer if lignans were part of their diet compared with women having the lowest dietary lignan levels.

A diet containing lots of plant food is hypothesized to offer a breast cancer prevention strategy, however, if you have already been diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer it is best to talk to your doctor before going on any high lignan diet. The jury is still out on whether it can help with lowering the risk of recurrence and if it is safe for ER positive breast cancers.

Phytoestrogens are chemicals produced by plants that act like estrogens. These chemicals mimic and supplement the action of the bodies own hormones.

Lignans are one of the two major classes of phytoestrogens, they are naturally found in grains, berries and vegetables. Research has shown that lignans affect the estrogen signaling system. Estrogens play an important role in the development and progression of breast cancer.

Since the research shows that lignans affect the estrogen signaling system, they may therefore have a potential to affect breast cancer risk.

The lignan antioxidants can be found in flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, rye, soybeans, broccoli, beans, and some berries.

This research will hopefully contribute to the development of further studies on the effects of phytoestrogens on cancer.