CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In health news this morning, just watching your diet may help reduce your risk of breast cancer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at research on vitamins and breast cancer.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been talking a lot about vitamins lately and Americans spend about $2 billion a year on vitamins. And there's been a new study actually linking Vitamin B9 and b6 towards decreasing the risk of breast cancer. B9 is folate. B6 is niacin. Now, we've known a lot about these vitamins for quite some time. We've known the role of folic acid in preventing birth defects. In fact, since 1998, the FDA has mandated that breakfast cereals be actually fortified with folic acid. But we also know now that both of these vitamins have a decreased effect on breast cancer. They actually 27 percent of the time can prevent breast cancer in women who have an adequate level of folic acid, which is about 400 micrograms. Now, we also know that women who take alcohol have an increased risk of breast cancer and this folic acid benefit appears to be most predominant in those women. Again, women who take alcohol have an increased risk of breast cancer. If you keep the adequate levels of b9 and b6 up, it appears to protect you against the risk of breast cancer. Now, there's all sorts of foods out there that do contain these sorts of vitamins. Orange foods such as pumpkins and oranges actually contain the most of the folate acid. Niacin or Vitamin B6 can be found in beef. Of course, if the only green leafy vegetable you're getting is in between a burger, you may want to try the supplements instead. Back to you.</s>COSTELLO: Thank you very much, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So eat your broccoli.
Watching Diet May Help Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer