CHINESE women who eat mushrooms and drink green tea significantly cut their risk of breast cancer and its severity in those who develop it.

Researchers from University of Western Australia looked at the diets of 2,018 women from the southeastern Chinese city of Hangzhou - half of whom had breast cancer - between July 2004 and September 2005.

The researchers noted that the rate of breast cancer cases in China was four to five times lower than that typically found in developed countries.

Eating as little as 10 grams, or less than one button mushroom daily, has a beneficial effect. Women who consumed the most fresh mushrooms are two-thirds less likely to develop breast cancer compared with those who did not eat them. Fresh and dried mushrooms were equally effective.

The fact that the combination of green tea and mushrooms was more effective than just mushrooms alone could partially explain the lower incidence of breast cancer amongst Chinese women. The study was published in the International Journal of Cancer.

-The New Straits Times