""Adequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D are necessary for women in keeping up their health, and additionally, these two nutrients may help prevent breast cancer development, especially among premenopausal women," said lead author Jennifer Lin, an assistant professor of medicine."

"In the study, Lin's team collected data on more than 10,500 premenopausal and almost 21,000 postmenopausal women age 45 and older who were part of the Women's Health Study. The data included information on what they ate and the dietary supplements they took."

"Over an average of 10 years, 276 premenopausal women and 743 postmenopausal women went on to develop breast cancer."

"The researchers found that premenopausal women whose intake of vitamin D and calcium was high had about a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer. However, they didn't find this association for postmenopausal women."

"Animal studies have also found an association between calcium and vitamin D intake and breast cancer prevention, Lin's group noted."

""Calcium and vitamin D may confer protection against breast tumorigenesis," Lin said. "However, more studies are necessary to investigate the potential utility of these two nutrients in breast cancer development," she added."

"One expert stressed that the evidence
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