When teenage girls eat more processed foods, their breast tissue might look denser on scans only during the first half of their menstrual cycle, but this doesn't happen all the time or during other parts of the cycle.

Scientific Claim

Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods during adolescence is associated with increased breast density specifically during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, but not consistently across all consumption levels or menstrual phases.

Original Statement

“In the adjusted model, girls in Q2 of UPF consumption (as a percentage of grams) had 12% increase in %FGV [Q2 vs. Q1: ß: 0.12; 95% CI 0.01, 0.22] and a 25% increase of AFGV [Q2 vs. Q1: ß: 0.25; 95% CI 0.07, 0.43] than those in Q1 during the follicular phase, however we did not observe differences comparing Q3 and Q4 against Q1. No significant associations were found for participants in the luteal phase.”

From study:Consumption of ultraprocessed foods and breast density in adolescence

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The study is observational and only shows association, not causation. The claim correctly uses 'associated with' and specifies the specific conditions under which the association was found.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Consumption of ultraprocessed foods and breast density in adolescence

Cohort Study

Human

2025 Nov 10

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Consumption of ultraprocessed foods and breast density in adolescence

Score: 58

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-23030-x

Similar Assertions

When looking at all teenage girls together without considering where they were in their menstrual cycle, eating more processed foods didn't consistently change how dense their breast tissue looked on scans.

89%

Whether eating processed foods affects breast density seems to depend on what part of the menstrual cycle a girl is in - it only shows an effect during the first half of the cycle, not the second half.

83%

The effect of processed foods on breast density during the first half of the menstrual cycle only happened at medium levels of consumption, not at the highest levels.

81%

When looking at how much of the total calories came from processed foods (instead of how many grams), there was no consistent link to breast density at any point in the menstrual cycle.

78%

When looking at how much of the total calories came from processed foods (instead of how many grams), there was no consistent link to breast density at any point in the menstrual cycle.

78%