. 2011 Aug 10;174(6):652–660. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwr148

Table 3.

Relative Risk of Incident Breast Cancer, by Quintile of Low-Carbohydrate-Diet Score, Nurses’ Health Study, 1980–2006

Type of Cancer	Quintile 1	Quintile 2	95% CI	Quintile 3	95% CI	Quintile 4	95% CI	Quintile 5	95% CI	P Trend
Total breast cancer
Overall low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	1,078	1,155		1,126		1,105		1,058
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.05	0.96, 1.14	1.05	0.97, 1.14	1.02	0.94, 1.11	1.06	0.97, 1.15	0.32
Multivariate analysis^a	1	1.02	0.93, 1.11	1.01	0.93, 1.10	0.98	0.90, 1.06	1.02	0.93, 1.11	0.92
Animal low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	1,084	1,157		1,083		1,110		1,088
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.08	1.00, 1.18	1.03	0.94, 1.12	1.05	0.97, 1.14	1.08	0.99, 1.18	0.16
Multivariate analysis^a	1	1.04	0.96, 1.13	0.97	0.89, 1.05	0.98	0.90, 1.07	1.02	0.94, 1.11	0.91
Vegetable low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	1,112	1,116		1,124		1,078		1,092
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	0.99	0.91, 1.08	0.99	0.91, 1.08	0.98	0.90, 1.06	1.00	0.92, 1.09	0.88
Multivariate analysis^a	1	0.96	0.88, 1.04	0.95	0.87, 1.03	0.93	0.85, 1.01	0.95	0.87, 1.03	0.16
Estrogen receptor-positive tumors
Overall low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	633	687		670		705		623
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.06	0.95, 1.18	1.06	0.95, 1.19	1.11	1.00, 1.24	1.05	0.94, 1.18	0.15
Multivariate analysis^a	1	1.01	0.90, 1.12	1.01	0.90, 1.12	1.04	0.93, 1.16	1.01	0.90, 1.13	0.61
Animal low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	615	698		667		695		643
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.15	1.03, 1.28	1.11	1.00, 1.24	1.16	1.04, 1.29	1.13	1.01, 1.26	0.06
Multivariate analysis^a	1	1.08	0.97, 1.20	1.02	0.92, 1.14	1.05	0.94, 1.18	1.05	0.93, 1.17	0.78
Vegetable low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	655	669		671		637		686
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.00	0.90, 1.12	1.00	0.90, 1.12	0.98	0.88, 1.09	1.07	0.96, 1.19	0.47
Multivariate analysis^a	1	0.95	0.85, 1.06	0.94	0.84, 1.05	0.91	0.81, 1.01	0.99	0.89, 1.10	0.47
Estrogen receptor-negative tumors
Overall low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	161	173		176		160		157
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.06	0.86, 1.32	1.10	0.89, 1.37	1.00	0.80, 1.24	1.06	0.85, 1.32	0.77
Multivariate analysis^a	1	1.04	0.84, 1.29	1.08	0.87, 1.34	0.97	0.78, 1.21	1.06	0.85, 1.33	0.73
Animal low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	167	181		145		162		172
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.11	0.90, 1.37	0.90	0.72, 1.13	1.01	0.81, 1.25	1.12	0.90, 1.39	0.75
Multivariate analysis^a	1	1.09	0.88, 1.35	0.89	0.71, 1.11	0.99	0.79, 1.23	1.13	0.91, 1.41	0.75
Vegetable low-carbohydrate-diet score
No. of cases	172	171		176		166		142
Age- and energy-adjusted analyses	1	1.00	0.81, 1.24	0.99	0.80, 1.22	0.99	0.79, 1.22	0.83	0.67, 1.04	0.06
Multivariate analysis^a	1	0.98	0.79, 1.21	0.96	0.77, 1.18	0.94	0.76, 1.17	0.81	0.65, 1.01	0.03

Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.

Adjusted for age, energy intake, multivitamin use, smoking, body mass index, height, weight at 18 years of age, weight change since 18 years of age, family history of breast cancer, benign breast disease, physical activity level, alcohol intake, and menopausal hormone use.