I'm always skeptical about the connection between certain foods and cancer. There's just so much back and forth -- the lycopene found in tomatoes prevents cancer and then it doesn't, for example -- that I don't base any life decisions solely on so-called cancer prevention foods. I simply do what is best for my health. If it happens to keep cancer at bay, then I consider it a bonus.

I eat fruits and vegetables because I know they're good for me. It was nice, while it lasted, to think I was also cutting my risk of cancer recurrence but when it comes down to it, fruits and veggies are better than sweets and candies and junky carbohydrates. So they'll remain a staple in my life -- even though a large, seven-year study published in today's Journal of American Medical Association dashes all hopes that a diet low in fat and jam-packed with fruits and vegetables prevents the return of breast cancer.

Five daily servings of fruits and veggies are recommended in the United States. This is more than most Americans get yet still doesn't make a difference for those trying to minimize their chances of breast cancer recurrence.

This "sends us back to the drawing board," said Susan Gapstur of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Gapstur wasn't involved in the new study but co-wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.

"Should we really have focused on dietary components like fruits, vegetables and fat?" said Gapstur. "Or should we be focusing, in addition to diet, on lifestyle factors including physical activity and weight?"

In this rigorous study, sponsored by the late Wal-Mart heir John Walton and the National Cancer Institute, it was found that the special diet didn't prevent cancer recurrence for either hormonal or non-hormonal breast cancer survivors. These results challenge a previous study suggesting low-fat diets do indeed help women whose cancer is not fueled by hormones.

The bottom line for the 2.4 million breast cancer survivors in the United States is this: don't worry about going overboard on fruit and veggie consumption.

"This should really lift some of the guilt if women are feeling, 'I'm just not doing enough,'" said study co-author Marcia Stefanick of Stanford University.