If you have a teenage daughter, make sure she's eating breakfast, or at least her eggs. That's because research has confirmed that the essential nutrient choline, which is found in eggs, can significantly reduce the risk of getting breast cancer.

In 2003, a Harvard University study indicated that subjects who consumed more eggs, vegetable fat, and fiber than the average girl during adolescence had a smaller risk of developing breast cancer as adults. Eating one egg per day was associated with an 18 percent reduction in risk -- an unambiguous inducement to start consuming an egg a day. The most recent study on choline and breast cancer, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), showed that this reduction in breast cancer risk might actually be as high as 24 percent for those who don't skimp on the eggs!

Chances are, like most people, you aren't familiar with choline, or know where to find this nutrient. Besides eggs, other top sources of choline include meats and nuts. The USDA Web site has a handy list of choline-rich foods, so check there, too. Only 10 percent of people in the United States are currently getting the recommended daily intake for choline, so we clearly need to increase our consumption of this important compound. And this should be easy to do, since eggs are relatively inexpensive.

So consider adding some "eggstra" choline to your diet --and to your daughter's diet as well -- to support breast health.