October has been designated breast cancer awareness month. I think everyone
is aware that breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women and
the second leading cause of death in Canadian women. Most likely we all know someone who
has been touched by this disease. In my own case, it was my mother who was
diagnosed in 1969 and succumbed to the disease in 1971, two months before her
40th birthday. Since then I have known a neighbour and numerous women
in the cycling community, including one who is fighting cancer right now, who have fought the
disease. Thankfully the survival rates in this group have been high.
Although the cause is not known, there are powerful foods,
supplements and herbs that can help prevent the disease and in some cases save your life if you get breast cancer.
And while breast cancer dietary guidelines can be specific to the
particular type of breast cancer – women with high estrogen, postmenopausal women
with lower estrogen levels, and women with a family history of the disease -
there are general recommendations we can all follow to help stave off this
disease.
12 steps to prevent breast cancer:
1. Block the estrogen receptor with:
Soy – 35
grams /day (dosage is critical: too much or too little can have the opposite of
the desired effect)
Flax –
25 grams /day of ground flax seed (meal). Flax
blocks the estrogen pathway and the estrogen booster effect
2. Change fats – the wrong fats are dangerous; getting the
right fats can be preventive
Avoid
omega-6 and saturated fats
Omega-3
and omega-9 reduce the risk of breast cancer: fish oils and olive oil
3. Make good estrogens – cruciferous vegetables contain
indole-3 carbinol, which diverts estrogen into more “good” estrogens.
Eat 2-3
servings a day or take 500 mg of indole-3 carbinol supplements if you at high
risk (or DIM, diindolylmethane)
4. Lower insulin – insulin is the hormone that regulates blood
sugar levels and can also act as a growth factor for cancer development. To
lower your insulin level, avoid saturated fats and reduce your glucose load.
5. Drop glucose overload – avoid foods with a high glycemic
index, eat more protein and more soluble fiber.
6. Increase fiber – Fiber interrupts most steps of the estrogen
pathway. Fiber
builds more estrogen carriers, traps estrogen in the bowel and then
recirculates it, decreases glucose load, cuts hunger, and speeds weight loss.
Recommended
dose: 35-50 grams per day
7. Lower oxidative load – fruits and vegetables are the most
powerful antioxidants
Eat 5-9
fruits and vegetables per day
1 ½ cups
of green tea per day
8. Avoid chemical estrogens – the most powerful estrogen
imitators are in pesticides!
The
combination of three common pesticides – endosulfan, found in fruits and
vegetables, and dieldrin and chlordane, found in contaminated beef, chicken, lamb,
and fish – together produce an alarming effect on cancer cell production.
9. Decrease body fat – the recommendation is to get within 12
pounds of your ideal body weight (use the “pinch an inch” method to make this
determination)
10. Limit alcohol – No alcohol is the safest dose. If you do
drink, choose organic products such as champagne, wine, beer, tequila, and
vodka because they have the least risk of contamination or carcinogens.
11. Increase vitamin D – vitamin D is a potent inhibitor of a
cell’s ability to divide and grow.
Vitamin
D also helps breast cells mature so they are less vulnerable to cancer-causing
toxins
Sources
should come from sunlight or food as there is no evidence that a vitamin D supplement
has any effect on breast cancer.
12. Exercise – exercise intercepts the estrogen pathway at
several critical junctures
Recommendation:
4 or more hours of vigorous aerobic activity each week
For more information on breast cancer prevention, I
recommend reading Dr. Bob Arnot’s book The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet. I
hope you will incorporate some or all of these recommendations into your regime and not only save yourself from
breast cancer, but live a healthier, more energetic
life in the process!
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