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Nutrition and Breast Health |
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According to The American Cancer Society's website, www.cancer.org, a woman's lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer is 1 in 8, which is approximately 13% of women. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women and there are slightly over 2 million breast cancer survivors in this country. Women in North America have the highest rate of breast cancer. At this point, researchers have not found the cause or the cure for breast cancer. There is convincing evidence however, that nutrition along with other lifestyle factors plays an important role in preventing breast cancer. In his book, The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet, Dr. Bob Arnot states, "Nutrition is emerging as the most important way to prevent breast cancer." He bases this statement on evidence-based nutritional analysis. This term refers to integrating all the current best evidence together and making recommendations based on that.(1) Dr. John Glaspy of The UCLA Cancer Center believes that diet plays an integral role in breast cancer development and in breast cancer prevention. Click on this link to read his article. www.jccf.mednet.ucla.edu. He cites the results of comparison studies of breast cancer rates in different countries. Countries in Asia with diets low in fat and high in plant-based foods have significantly lower breast cancer rates. Although, there is not conclusive evidence at this time that there are foods or a specific combination of foods that can aid in breast cancer prevention, there is enough circumstantial evidence to encourage women to eat a healthy diet consisting of a variety of plant-based foods and to maintain a healthy weight. This website will provide information on the role of food in breast cancer prevention and detail specific foods that have been studied and appear to have significant health benefits. How can food or components of food aid in breast cancer prevention? Components of food especially plant-based foods have various functions within the body and the following list contains several functions of food or food components that can aid in the prevention or inhibition of cancer.(1)
Why is food a more important factor in breast cancers as compared to other cancers? To understand why plant-based foods play such an important role in breast cancer prevention, it is necessary to understand the important role of estrogen. Estrogen is a hormone produced in the body, it is normally a beneficial hormone which is responsible for protecting the heart by making more good cholesterol and less bad cholesterol. It keeps the blood vessels healthy as they age. Estrogen also protects against bone loss by helping to absorb calcium from the blood stream and it is also responsible for the keeping skin healthy by aiding in water retention. Estrogen, especially estrogen taken in from environmental sources such as hormones and pesticides in the food supply also appears to have a role in breast cancer promotion.(1) Estradiol is the most powerful of the estrogens and researchers have found that women from countries with the lowest breast cancer rates, have the lowest levels of estradiol in their blood. A high fat diet can increase production of this hormone by 30%. In addition, body fat is an estrogen producer so maintaining a healthy body weight is a preventative measure.(1) In her book, Breast Cancer? Breast Health, Susun Weed explains that phytoestrogens and phytosterols which are plant hormones protect the breasts from the carcinogenic forms of estrogen.(2) The Mayo Clinic lists some of the results of the latest research on lifestyle factors http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer-prevention/WO00091. With so much evidence supporting nutrition's role in breast cancer prevention it makes sense to eat a variety of plant-based foods. The following page will provide some healthy plant-based foods. This is in no way a comprehensive list, however, it does highlight many foods to include in a healthy diet. The links page will provide links to more articles on other important foods to include as well. Resources 1) Arnot, Bob. The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet. New York. Little, Brown and Company. 1998. 2) Weed, Susun. Breast Cancer? Breast Health The Wise Woman Way. Woodstock, NY. Ash Tree Publishing. 1996.
2007 |
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