Breast Cancer Diet

Posted by admin on August 31st, 2008 at 01:49pm

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Numerous studies of survival from breast cancer have looked at both diet and lifestyle before and after diagnosis. There is showing to be a very strong tie between breast cancer and diet. This examination of lifestyle and diet before can provide information about the potential outcome of treatment and possibly the biology of cancer formation. But examination of diet and lifestyle after diagnosis has the distinct advantage that it evaluates behaviors that can be changed once a woman learns she has cancer. Breast cancer nutrition is becoming very important to women of all ages, and following a good breast cancer prevention diet is one of the most important things a woman can do.

One breast cancer diet study followed 374 women with early stage breast cancer (women with no metastasized tumors beyond the lymph nodes around the breast) for eight to ten years. This study reported that postmenopausal women who ate more vegetables and who got more vitamin C from food had lower risks of death.

Another, more extensive study examined diet after diagnosis and survival of women enrolled in the Nurses Health Study. In this study, the 1,982 women who developed breast cancer were followed an average of 13 years.

1,237 of these women had breast cancer that had not metastasized (128 of these women died during the study period). Women in this group who ate the largest amounts of poultry, total protein, and omega-3 fatty acids (from oils found in fish) had a statistically significant lower risk of death than women who ate the least amounts of these foods and nutrients. Women who ate more fiber, fish, and vegetables also had a lower risk of death than women who ate less of these food and nutrients. This has proved to be the most successful breast cancer prevention diet to date. For the women without cancer metastases, a statistically significant higher rate of death was reported among those who ate larger amounts of hydrogenated oils found in processed baked foods (18:2 trans fatty acids).

The association of diet with breast cancer survival was different for the 745 women whose cancer had metastasized (250 of these women died during the study period). Women who ate the largest amounts of dairy products and had high levels of calcium in their breast cancer diets had a significantly lower risk of death. In addition, women with metastasized tumors who ate more protein, in general, had a lower risk of death. For both groups of cancer survivors, little or no association with risk of death was seen for fruits, grains, red meat, or vitamin supplements. This proves how important that breast cancer nutrition really is.

Some of these studies also examined the intake of some vitamins from food, not supplements, before cancer diagnosis. Women who ate foods with the highest content of vitamin C and beta-carotene (vitamin A from vegetable sources) were found to have a decreased risk of death in two studies, but no association with risk was found in a third study. Vitamin E intake from food was reported to be associated with a decrease in risk of death in one study, and an increase in risk in another and had no association with risk in a third study. Clarification of the role of these vitamins in the diet before diagnosis and breast cancer survival will require more study.

The effect of diet after breast cancer diagnosis is an area of research that calls for much more study. The results of these two studies are preliminary but they are nonetheless encouraging. Some foods or nutrients were associated with as much as a 50% decrease in the risk of death. If these results prove to be correct, they could be quite important, as diet after diagnosis is something over which cancer survivors have some control.

So far, all the best information in these studies has been compiled into the Breast Cancer Prevention Diet, by Robert Arnot, M.D..

In his findings, drugs strongly interfere at one very specific point in the sequence that causes cancer, and often develop very prominent side effects. By changing your diet, you can interrupt many places in the sequence without the toxicity of drugs.

With the amazing inspiration of Kathy and Deborah and dozens of other heroic volunteers, I resolved to embark on a journey for my wife. We would spread all the research out on our dining room table like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I would take as long as it took, turn over every last stone and come back to her with an answer. Since that resolution, I have combed the scientific literature from around the world, read thousands of papers, and visited the laboratories of the most prominent scientists at the finest scientific institutions, from Harvard and UCLA to the National Cancer Institute. Courtney and I have experimented with hundreds of different foods and food combinations at home. I have found dazzling new techniques for probing the nutritional secrets of cancer prevention. In the end we have uncovered the key elements of a breast cancer prevention diet. The diet is everything we imagined it could be and more—capable of quickly and effectively changing the actual structure of the breast, capable of changing the flow in the body of hormones that induce breast cancer from the very first day. It’s a fun diet with lots of variation and many other benefits, from preventing heart disease and building stronger bones to losing unwanted body fat. But first and foremost it is a diet that will make you feel the best you have ever felt. This diet is carefully designed to lift your mood rather than dump it—as is so common when you’re asked to give up the food you love. You’ll also find this is a highly satiating diet that will make it far easier to shed unwanted fat. What you will find in the following chapters is a full account of the foods that cause breast cancer and the treasured foods that prevent breast cancer. You’ll also find laid out a range of breast cancer diets:

a diet for women with high estrogen levels, i.e., those who have not reached menopause

a diet for women with low estrogen levels, i.e., for those who are past menopause

a diet after breast cancer, a breast cancer survivor’s diet

an intensive intervention program for women at high risk, using several powerful supplements

a breast cancer prevention diet; the earlier your daughters start, the better their chances of entirely avoiding this cancer

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