Recent research suggests that eating 19 specific vegetables, fruits, and fish could significantly lower your risk of breast cancer, according to the article, "Nineteen Foods to Prevent Breast Cancer," by Dr. John H. Mahler, ABAAHP, published on the NaturalHealthWeb.com site. Also note that cold water fish such as wild salmon and sardines are included in the diet. Butter is mentioned, but not margarine due to its trans-fat content.
For those desiring medium fatty acid chains instead of the long fatty acid chains in saturated fat such as butter, coconut oil is a saturated fat with medium fatty acid chains. Off the list of best foods to prevent breast cancer are red meats and processed meats. See the article, "Red Meat & Breast Cancer – Cancer Information (Cancers, Symptoms." According to the Nov 13, 2006 article published on the MedicineNet.com site, "Eating more than one serving of red meat every day may double a woman’s risk of developing some forms of breast cancer."
When it comes to learning about butter and butter fats, it’s a diet high in the long fatty acid chains you may want to avoid from saturated animal fats. On the other hand, butter contains butyric acid, that does have some health benefits. You could use a monosaturated oil such as extra virgin olive oil. Or for baking, rice bran oil that heats to a higher temperature has claims that it may lower cholesterol. Check out those studies. Or you could do a 50 percent raw vegetarian diet and not have to heat your oils. The choice is yours.
Here’s information on the saturated dairy fat, butter, according to the article, "Free Fatty Acids : Butter," at the "Butter Through the Ages" site. According to the article, "milk fat is comprised mostly of triglycerides, with small amounts of mono- and diglycerides, phospholipids, glycolipids, and lipo-proteins. The trigylcerides (98% of milkfat) are of diverse composition with respect to their component fatty acids, approximately 40% of which are unsaturated fat firmness varies with chain length, degree of unsaturation, and position of the fatty acids on the glycerol."
The site has a graphic table showing measurements of the amounts of fatty acids in butter. The site notes, "Although long-chain fatty acids are present at higher concentrations in butter, they do not make a significant contribution to flavor. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), on the other hand, do play an important role in butter’s flavor."
Here are the 19 specific vegetables, fruits, and fish said to help prevent breast cancer
#1 Yellow orange vegetables — Eating foods high in beta- carotene has been linked in many studies to lower rates of breast cancer. Tip: Baby carrots beta-carotene is more absorbable then regular carrots and carrots beta-carotene is 500% more absorbable than in raw carrots.
#2 Cruciferous vegetables– radish, broccoli, cauliflower, rutabaga, cabbage, turnips, turnip greens, contain indole -3-carbinol, which lowers women’s levels of a type of estrogen that may promote breast cancer.(16-hydroxy- estradiol and 16-hydroxy-estrone).
Tip: Look for BroccoSprouts, a brand of broccoli sprouts with megalevels of SGS, a compound that fights mammary tumors in mice. #3 Warm a mug of 1%-2% organic hormone free milk (Alta Dena) , add 1 tbs. ground almonds, pumpkin seed or walnuts or 1/4 tbs. natural almond extract, and enjoy it at bedtime. Why not fat-free milk? Because there’s an intriguing compound in milk fat (including butter)– conjugated linoleic acid — that fights breast cancer cells in test tubes and animals.
#4 Eat tomatoes, including cooked, dried, soups, juice and sauces, even Ketch-up to fill up on a compound called lycopene. Diets high in lycopene are linked to lower rates of breast and prostate cancer.
#5 Give up the red wine and eat grapes instead. More than one alcoholic beverage a day increases your risk of breast cancer. But concord grapes have cancer-fighting antioxidant power.
#6 Eat cold water fish (salmon ,tuna*, anchovies, swordfish, polluck, crab, sardines) and omega-3 rich nuts and seeds (walnut, pumpkin, flax).Research suggests that women with higher tissue levels of omega-3s have lower rates of breast cancer. <*not light tuna.>
#7 Women whose diets are higher in vitamin D have less breast cancer. To ensure that you get the recommended level, add Vitamin D to a healthy diet, advise many experts, especially in climates or lifestyles with out year round sun (20 minutes a day).
#8 Eat a small bowel of dark cherries. Cherries are a top source of a compound that may inhibit mammary cancer in rats.
#9 Compounds called limonoids, found in the peel and white membrane of oranges, inhibit breast cancer in test tubes. Eat whole fruit oranges and tangerines. Look for herbal teas made w/ orange lemon peel. Use real orange and lemon oils in cooking and health drinks.
#10 Avoid refined grains and choose whole grains instead. At least one study has shown that women who ate the most refined grains had more breast cancer. Another study showed women who ate one serving a day of a cereal high in wheat bran lowered their level of breast cancer -promoting estrogen.
#11 Use butter over margarine. Butter contains CLA’s mentioned in #3. One study suggests that a diet higher in trans fats may increase the risk of breast cancer. Margarine, most french fries, both frozen and fast-food, and many processed and fried foods made with hydrogenated fats are a top trans fat source. If you prefer margarine, use a trans-fat free brand.
#12 Drink green tea, hot or cold. Green tea is rich in EGCG, a compound that inhibits breast cancer cells in mice. Caffienated brands have twice as much potency as uncaffienated. And most bottled brands have little. Mix with herbal teas and lemon peel for taste, or naturally sweeten with a little Concord grape juice or super low glycemic Agave.
#13 Instead of commercial "olive oil" dressings – usually made with a mixture of oils — make your own easy dressing with half olive oil, half balsamic vinegar. Mediterranean women who eat lots of olive oil have low rates of breast cancer, studies show.
#14 Garlic kills breast cancer cells in the test tube and maybe in you. But if you’re going to cook garlic, always peel and chop, then let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before you heat. Heating right away doesn’t allow time for the cancer-fighting compounds to develop.
#15 Women in one study who ate a serving of spinach at least twice a week had half the rate of breast cancer of women who avoided it .
#16 Flavorful veggie burgers and sausage won’t form the same compounds that meat does when it’s being cooked and those compounds may explain why women who eat lots of red meat and lots of very well done meat seem to get more breast cancer.
#17 Why flaxseed? Because it has 75 times more lignin precursors, compounds that inhibit mammary tumors in animals.
# 18 Add soy. Soy’s isoflavinoids work as weak estrogens, blocking the more powerful estrogens from stimulating estrogen sensitive cancer cells.
#19 Phyto herbs, like don quai, fennel, black cohosh are also weak estrogens that compete with stronger estrogens for estrogen receptor sites. These are found in many “Change of life formulas.
For further information, see the article, "Nineteen Foods to Prevent Breast Cancer." You’ll notice that red meat and processed meats have been left off the list of the 19 best foods for preventing breast cancer. You might wish to read the articles, Breast Cancer Risk Linked To Red Meat, Study Finds, Does red meat cause breast cancer? and Red meat raises breast cancer risk – Women’s health- msnbc.com. Also see the article, Eating Red And Processed Meat Associated With Increased Risk Of Death (Mar. 24, 2009).
Studies of Red and Processed Meats and their Link to Breast and Colon Cancers
There are several mechanisms by which meat may be associated with death, the authors of the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. note. Cancer-causing compounds are formed during high-temperature cooking of meat, according to the March 24, 2009 ScienceDaily article, " Eating Red And Processed Meat Associated With Increased Risk Of Death." Meat also is a major source of saturated fat, which has been associated with breast and colorectal cancer. In addition, lower meat intake has been linked to a reduction in risk factors for heart disease, including lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
The ScienceDaily article reports, "These results complement the recommendations by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund to reduce red and processed meat intake to decrease cancer incidence," the authors conclude. "Future research should investigate the relation between subtypes of meat and specific causes of mortality."
The Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Cancer Institute supported research in part. For further information see, JAMA and Archives Journals (2009, March 24). "Eating Red And Processed Meat Associated With Increased Risk Of Death." ScienceDaily. Also see the articles, "Study Finds Red meat not a breast cancer risk factor in post-menopausal women," and "Eating red meat during adolescence might heighten risk of breast cancer."
References
Sinha et al. Meat Intake and Mortality: A Prospective Study of Over Half a Million People. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2009; 169 (6): 562 DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.6
Barry M. Popkin. Reducing Meat Consumption Has Multiple Benefits for the World’s Health. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2009; 169 (6): 543 DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.2
Resources
Arch Intern Med — Meat Intake and Mortality: A Prospective Study Breast Cancer Risk Linked To Red Meat,
Study Finds Red meat not a breast cancer risk factor in post-menopausal women
Breast Cancer Topic: can dropping red meat, dairy and sugar stop cancer growth?
Eating red meat during adolescence might heighten risk of breast cancer
Red and processed meat linked to breast cancer | Health | Reuters
Red Meat & Breast Cancer – Cancer Information (Cancers, Symptoms)
Photo credits: Flickr.com
Leave Your Comments