Cancer, whether cancer of the breast, or any other type of cancer, creates a strange set of problems. More than any other condition there are such divergent ideas about what causes it, how it grows and thrives, what maintains it, and ultimately how it is cured and what eliminates it.

If your car has a flat tire, you almost immediately know that the flat has occurred. There are signs and symptoms which immediately tell you that you have a problem. When a flat occurs there are only a few reasons why this has happened. Most likely a nail or some other sharp object has punctured your tire, since air has been released, there is now less air in the tire and you can either see of feel that something is wrong. Therefore fixing a flat tire is relatively easy, you look for the cause of the problem, you check the overall condition of the tire, and then you either fix the tire or you toss it out and get a new tire.

You can do a similar kind of process with almost any “illness” and if you do, you are likely to find the cause of the illness which can now help you to create a cure. If you cannot find the exact reason for the illness, then possibly you can make a reasonable supposition about what the cause is or might be, and then you can at least work toward a cure. With cancer, since there are so many different types of cancer, and literally hundreds of reasons have been posed for its occurrence, the process of identifying the cause and creating a cure has laterally broken down.

To make all of this worse we have broken the causes and cures of cancer into two almost irreconcilable fields of study, standard western medicine which looks at cancer as either genetics gone wrong, toxic chemicals, radiation or simply bad luck, and secondly, alternative or holistic medicine which looks at cancer as a disease of civilization, a series of dietary problems (refined and processed food, chemicals in the food, etc.), unresolved anger and hostility. While there is some overlap between these philosophies, and especially peoples beliefs regarding its causes, there is much less overlap when we consider their approach regarding prevention and treatment.

In order to create any type of prevention or healing process we must have some idea of the cause(s). As a rule of thumb, when in life, something seems to have many reasons or causes at its root, it is likely that 1) no one yet knows the exact cause, 2) there may not be one cause (hence, not necessarily one cure), or 3) the cause is recognized, but not yet agreed upon.

So it is with breast cancer. It is likely there are several causes and we must, for each individual attempt to find the exact cause and reason for the cancer occurring in this particular person. While initially we may generalize and suspect a large number of causes, eventually as the evaluation proceeds we must narrow the process to look for one or two specific cause in any one person. At some point, good old detective work must be used to narrow down the number of suspects and focus on the most obvious, then the most likely causes, finally, the one to which the preponderance of evidence seems to point to. From here, as Sherlock Holmes might have done, we test the evidence against the facts and plan a way to catch the culprit and bring it to justice. In the case of cancer, to slow it down, stop its growth, reverse its growth, and finally, eliminate it completely, or as we would like to say, cure it.

Prevention

As the old proverb goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” Within the information we plan cover below, and in subsequent documents, remember if you one, prevent the problem (cancer from occurring) in the first place or two catch it very early, you are much less likely to be forced to endure the pain, anxiety, suffering, major lifestyle, fears, risks and side effects associated with western medical treatments or the confusion and conflict of dealing with poorly documented, and often negated by the medical profession, treatments associated with alternative medicine.

Two other rules of thumb, might also be helpful: 1. “If something you can do acts to prevent a problems, then this same thing will also likely to work toward treating the problem.” 2. Its corollary often also works, “If a treatment helps to cure a problem, it may also help to prevent a problem.” In this second corollary, the rule is that the intensity, dosage and degree of rigidity associated with treatment may not be as great as what may be needed for prevention. In other words, use common sense in applying information about treatment toward prevention.

Diet and Cancer

No aspect of prevention or treatment of cancer, especially cancer of the breast, is more confusing then the issue of diet. What and how much you should eat, what is good for you and what is bad for you, and what that either causes or cures cancer of the breast are still difficult questions to answer.

The differences between the most agreed upon standard western approach to prevention and treatment and alternative/holistic dietary approaches are often 180 degrees in opposition with each other. While the standard western approach suggests a low fat, low cholesterol, low calorie dietary approach, it often does not suggest the elimination of processed and/or refined foods, chemical additives nor apparently does it care where the food you eat comes from. Such as highly fattened, penned, corn feed beef or chickens, shot up with hormones or vegetables and fruits grown in synthetic fertilizers, sprayed with many different toxic chemicals or even whether it is appropriate to reduce, even eliminate, beef from your diet). While on the other hand, current the holistic approach suggests that the problem is that you should not be eating a low fat, low cholesterol diet, low calorie diet on a daily basis or that you should eliminate processed and refined foods, chemical additives, eat only wild, free range meats, certified organic vine ripened vegetables and fruits, and that you must be very careful, even rigidly careful of where your food comes from. They may agree that you can eat beef, but only if it is free range grass fed beef, with no exposure to hormones or chemicals added to it.

Fats, Fatty Acids and Cancer

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: There are good fats and bad fats, omega-3 fatty acids are good fats and should be increased in your diet to help prevent breast cancer. The beneficial omega-3 fats won't work as well for protecting you from cancer if your diet also contains a lot of omega-6 fats. The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats in your diet can be important. Generally, you do want not to consume too much omega-6 fats in relation to total omega-3 fats. A typical western diet contains nearly 20 times as much omega-6 fats as it does omega-3 fats. The best and often easiest ratio to maintain, for overall health is no more then a 4:1– omega-6 fatty acid to omega-3 fatty acids, ratio.

Omega-3 fats are found in flaxseed, walnuts, and in oily fish, like sardines, salmon, trout, and mackerel. Omega-6 fats, on the other hand. are primarily found in refined cooking oils such as soy oil, corn oil, sunflower, safflower oil, in margarine, and in most processed and refined foods that use these oils. Since omega -6 oils and fatty acids interfere with the protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids again cancer and especially breast cancer, it is best to limit your intake of omega-6 fats. In do this change from the oils above and use olive oil for cooking and butter for frying. Too much omega-6 fats and oils can increase your risk of heart and coronary artery disease.

An excellent article outlining a realistic cancer prevention, cancer treatment diet, can be found at the Weston A Price Foundation website in an article written by Thomas Cowan, M.D. called “A Holistic Approach to Cancer.”

Dr. Cowan’s approach makes great sense to me and fits with my feelings and approach. He suggests:

1.    Eliminate as much as possible all sugar from your diet. This not only includes white and brown sugars, molasses, corn and other syrups, but also all refined and process carbohydrates including potatoes, sweet potatoes corn, grains and lactose sugars found milk, even raw milk, should be avoided.
2.    Approximately 80% of your daily calories should be from non saturated, non-trans fat, fats. If we are not eating sugar you will still need energy and you can best get energy from fats. The source of the fat (other then not saturated and non-trans fats, is less important than that it be free of antibiotics, hormones and all other potentially toxic chemicals.
3.    Protein should be just enough to keep you from walking around hungry, but not more. Depending on the individual between 3 to 6 ounces, divided into two meals each day.
4.    Small amount of vegetables, just enough to get normal amount of vitamins and minerals needed by your body.

The rational Dr. Cowan uses is very close to my own personal view point. Sugar feeds cancers, fat does not. If our diet is based on carbohydrates that turn into sugar upon digestion, you are not just using this for the energy, for whatever is left over either turns into body fat and is stored, OR it feeds cancer cells and keeps them alive, growing and reproducing.

Since most primitive ancestors were either gathers or hunters, or hunter-gatherers, they had very little vegetable matter and almost no sugars in their diet. Our genetics operates on the basis of 50,000 years of evolution as hunter-gatherers eating game meats, nuts, berries, roots, herbs, and occasionally fruits. Our ancestors turned the fats they ate into ketones and these ketones not only feed our muscles and brain, but the rest of our body. Since there were no refined sugars, there were no enzymes needed to break them down or utilize them, hence very little risk of cancer.

For greater details on the fats to be used, amounts and how this approach works we suggest you consult Dr. Cowan’s article.

Vitamins-Minerals and Supplements

A range of B vitamins along with a basically healthy diet, can provide all of the important vitamins and minerals your body needs to function normally. The list is a compost of a number of different approaches. Since there have been no single long term, well-done, comprehensive study regarding what will or will not work for cancer patients, so we elected to review about 10 different approaches and provide our readers with a range from the lowest recommendation to the highest recommendations. Hence, each vitamin or mineral has after it a range. for example: Vitamin A, Beta Carotene, 700-3,000 µg/day, that is at its lowest recommendations some studies suggested only 700 µg/day while at the high end, none recommended greater than 3,000 µg/day.

The above list is significant in a number of different ways:

2.    Vitamin D has been thoroughly studied and there is substantial evidence that it can possibly shrink cancers cell and prevent the reproduction and growth of cancer cells. Its highest benefits appear to be operating when blood levels of vitamin D 25-OH is greater than 100 ng/ml. 5000 IU daily has been found to be safe and effective, It may or may not be enough to raise blood levels above 100 ng/ml, however, currently dosages above 5000 IU are not yet considered to be safe.

3.    Studies that have demonstrated that Glutathione (GSH) is a powerful antioxidant and that it is capable of detoxifying carcinogens. Researchers examined blood sample from more than 700 breast-cancer patients and all were very low in glutathione, when compared to non cancer patients who were healthy and of similar age. Glutathione is important to support the immune system and provide resistance to bacteria, viruses and cancer. Elevated glutathione levels also enhance our ability to both resist and fight off toxins, infectious disease, pre-cancerous cells and the aging process itself. Unfortunately, glutathione given orally is ineffective. It must be given by intravenous (IV) infusion in order to raise blood levels to a point where it can fight infection or cancer. For more information on Glutathione on www.PreventiveMedicinePS.Com, click here.

4.    Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and has very well documented powers for fighting infection and cancer. It can be given orally or by IV infusion. Go to article on Vitamin C drip on www.PreventiveMedicinePS.Com, click here.

5.    Vitamin E, especially in the form of tocotrienols, has been shown to be a powerful antioxidant and immune system stimulant and can be used lower the risk of breast cancer. The alpha-tocopherol form of vitamins E is not protective against breast cancer and while it can be used for other reasons, it is has no special value when used for protection against breast cancer. The food sources of tocotrienols are rice bran, barley, and wheat germ. This is yet another piece of evidence regarding the benefits of whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat, barley) versus the refined counterparts, if you are going to eat grains. This however is in contrast with Dr. Thomas Cowan’s approach suggesting little or no grain in the diet. This clearly must be reconciled with whether to eat grains or not, and if not, whether to take a supplements in order to obtain the benefits of vitamin E, tocotrienols. Unrefined palm oil is also an excellent source of tocotrienols. Vitamin E is most effective when taken along with Selenium, 200 mg.

Do Vitamins and Minerals Worsen Your Cancer Risk?

Several studies have suggested that average multivitamin formulas can increase your risk of breast cancer. Many physicians believe that if you at high risk for cancer, all other vitamins and minerals, other than suggested above, should be stopped and eliminated. This construct is still being evaluated and studied and may either be recognized or disproved, so stay alert to this topic.

What Should I Eat?

Possibly more important than which foods you should eat is the quality of the food you do eat. While professionals may disagree on which specific foods are good or bad for you, which will cause or potentiate cancer, most agree that a well-balanced diet, with adequate protein and fiber, moderate complex carbohydrates (fruits and vegetable), nuts, seeds and roots, is the starting place. Most well-trained professionals will also tell you that you should avoid highly processed and refined foods, foods are covered with toxic chemicals or pesticides, foods picked early before fruition (as they are lower in nutrients), and foods shot up with antibiotics and hormones. If they get this message across to you than the have done you a great service. Picking your food so that they are healthy and will not undermine or injure your immune system is most important. Togo along with this we suggest eating primarily certified vine-ripened organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and roots. Vine ripened means that these foods reached fruition when they have their highest complement of essential nutrients. Certified organic means no chemical fertilizers or insecticides or other chemicals were used during its growth. Therefore these foods are as healthy as they can be and as close as possible right from nature.

If you eat meats then try to pick more wild, deep water fish, range or grass fed beef, and range chickens, lamb, veal, pork, turkey as they are the healthier and better choices for meats.

What About Soy?

Soy is often suggested as food to be eaten to prevent breast cancer, however, research on soy in relation to breast cancer presents some very conflicting results. While many studies have suggested a protective effect, not all studies support this. One study found that the major phytoestrogens in soy, genistein and daidzein, may actually stimulate breast tumor growth in laboratory animals when given at low concentrations, but had the opposite effect at high concentrations. A study using soy and curcumin together suggested a 100% affect in stopping tumor growth.

Proponents of soy often state the fact that Japanese consume soy and have very low breast cancer rates and suggest that this proves that soy can reduce the risk or even prevent breast cancer. The problem with this belief system is that traditional Japanese diet differs greatly from the typical Western diet in too many ways to allow correlation. For one the Japanese eat large amounts of fish and seaweed, and eat fermented soy in small amounts, and not even as a main staple. This differs from using soy as a main source in the diet and then trying to compare one to the other. The results regarding the value of soy are still unclear and as such suggest against it being the main source of protein in a woman’s diet for the sole purpose of protecting her from breast cancer.

What About Losing Weight?

Obesity has long been considered a significant risk factor for breast cancer. Now, however, it appears that obesity alone may not be the culprit. New studies suggest that it is more likely that a condition called insulin resistance or hyperinsulinemia, along with elevated estrogen levels, and elevated insulin-like growth factor, may all working together synergistically, may be what acts to increase the risk of breast cancer. While the exact mechanism has not been determined, it looks much like the following:

Women with insulin resistance or hyperinsulinemia (also called syndrome X or metabolic syndrome) have higher levels of insulin in their blood because the cells in their body are resisting insulin. Because of this her body increases her production of insulin to levels way above normal amounts. This series of events appears to be related to eating too much simple (refined) carbohydrates such as breads, potatoes, rice, corn, baked goods, sugar filled sodas and other sugary drinks, cakes, cookies, desserts, and some sweet fruits. These foods are all known to be high Glycemic Index’s (GI) foods. Carbohydrate foods with low glycemic index (those which digest slowly) such as lentils, beans, barley, most vegetables, and some fruits and medium glycemic index, pasta and certain kinds of breads, do not act in the same way.  

When insulin levels are elevated, your cells start resisting the normal action of insulin, this then leads to insulin-resistant cells. Because they do not take up insulin, they cannot breakdown sugars, therefore they do not use glucose (blood sugar) to create the energy the her body needs to work effectively. The blood sugar that is no longer being used, now ends up being stored by the body as body fat (this why obesity appears to be the problem). Since the woman’s cells are not being feed, she feels hungry and eats more food, hence potentiating the cycle. This process stimulates increased production of estrogen which then overstimulates her breasts which then leads to breast cancer.

The best remedy for hyperinsulinemia is to change your diet and only eat foods with low glycemic index, specifically protein and vegetables. Exercise can also help to lower insulin levels. Because the typical western diet contains large amounts of  the high GI foods, this mechanism potentiates breast cancer as a disease of the affluent modern western world.

Flaxseed, Cruciferous Vegetables

Flaxseed, cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, etc. and omega-3 fatty acids rich foods such as flax and fatty fish, can reduce the amount of the carcinogenic estrogen metabolites and increase healthy estrogens. Flaxseed has also been even shown to reduce breast cancer tumor size in rats in several studies.

Flax, flax seed or flax oil should be part of every persons diet anyway, because flax is among the better sources of the essential omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linolenic acid, or ALA. The lignans in flaxseed help protect women against breast cancer. Unfortunately they are found mainly in flaxseed and not in the flax oil. Flaxseed should always be ground up before using it as unground flax seeds don't digest well. They can be added to whole grain breads, muffins, or other baked goods, or sprinkled on oatmeal or in your salads.

Vegetarian vs Non-Vegetarian Diet

While evidence shows that a diet which is very high in meat may increase your risk of breast cancer there is still no good evidence that a vegetarian diets will significantly reduce your risk. Vegetarian diets do work for some women. No meat diets can be equally dangerous for women who are Fast Oxidizers. They can develop a number of other medical problems undermine their immune system and ultimately sabotage themselves trading one set of problem for one or more other sets of problems. We are nut impugning vegetarian diets only recommending that you should be sure that it will be healthy for you. Dr. Thomas Cowan discusses this in his article A Holistic Approach to Cancer, or go to What Oxidation Type Are You? To learn what type of a diet you should be eating to maximize your health.

Summary of Information on A Breast Cancer Protection Diet

• Avoid most vitamin-mineral products, use the formula list above.
• Avoid sugar in all of its forms including ALL processed and refined foods, especially simple carbohydrates baked goods, sugary foods and drinks, bread, deserts, pastas and such.. While they may taste good, they are generally lower in nutrition, higher in bad fats, salt, chemical preservatives, additives, food coloring and dyes. None of these are good for your immune system and all of them make your body work harder and in one way or another they undermine your immune system’s ability to protect you.
• Read labels and research ingredients.
• Fat itself is not the culprit, if is specifically trans fat and saturated fats that must be avoided. We do not recommend a low fat or low cholesterol diet for prevention or treatment of breast cancer unless heart disease is a problem on its own.

Click here for a list of five food groups that can lower your risk of breast cancer.

For a Holistic Approach to Treating Breast Cancer, click here.

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