Every year in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is celebrated.
And, according to Dr. J.E. Williams, raising more money for research, the primary purpose of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), does little to help an individual woman’s daily effort to prevent cancer. The fact that BCAM is a pharmaceutical industry marketing campaign calls in question research motives.
The war against cancer is an example of modern medicine’s efforts against advanced disease using maximum intervention based on high cost therapies, drugs, and procedures. Where do all the funds go? Are we wasting billions of dollars of government and private funding?
So much of what we have to do, to prevent disease occurs at home. For breast cancer survivors, prevention of recurrence requires awareness every day of the year for many years. This quiet battle goes on behind big media’s awareness campaign, but can make more impact on a single woman’s struggle to prevent and beat breast cancer than the multi billion-dollar research industry.
Though Dr. Williams’ clinical work emphasizes personalized functional medicine, when it comes to supplements there are some generalizations that work for most women, most of the time.
5 Supplements That Help Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
- Flaxseed Lignans — secoisolariciresinol diglycoside 50-100 mg
- Green Tea Polyphenols — epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) 200-400 mg
- Iodine — potassium iodide 1.0-6.25 mg
- Vitamin D3 — cholecalciferol 2,000 – 5,000 IU
- Vitamin K2 — Combination menaquinone-4 & menaquinone-7 1000mcg of each
Flaxseed Lignans
Lignans are a group of natural compounds found in fibrous plants like flax, sesame, and rye bran. Flaxseeds are a particularly rich source of lignans. Studies show that flaxseed oil, especially secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) lignan make the anti-cancer drug tamoxifen work better
Green Tea
Polyphenol compounds found in green tea are rich sources of antioxidants with powerful healing properties. Tea polyphenols protect against tumor development and inhibit tumor proliferation once cancer appears. However, it appears that just drinking green tea is not enough to prevent breast cancer. Scientists identified the cancer-beating chemical in green tea as Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which modulates estrogen receptor function to inhibit cancer cell growth.
Vitamin K2
Researchers found that menaquinone-4, the most common form of vitamin K2 reduces breast cancer proliferation. Menaquinone-7 (MK-7), however, is the form used in vitamin K2 supplements because the liver metabolizes it slower providing more vitamin K in the body. Taking MK-7 supplements raises vitamin K levels as measured in a blood test, but menaquinone-4 improves bone healing, prevents osteoporosis, and has a positive impact on the outcome of breast cancer. Until we know more, the best practice is to take a combination of menaquinone-4 and -7.
Iodine
When it comes to optimal nutrition and cancer prevention, iodine is the most misunderstood nutrient. For healthy breasts, women need enough iodine. The female breast and thyroid gland are highly hormone responsive tissues, both changing dramatically when hormone levels fluctuate.Breast tissue hyperplasia, the kind of abnormal growth that can lead to cancer, is increased in iodine deficient women and regresses when iodine is supplemented. Women with breast cancer have lower levels of iodine in breast tissue. The research strongly suggests that beating breast cancer involves normalizing thyroid hormone levels and getting enough iodine.
Vitamin D3
Several scientific studies show that supplementing with vitamin D3 reduces breast cancer risk. It seems that vitamin D3 help modulate estrogen and progesterone, hormones associated with driving breast cancer in women. In a recent European study, vitamin D and calcium supplementation was associated with lower breast cancer risk.
If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, have a mid-term strategy in mind, as well as a long-range plan of disease modification with a goal of improving your outcome. A tumor is the most active part of cancer, but not the entire cancerous process. From Dr. Williams’ clinical perspective, it’s not enough to attack the tumor.
A comprehensive, integrative strategy has proven best for patients.
Take charge of your health. Become informed. Do all that you can to prevent breast cancer, including taking these five supplements. However, remember that in extremely high dosage, especially in susceptible people, even beneficial nutrients can be toxic.
Source: Renegade Health