Sushi Helps Prevent Breast Cancer

By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Medicine

From ribbons to teddy bears to tee shirts, October is the month for pink. Or to be more specific – it’s that time of year when everyone is reminded of breast cancer. Of course, if you or someone you love has ever lived with breast cancer, you certainly don’t need a reminder. And there’s something a bit unsettling about the commercialization of such a devastating disease.

A friend of mine named Jean is particularly irritated by the annual “pinkwashing” campaign. It’s not that she’s against fundraising for a good cause. But it irks her that some high-profile corporate marketing campaigns launched in connection with Breast Cancer Awareness Month actually manufacture products that may be contributing to rising rates of the disease. Case in point: Cosmetics companies like Avon, Revlon, Estee Lauder, and Mary Kay which make products containing phthalates, parabens and other hormone-disrupting chemicals that may affect the development of breast cancer.

Of course, some non-profit organizations like the Breast Cancer Fund and Breast Cancer Action work tirelessly in an effort to eradicate breast cancer. And these groups aren’t backed by corporate money. Instead they are made up of ordinary men and women like you and me.

But, even though I applaud their efforts, ending the breast cancer epidemic is a “big picture” kind of thing. And most of us think that may be a bit beyond our scope as individuals. Yet, even if you can’t single-handedly wipe out this disease that primarily affects women, there are several things you can do to protect yourself from breast cancer. For one thing, you just might want to forget about spending your greenbacks of all those pink things. Instead, take that money and treat yourself to some sushi.

Roll Up Good Health

According to a recent study in the Journal of Nutrition, a diet containing seaweed – the stuff that holds your California Roll together – may reduce the amounts of estrogen circulating in the body. And lower estrogen levels mean there's less fuel available for the development of estrogen-dependent cancers, like breast cancer.

Like some studies before it, this one took note that Japanese women – whose diets contain considerable amounts of seaweed – have significantly lower breast cancer rates. Conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, the study’s researchers had rats consume bladderwrack seaweed, which is closely related to two Japanese favorites, wakame and kombu seaweed.

The study included 24 female rats, split into three different groups. One group was given 70 mg. of kelp daily, another group got 35 mg. and a third group served as a control. To make sure the rats ate the correct dose of dried kelp, it was sprinkled onto their favorite food, apples. After four weeks, the researchers tested the rats’ blood for estradiol and found that the group getting 35 mg. had a more than 12 nanogram drop in their estrogen levels. The researchers then tested kelp on human ovarian cells and found that the cells’ estrogen levels also fell.

Go Low

But sushi may not be the only reason Japanese women seem to enjoy more protection against breast cancer. Their traditional diet is also low in fat – which may be another key to bolstering your defenses.

Recent results from the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) found that breast cancer survivors who follow a low-fat diet reduce their risk of a recurrence during the next five years by 24 percent. The five year study tracked two groups of women, aged 48 to 79, who had received treatment for early breast cancer. One group received nutrition counseling to learn how to reduce their fat consumption, while the other group was merely told about healthful eating without fat reduction. The first group decreased the fat in their diets from about 29 percent to 20 percent, eating an average of 33 grams of fat a day. The second group, on the other hand, averaged about 51 grams daily. Needless to say, the low-fat group stood a much better chance of being cancer-free after five years.

While dietary fat, especially saturated fat, may play a role in breast cancer, eating a low-fat diet also causes weight loss. Studies repeatedly link being overweight with a greater risk of postmenopausal breast cancer and breast cancer recurrence. In the Nurses’ Health Study, large weight gains after a diagnosis of breast cancer correlated with a 64 percent greater risk of recurrence; smaller weight gains led to smaller increases in risk.

One Last Thing ...

Now, I’m not saying that breast cancer doesn’t deserve – or need – all of this publicity. After all, an estimated 211,240 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed this year alone. Of those, approximately 40,410 women will die from the disease. The good news is that, thanks largely to early detection, a growing number of women survive this dreaded disease.

But education is what’s important – learning how to prevent breast cancer, how to treat it and how to keep it from coming back – not corporate hype. Yet companies keep rolling out the pink stuff every October, even though they produce carcinogenic and hormone-disrupting goods the rest of the year. As if simply shopping can really make a difference . . .

This Just In ...

Since we’re on the subject of breast cancer, there an exciting new study that just landed on my desk. According to researchers at the University of Texas, the common curry spice tumeric can halt the spread of breast cancer – effectively keeping it from traveling to the lungs. The secret to tumeric’s effectiveness is a compound called curcumin.

Even though the study results are early, the researchers found that the nontoxic spice not only repelled progression of the disease to the lungs, it also appeared to reverse the effects of paclitaxel (TaxolTM), a commonly prescribed chemotherapy for breast cancer that can trigger the spread of the disease over a long period of time.

Because Taxol is so toxic, it activates a protein that produces an inflammatory response that induces metastasis. Curcumin suppresses this response, making it impossible for the cancer to spread. In fact, the folks at UT found that adding curcumin to Taxol actually enhances its effect. Curcumin breaks down the dose, making the therapy less toxic and just as powerful.

The study included 60 female mice which were given injections of human breast cancer cells. The mice were then randomly assigned to one of four groups: a control group, Taxol only, curcumin only and a combination of Taxol and curcumin. After the tumors grew to the size of a pea, they were surgically removed. Cancer spread was seen in 96 percent of the mice in the control group and those treated with Taxol experienced a modest reduction in metastasis. But the groups that got either curcumin or curcumin plus Taxol had a significant reduction in both the incidence and numbers of visible lung metastases.

So if you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer and chemo is your only option, try spicing up your meals with some tumeric. You can also get curcumin in supplement form. Look for a tumeric supplement that has been standardized to provide 90 to 95 percent curcumin and take 250 to 500 mg. three times a day.

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References:

Aggarwal B, et al. “Curcumin Suppresses the Paclitaxel-induced NF-B Pathway in Breast Cancer Cells and Inhibits Lung Metastasis of Human Breast Cancer in Nude Mice.” Clinical Cancer Research. 2005;11.

“Breast Cancer Facts & ‘Figures: 2005-2006.” American Cancer Society

Collins K. “Will a Lowfat Diet Fight Breast Cancer?” American Institute for Cancer Research.

Skibola CF, Curry JD, VandeVoort C, et al. “Brown Kelp Modulates Endocrine Hormones in Female Sprague-Dawley Rats and in Human Luteinized Granulosa Cells.” Journal of Nutrition. 2005;135: 296-300.

Think Before You Pink. Available at www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org.