Dr. Sanna explains how estrogen metabolism affects breast cancer risk and shares five steps to shift toward protective estrogens: 150 minutes weekly of aerobic exercise, two servings of cruciferous vegetables daily, berries for anthocyanins, one to two tablespoons of ground flaxseed, and avoiding estrogenic chemicals in plastics and cosmetics.
1 in 28 women likely to develop breast cancer during her lifetime. If you are a woman or a man who has a mother, sister, wife, or daughter, you need to listen to this video. What causes cancer? Can we prevent it? If so, how can we prevent it? Let's plan today so we can avoid going through the diagnosis of breast cancer and then surgery, chemo, and radiation. Let's talk about estrogen. Estrogen is a key hormone in women's health, but it also plays a role in breast cancer. Let's discuss how estrogen in our body is broken down to 3 metabolites: 2-hydroxyestrone, 4-hydroxyestrone, and 16-alpha-hydroxyestrone. 2-hydroxyestrone is a good estrogen and it lowers risk of breast cancer. 4-hydroxyestrone is bad estrogen. It's strongly linked to DNA damage and breast cancer. 16-alpha-hydroxysterone is a strong estrogen as well, which is beneficial for bone health and is sometimes linked to cancer. So if we need to look into our risk, we can check various metabolites through a urine test. But there are things we can do to make sure our bodies are making the good estrogen, which is the 2-hydroxyestrone, and not the bad ones. Let's discuss 5 key points. Number 1: Exercise. There was a study done in Nigeria where they interviewed 379 breast cancer patients and 403 cancer-free controls. What they found was remarkable. Every hour of sitting was associated with 5% increase in breast cancer risk among women less than 50 years with BMI more than 25. It clearly indicated obesity and lack of exercise significantly increases the risk of breast cancer. I recommend to start with at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity like brisk walking, riding a bike, dancing, tennis. Let's go to the number 2 point. Cruciferous vegetables. Vegetables are like the good friends we always need. They detox bad estrogen by rebalancing our liver enzymes. I would start with broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, bok choy, arugula, watercress. I recommend having minimum 2 servings daily, either in form of steamed vegetables, stir-fry, green salad, or a smoothie. Number 3: Berries. Berries are nature's candy, which comes in all colors, particularly blueberries and black raspberries. They are rich in anthocyanins and ellagic acid, which helps to get rid of all of that bad estrogen. Other fruits that you can use are pomegranate, grapes, and strawberries. A mouse study was done in 2008 revealed 69% reduction in breast cancer with black raspberries and 40% with blueberries. I recommend consuming Dairies fresh as fruit. If not available, dried powder forms are equally effective. I mostly add it to my smoothies. Number 4: Flaxseeds. Studies suggest flaxseeds play a role in reducing risk of breast cancer. Flaxseeds are high in lignans, which are type of phytoestrogen. When consumed, our body decrease production of bad estrogen, which reduces our breast cancer. It has also shown to decrease growth in breast cancer patients. I strongly recommend to start with 1 to 2 tablespoons of grounded flaxseed daily. I again add it to my smoothies. Number 5, it's my not-to-do list. There are 3 main sources of bad estrogen from outside: plastics, pesticides, and cosmetics. Do not cook or store food in plastic containers. Do not consume any drinks or water from plastic bottles. I strongly recommend a good water filtering system at your home, which will help to remove all the pesticides. Lastly, cosmetics. Cosmetics are one of the big reasons why our entertainment industry is going through breast cancer epidemic. Please look at the labels. Avoid parabens, phthalates, aluminum, chemical sunscreens, toluene in nail paints. I recommend using a website, ewg.org, to look up the products. Let's help ourselves today so we can live a healthy and cancer-free life tomorrow. Thank you.
