Are whole grains good for breast cancer patients?

Are whole grains good for breast cancer patients? Why is all the discussion about early detection and so little about prevention?

Breast cancer accounts for one-third of the malignant tumours in the USA; it's the second leading cause of death from a malignant tumour. The incidence is increasing by 0.6 percent per year; that is massive.

Yet death from breast cancer in the US is decreasing in part due to "decreasing use of hormone replacement therapy^[1]."

Worldwide it's the leading cause of death from a malignant tumour. The incidence in those enjoying typical grocery store food in America is five time greater than in Europe and Africa. Could whole grains have something to do with it?

Wholegrain flour

Eminent cardiologist Dr Wilfred Shute declared that acute myocardial infarction prior to the milling and refinement of flour was almost unknown; yet today CV disease is the leading cause of death. He attributed it to the vitamin E, a proven anticoagulant. 

Could the extreme difficulty of finding whole grains in a grocery store also have something to do with the exploding incidence of breast cancer? Could there be other factors in 100% complete flour that have an influence in the prevention of malignant breast disease?

• My sourdough bread journey
  

Risk factors

Many risk factors are outside of our control. For example, women over 65 have a RR of over 4.

RR stands for Relative Risk factor; they are 4 times more likely to suffer from breast cancer than younger women.

Age in fact is the biggest risk factor, especially from 50 to 80, peaking around 65. All women have to take breast cancer seriously.

A family history of cancer also has a RR of over 4 but there is nothing one can do about that.

Ionising radiation

One extremely disturbing risk factor for me as a DC is that according to Medscape any woman who has had ionising thoracic exposure before the age of 30 has a RR of 22 to 40; that is mind-blowing^[1].

In 45 years of practice how many women under the age of 30 have I sent for a chest or thoracic spine x-ray?

Having children

It's a good idea for women to have their first child before the age of 35; later the relative risk factor is quite large at around 3. Breast feeding the infant also reduces the dangers quite significantly.

Commercial alcohol and smoking each independently increase the risk by about 50%; together the RR soars.

• Tobacco, obesity and alcohol are three preventable causes of cancer
  

Hormones

Hugely challenging but for every woman to weigh is that recent oral contraceptive use increases the risk by up to 50%; some research suggests less at 24 percent, other more with a RR of 2 for over 10 years of use.

Both recent and long-term use of hormone replacement therapy containing both oestrogen and progestin also increases the relative risk by about 50%.

But progestin only has little risk.

All women using exogenous hormones should be eating whole grains daily; prevention remains better than a cure for ever.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes which is absolutely soaring worldwide also increases the risk of breast cancer by about 50%; and that brings us back to whole grains.

• The 10 year diabetes rule

Are whole grains good for breast cancer patients? One of the reasons why scientists give an assertive yes is because 100% meal gives protection against type 2 diabetes.

Whole grains

Just one helping of a whole grain each day reduces the risk of breast cancer by nearly 50%; that too is massive^[2].

The great difficulty is whole grains require chewing and that in the main takes time; an exception would be stone ground grits. But it is almost impossible to buy except at great expense; and it has a limited shelf life. We personally resorted to purchasing a mill.

True wholegrain grits is one of the simple cornerstones of giving great protection against breast cancer and in fact most diseases; the fibre feeds the microbiome normalizing systemic inflammation.

• Re-establish the intestinal microbes
  

Lignans

Arguably the most important phytonutrients in the bran of whole grains are the lignans. These phenolic anti-oxidant substances have a similar structure to oestrogen. Bacteria in the gut devour them, releasing enterodiol that competes at sites in the breast tissue with circulating female hormones.

Scientists think that it is these lignans in the bran of whole grains that give women such great protection against malignant breast tumours.

• What are lignans?

Flax and sesame seeds are the other great sources of lignans; and easier to locate than whole grains.

• Grinding flax seeds for their lignans

Lignans protect the prostate gland too.

Brown rice and corn on the cob

Brown rice and corn on the cob are the only two whole grains that are readily available. One is expensive and the other seasonal; I suspect that neither are eaten frequently by those consuming mainly grocery store food.

True 100% wheat flour barely exists, though the Big Fat Lie persists; milling companies can by international law remove up to 40% of the goodies, the bran and germ and still label their product as whole grain.

There's no question of it, the completely unrefined stone-ground flour on the left is quite shockingly different to the "wholemeal" on the right; chalk and cheese.

Chewing

Despite the strong correlation between whole grains and general human health, the shift has been strongly away from foods that require chewing towards ultra-processed meals.

• Whole foods are chewy
• How to get more fiber
  

Conclusions

The only conclusion we can come to is that very few people consume sufficient lignans; and many probably almost none at all. Grinding flax or sesame seeds in the home is not high on many cooks' agendas and  true whole grains are difficult to locate.

The average American eats about 5 pounds of fresh sweet corn per year; about 10 cobs. That amounts to less than one a month.

Are whole grains good for breast cancer patients?

Are whole grains good for breast cancer patients? It's about the lignans that are located in the bran.

It's all about prevention, establishing the beneficial flora in the gut and normalising generalised inflammation in the body.

• How to make kefir
  

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