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Breast Cancer & kind diet?

Breast Cancer & kind diet?

Started by Antoinette Reese on December 28, 2010

7 Comments

Antoinette Reese said #1 Dec 28, 2010 at 10:57am

I recently bought "The Kind Life" and have been loving every page! I really have never even tried anything Vegan before, but I am extremely interested. After seeing the documentaries Food Inc. & Food Matters along with reading and researching each day, I have come to the fact I have to try this.

My main reason for being so interested in becoming a Vegan is because of Breast Cancer. My mom currently has breast cancer and is going through radiation. I was reading in "The Kind Life" that; "Countries where dairy is not consumed the incidence of breast cancer is so low as to be almost nonexistent." This one line kinda changed my whole outlook. I wanted to make a lifestyle change and become Vegan.

I'm 24 very small petite girl. I'm wondering about switching to Soy based and Plant based diet. I have been hearing so many contradictions with being Vegan and Breast Cancer.I was watching Dr.Oz and he quotes this..Women with breast cancer should avoid regular soy.

Women who are at high-risk for breast cancer should also avoid regular soy.If you would like to add soy to your diet, you should consume it naturally in foods and avoid supplements. Soy is in tofu, soy milk and soy beans. Highly processed soy supplements may have more biological activity and need further study concerning their safety.

If you have breast pain, soy is best avoided since it can also cause breast pain

So with that being said.. is it still good for me to switch to a plant based diet? Should I not include soy? Should I? I just would like some opinions of others.. what they might do? Any input to help me on this journey would be great. After getting almost done with "The Kind Life" book I am for sure I want this switch in my life.. but don't know how to go about it with all the overwhelming information. My name is Antoinette. So hello and thanks for any input.

Kim Williamson said #2 Dec 28, 2010 at 11:39am

Hi Antoinette,

Sorry to hear about your mothers diagnosis.

I wish I knew about the dairy-breast cancer connection years ago. You are lucky and smart to be learning about it and doing something about it.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on November 26, 2008 at the age of 37. I had been a vegetarian since I was 14 but I ate dairy. I became vegan about a year ago after completing chemo, radiation and five surgeries. I eat soy. I certainly do not go overboard but I don't go overboard with any one food. I think soy is most concerning when it is highly processed. That said I do have a lot of friends with BC that avoid it completely. Again, I do not subscribe to this idea.

Here is a great article that helps understand the soy controversy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neal-barnard-md/settling-the-soy-controve_b_453966.html

Take care of yourself and do your monthly exams. Also, not sure if you have had the BRCA tests or not but just because your mom has BC does not mean that you are going to get it. Only about 20% of all breast cancer cases are due to family history/genetics.

Hazel said #3 Dec 28, 2010 at 2:51pm

Antoinette - even if you decide you want to avoid soy, it is not a necessary component in a plant-based diet. If you are eating whole foods and not processed stuff, then avoiding soy is incredibly easy. I have tofu or tempeh maybe twice a month, at the very most once a week, just because I eat a lot of other things. I almost never have soymilk. If you choose to eat it and are concerned, I would stick to organic tofu and tempeh.

Antoinette Reese said #4 Dec 30, 2010 at 10:32am

Thank you

theplant rx said #5 Jan 2, 2011 at 8:24pm

Hi Antoinette! Welcome. I am a physician who advocates a plant-based diet! Thus, I thought I could give you a medical perspective on your question. Yes, still switch to a plant-based diet - we could talk about soy for awhile but you can easily transition to a plant based diet without it. A PBD is the best thing you can do in terms of prevention and the best thing your mom can do to prevent recurance. Here are some articles/research:

http://theplantrx.com/2010/12/28/new-study-finds-plant-based-diets-play-critical-role-in-breast-cancer-survival/

http://theplantrx.com/2010/12/24/a-plant-based-diet-as-a-breast-cancer-treatment-option/

http://theplantrx.com/2010/12/21/plant-based-diet-cuts-breast-cancer-odds/

http://theplantrx.com/2010/12/20/cancer-facts-foods-for-cancer-prevention/

This message is going to cut me off (The forum doesn't like long-winded folks like myself. LOL So I will add another response under this one to finish my thoughts.

theplant rx said #6 Jan 2, 2011 at 8:26pm

If you have a few moments you may be interested in taking a look at my blog, particularly a section on our "mini-experiment" that will be starting in two weeks on Jan 15th. One of the girls (I'm waiting for her answer right now to see if she will be participating) has breast cancer. (Since she is in the midst of chemo, I asked her oncologist to 1st clear her for the study) It is an experiment in which people who are currently consuming either a SAD diet (std American diet), a flexitarian diet or a vegetarian diet convert to a vegan diet for 60 days. (I only require 60 days for the experiment but I have done this before with patients and they almost always stay with it) I measure various health parameters prior to the onset of the experiment, at the 30d mark and at end. The participants will be blogging about their experience the entire 60 days sharing the experience with my readers. I hope to have bios, etc up by the end of next week! (Actually, I hope to have a lot more done site wide by then, but I digress) I thought it may be interesting since you will be on a similar path. Best Wishes, Jenn (www.theplantrx.com)

p.s. you might also want to read The China Study by T.Colin Campbell.

Antoinette Reese said #7 Jan 27, 2011 at 4:23pm

Thank you for these links I enjoyed reading them and they are really helpful! :)

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