Instagram
YouTubeArticles by Dr Greger:
- (2012) Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk. For more info on bowel movements, see Bowel Movements, Fiber, Fiber & Cancer.
- (2013) Go Nuts for Breast Cancer Prevention
Videos by Dr Greger:
(4 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "What happens to hormone levels in women and men randomized to drink soy milk?"
(5 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "The reason why women who have more frequent bowel movements appear to be at lower risk for breast cancer may be because bile acids absorbed from our intestines concentrate in the breast and have a estrogen-like tumor promoting effect."
(5 mins) Transcript. Women with very few bowel movements per week are at higher risk of developing breast cancer? Is there a direct connection between the two? Dr Greger explains that constipation means greater contact time between our waste and our intestinal wall — this may increase the formation and absorption of 'fecal mutagens' (substances that cause DNA mutations and cancer) into the circulation, and they could end up in breast tissue. Dr Greger then summarizes fascinating research papers that shed light on various steps in this pathway.
(3 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "Which foods are best at removing carcinogenic bile acids from the body: asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, collards, eggplant, green beans, kale, mustard greens, okra, or peppers? And do they work better raw or cooked?"
(6 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "Inadequate fiber intake appears to be a risk factor for breast cancer, which can explain why women eating plant-based diets may be at lower risk."
(4 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "Women eating vegetarian may have lower breast cancer rates because they have larger bowel movements."
(4 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "DNA-damaging chemicals, formed when meat is cooked, stimulate breast cancer cells almost as much as pure estrogen, and can infiltrate the ducts where most breast cancers arise."
(3 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "Eating fiber-containing foods — especially nuts — during adolescence may significantly lower the risk of developing potentially precancerous fibrocystic breast disease (fibroadenomas)."
The connection between estrogen, fiber and women's health is outlined in Body in Balance.
Fiber is related to cancers in general, not just breast cancer. See Fiber & Cancer. How to construct a high fiber diet for cancer prevention?
Fiber is not found in animal products! Fiber is found exclusively in plants. So if we wish to maximize our fiber intake, we should replace all calories from animal products by plant foods. Also, fiber is not found in extracts like refined sugars (carbohydrate extracts) and oils (fat extracts). So in order to maximize fiber intake, we may choose to forego both refined sugars and oils. And finally, processed foods made from plants are often fiber deficient (or fiber disrupted). So we have to read food labels carefully to make sure that processed foods have sufficient fiber. Dr Greger has a 5:1 rule for packaged foods. Finally, we also lose fiber if we remove the outer layers of whole grains, beans and various fruits and veggies.
In an nutshell, in order to maximize fiber intake, we may choose to forego processed foods altogether and focus on intake of fruits, veggies, whole grains and beans in their whole form. This is exactly what a Whole Food Plant-Based strives to do.
Is excess estrogen a major underlying cause of women's health problems? Yes, says Dr Peter Rogers in the videos below.
The first several minutes of this video explain that a large number of women's health problems may be attributed to excess estrogen. The presentation then becomes very technical as Dr Peter Rogers delves into the molecular structure of estrogenic compounds & some biochemistry. Towards the end, the narration becomes not-so-technical.
gurmeet@gmail.com