Women not aware enough of breast cancer link to alcohol

Women know too little about alcohol's role in increasing breast cancer risk, a study suggests.

19 June 2019

Only one in five women attending a breast cancer clinic knew it was a risk factor.

But alcohol consumption is estimated to be responsible for 5-11% of cases.

Cancer Research UK said cutting down on alcohol was one of the best things women could do to reduce their breast cancer risk.

Two hundred women took part in the study, published in the online journal BMJ Open. They were either being screened for breast cancer, or having symptoms checked.

They completed questionnaires on lifestyle-related risk factors. Just under a third knew being obese increased breast cancer risk, and half knew smoking was another risk factor. But only 16% of women in the screening group, and 23% in the symptoms group, knew that alcohol is a risk factor.

More than half of those who drank alcohol (88 out of 152) thought they knew how to estimate the alcohol content of drinks, but less than three-quarters correctly estimated the alcohol content of a standard glass of wine, and just over half correctly estimated the amount in a pint of beer.

The numbers that matter

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK
• There are more than 54,000 new cases diagnosed and 11,000 deaths each year
• Eight in 100 women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime
• Drinking two units of alcohol a day increases the risk to 11 in 100

Around half a million women are seen at clinics to check out potential breast cancer symptoms in the UK each year.

Prof Julia Sinclair, who led the study, said it was an opportunity to give them information that could help reduce their chances of developing the disease.

"Ninety-four per cent of them don't have breast cancer. If you have a family history, you would be referred for monitoring.

"But if you're overweight or drinking more than you should be, people don't say 'there's something you could do about that'.

"Alcohol increases the risk by three per 100 so its a low absolute risk, but it's something that's modifiable,

"This is about empowering women to have the knowledge, so they can make decisions."

Alcohol-free days

Prof Sinclair said women given the all-clear from the clinics would generally be happy to be given information about alcohol risk, as long as they weren't "blamed" for drinking.

Cancer Research UK advises that breast cancer risk increases with each extra unit of alcohol per day.

"It's worrying that most women in this study didn't know alcohol raises the risk of breast cancer, as cutting down on alcohol is one of the best ways people can reduce their risk" said Emma Shields, its health information manager.

"You don't have to give alcohol up completely. Having smaller servings and more alcohol-free days can make a big difference."

She added: "Using breast screening appointments as a time to talk to women about their drinking and cancer risk is an interesting idea, but more research is needed to see how people would react to this, and whether it would actually help reduce cancer risk."

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How many units of alcohol are in drinks?

• Single shot of spirits (25ml): 1 unit
• Standard (175ml) glass of wine: 2.1 units
• Large (250ml) glass of wine: 3 units
• Pint of 4%-strength beer: 2.3 units
• Pint of 5%-strength beer: 2.8 units
• Pint of strong cider (8%): 4.5 units

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48677953

Deadly link between alcohol and breast cancer is 'ignored by middle-aged women who are MOST at risk of developing the disease'

• Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of the disease in Australia
• Women in their 40s, 50s and 60s still consume large amounts of alcohol 
• They accept alcohol can cause weight gain and relationship breakdowns

By PETER LLOYD FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 19:00 GMT, 13 February 2019 | UPDATED: 19:00 GMT, 13 February 2019

Middle-aged women are not getting the message about the proven link between alcohol and breast cancer, new research suggests.

Females in their 40s, 50s and 60s are still consuming large mounts of wine, beer and spirits despite rates of the disease rising in their age brackets.

Data from Flinders University in Adelaide shows a disconnect between the cause and effect, despite public awareness campaigns. 

But they accept alcohol can result in weight gain and lead to relationship breakdowns. 

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Did you know? Women in their 40s, 50s and 60s are still consuming large mounts of wine, beer and spirits despite rates of breast cancer increasing in their age brackets (stock)

Study lead author Dr Emma Miller said: There is a low level of awareness about the established link between alcohol and breast cancer, and some confusion about the risk given the community perception that not all drinkers get breast cancer.

'So it's really important to understand the patterns and drivers behind drinking behaviour in order to develop policies and interventions that might reduce the increasing burden on the women and our health system.'

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, accounting for more than 13 per cent of all new forms of the disease and 28 per cent of all malignant tumours diagnosed in women.

As part of the study, 35 South Australian women - aged between 45 and 64 - who have never been diagnosed with cancer, were interviewed about their alcohol consumption, education level and perceived risk of breast cancer.  

Dr Miller claims the findings suggest targeted messages that address short-term risks will have the greatest impact. 

'Alcohol is firmly entrenched in the fabric of Australian society, providing pleasure and defining the major events in most of our lives,' she said.

'Raising awareness of alcohol-related cancer risk, despite the importance of this, will not be sufficient to counter patterns of consumption.'  

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Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, accounting for more than 13 per cent of all new forms of the disease and 28 per cent of all cancers in women (stock)

Dr Miller added: 'We all want to hear good news about drinking, such as small amounts of red wine may be good for cardiovascular disease, which is a message that's promoted by the alcohol industry.

'In contrast, information that alcohol is linked to breast cancer is actively suppressed by the industry presumably in order to build the female customer base.

'Our research shows that while more middle aged women are drinking, there are ways of getting the right messages through by focusing on issues important to them.

'For example, younger people are drinking less so we can look into the reasons behind that and utilise them.'

WHAT IS BREAST CANCER, HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT STRIKE AND WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.

When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding breast tissue it is called an 'invasive' breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with 'carcinoma in situ', where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.

Most cases develop in women over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men though this is rare.

The cancerous cells are graded from stage one, which means a slow growth, up to stage four, which is the most aggressive.

What causes breast cancer?

A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply 'out of control'.

Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most breast lumps are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign. 

The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

• Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
• Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under the microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.

If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest x-ray.

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How is breast cancer treated?

Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.

• Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
• Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focussed on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops cancer cells from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
• Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying
• Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the 'female' hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.

How successful is treatment?

The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.

The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 mean more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.

For more information visit breastcancercare.org.uk or www.cancerhelp.org.uk

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6701145/Deadly-link-alcohol-breast-cancer-ignored-middle-aged-women.html

" Why I believe that giving up milk is the key to beating breast cancer..."

By Prof. Jane Plant, PhD, CBE 

Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plant. 

I had no alternative but to die or to try to find a cure for myself. I am a scientist - surely there was a rational explanation for this cruel illness that affects one in 12 women in the UK?  



I had suffered the loss of one breast, and undergone radiotherapy. I was now receiving painful chemotherapy, and had been seen by some of the country's most eminent specialists. But, deep down, I felt certain I was facing death. I had a loving husband, a beautiful home and two young children to care for. I desperately wanted to live. 

Fortunately, this desire drove me to unearth the facts, some of which were known only to a handful of scientists at the time.

Anyone who has come into contact with breast cancer will know that certain risk factors - such as increasing age, early onset of womanhood, late onset of menopause and a family history of breast cancer - are completely out of our control. But there are many risk factors, which we can control easily. 

These "controllable" risk factors readily translate into simple changes that we can all make in our day-to-day lives to help prevent or treat breast cancer. My message is that even advanced breast cancer can be overcome because I have done it. 

The first clue to understanding what was promoting my breast cancer came when my husband Peter, who was also a scientist, arrived back from working in China while I was being plugged in for a chemotherapy session. 

He had brought with him cards and letters, as well as some amazing herbal suppositories, sent by my friends and science colleagues in China.

The suppositories were sent to me as a cure for breast cancer. Despite the awfulness of the situation, we both had a good belly laugh, and I remember saying that this was the treatment for breast cancer in China, then it was little wonder that Chinese women avoided getting the disease.

Those words echoed in my mind. Why didn't Chinese women in China get breast cancer? I had collaborated once with Chinese colleagues on a study of links between soil chemistry and disease, and I remembered some of the statistics.

The disease was virtually non-existent throughout the whole country. Only one in 10,000 women in China will die from it, compared to that terrible figure of one in 12 in Britain and the even grimmer average of one in 10 across most Western countries. It is not just a matter of China being a more rural country, with less urban pollution. In highly urbanized Hong Kong, the rate rises to 34 women in every 10,000 but still puts the West to shame. 

The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have similar rates. And remember, both cities were attacked with nuclear weapons, so in addition to the usual pollution-related cancers, one would also expect to find some radiation-related cases, too. 

The conclusion we can draw from these statistics strikes you with some force. If a Western woman were to move to industrialized, irradiated Hiroshima, she would slash her risk of contracting breast cancer by half. 

Obviously this is absurd. It seemed obvious to me that some lifestyle factor not related to pollution, urbanization or the environment is seriously increasing the Western woman's chance of contracting breast cancer. 

I then discovered that whatever causes the huge differences in breast cancer rates between oriental and Western countries, it isn't genetic.

Scientific research showed that when Chinese or Japanese people move to the West, within one or two generations their rates of breast cancer approach those of their host community. 

The same thing happens when oriental people adopt a completely Western lifestyle in Hong Kong. In fact, the slang name for breast cancer in China translates as 'Rich Woman's Disease'. This is because, in China, only the better off can afford to eat what is termed 'Hong Kong food'. 

The Chinese describe all Western food, including everything from ice cream and chocolate bars to spaghetti and feta cheese, as "Hong Kong food", because of its availability in the former British colony and its scarcity, in the past, in mainland China. 

So it made perfect sense to me that whatever was causing my breast cancer and the shockingly high incidence in this country generally, it was almost certainly something to do with our better-off, middle-class, Western lifestyle. 

There is an important point for men here, too. I have observed in my research that much of the data about prostate cancer leads to similar conclusions.

According to figures from the World Health Organization, the number of men contracting prostate cancer in rural China is negligible, only 0.5 men in every 100,000. In England, Scotland and Wales, however, this figure is 70 times higher. Like breast cancer, it is a middle-class disease that primarily attacks the wealthier and higher socio-economic groups ¨C those that can afford to eat rich foods. 

I remember saying to my husband, "Come on Peter, you have just come back from China. What is it about the Chinese way of life that is so different?"

Why don't they get breast cancer?' 

We decided to utilize our joint scientific backgrounds and approach it logically.

We examined scientific data that pointed us in the general direction of fats in diets. Researchers had discovered in the 1980s that only l4% of calories in the average Chinese diet were from fat, compared to almost 36% in the West.   

But the diet I had been living on for years before I contracted breast cancer was very low in fat and high in fibre. Besides, I knew as a scientist that fat intake in adults has not been shown to increase risk for breast cancer in most investigations that have followed large groups of women for up to a dozen years. 

Then one day something rather special happened. Peter and I have worked together so closely over the years that I am not sure which one of us first said: "The Chinese don't eat dairy produce!"

It is hard to explain to a non-scientist the sudden mental and emotional 'buzz' you get when you know you have had an important insight. It's as if you have had a lot of pieces of a jigsaw in your mind, and suddenly, in a few seconds, they all fall into place and the whole picture is clear. 

Suddenly I recalled how many Chinese people were physically unable to tolerate milk, how the Chinese people I had worked with had always said that milk was only for babies, and how one of my close friends, who is of Chinese origin, always politely turned down the cheese course at dinner parties. 

I knew of no Chinese people who lived a traditional Chinese life who ever used cow or other dairy food to feed their babies. The tradition was to use a wet nurse but never, ever, dairy products.

Culturally, the Chinese find our Western preoccupation with milk and milk products very   strange. I remember entertaining a large delegation of Chinese scientists shortly after the ending of the Cultural Revolution in the 1980s. 

On advice from the Foreign Office, we had asked the caterer to provide a pudding that contained a lot of ice cream. After inquiring what the pudding consisted of, all of the Chinese, including their interpreter, politely but firmly refused to eat it, and they could not be persuaded to change their minds. 

At the time we were all delighted and ate extra portions!

Milk, I discovered, is one of the most common causes of food allergies . Over 70% of the world's population are unable to digest the milk sugar, lactose, which has led nutritionists to believe that this is the normal condition for adults, not some sort of deficiency. 

Perhaps nature is trying to tell us that we are eating the wrong food.

Before I had breast cancer for the first time, I had eaten a lot of dairy produce, such as skimmed milk, low-fat cheese and yoghurt. I had used it as my main source of protein. I also ate cheap but lean minced beef, which I now realized was probably often ground-up dairy cow. 

In order to cope with the chemotherapy I received for my fifth case of cancer, I had been eating organic yoghurts as a way of helping my digestive tract to recover and repopulate my gut with 'good' bacteria. 

Recently, I discovered that way back in 1989 yoghurt had been implicated in ovarian cancer . Dr Daniel Cramer of Harvard University studied hundreds of women with ovarian cancer, and had them record in detail what they normally ate. wish I'd been made aware of his findings when he had first discovered them.   

Following Peter's and my insight into the Chinese diet, I decided to give up not just yoghurt but all dairy produce immediately. Cheese, butter, milk and yoghurt and anything else that contained dairy produce - it went down the sink or in the rubbish. 

It is surprising how many products, including commercial soups, biscuits and cakes, contain some form of dairy produce. Even many proprietary brands of margarine marketed as soya, sunflower or olive oil spreads can contain dairy produce . 

I therefore became an avid reader of the small print on food labels.

Up to this point, I had been steadfastly measuring the progress of my fifth cancerous lump with callipers and plotting the results. Despite all the encouraging comments and positive feedback from my doctors and nurses, my own precise observations told me the bitter truth. 

My first chemotherapy sessions had produced no effect - the lump was still the same size.

Then I eliminated dairy products. Within days, the lump started to shrink . 

About two weeks after my second chemotherapy session and one week after giving up dairy produce, the lump in my neck started to itch. Then it began to soften and to reduce in size. The line on the graph, which had shown no change, was now pointing downwards as the tumour got smaller and smaller. 

And, very significantly, I noted that instead of declining exponentially (a graceful curve) as cancer is meant to do, the tumour's decrease in size was plotted on a straight line heading off the bottom of the graph, indicating a cure, not suppression (or remission) of the tumour. 

One Saturday afternoon after about six weeks of excluding all dairy produce from my diet, I practised an hour of meditation then felt for what was left of the lump. I couldn't find it. Yet I was very experienced at detecting cancerous lumps - I had discovered all five cancers on my own. I went downstairs and asked my husband to feel my neck. He could not find any trace of the lump either. 

On the following Thursday I was due to be seen by my cancer specialist at Charing Cross Hospital in London. He examined me thoroughly, especially my neck where the tumour had been. He was initially bemused and then delighted as he said, "I cannot find it."

None of my doctors, it appeared, had expected someone with my type and stage of cancer (which had clearly spread to the lymph system) to survive, let alone be so hale and hearty. 

My specialist was as overjoyed as I was. When I first discussed my ideas with him he was understandably skeptical. But I understand that he now uses maps showing cancer portality in China in his lectures, and recommends a non-dairy diet to his cancer patients. 

I now believe that the link between dairy produce and breast cancer is similar to the link between smoking and lung cancer. I believe that identifying the link between breast cancer and dairy produce, and then developing a diet specifically targeted at maintaining the health of my breast and hormone system, cured me. 

It was difficult for me, as it may be for you, to accept that a substance as 'natural' as milk might have such ominous health implications. But I am a living proof that it works and, starting from tomorrow, I shall reveal the secrets of my revolutionary action plan. 

Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plant.

The above article is from an email i received on Dec 17, 2007 8:39 AM which I have just come across again.

Also:

'Give up dairy products to beat cancer’

Is This ‘Nature’s Perfect Food’?

Milk: It doesn’t do a body good

Eat up fruits and vegetables to prevent breast cancer

New American research (July 2018) has found that women who eat at least five-and-a-half portions of fruit and vegetables every day may have a lower risk of breast cancer, especially aggressive tumours, than those who have a lower daily intake.

AUGUST 4, 2018

Along with other health benefits, eating lots of fruits and vegetables will help reduce the risk of breast cancer. — AFP

Led by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the large-scale study looked at 182,145 women aged 27 to 59 years taking part in the long-term Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study II, two of the largest investigations looking into women’s risk factors for major chronic diseases.

The researchers analysed diet questionnaires submitted by the women every four years, as well as data provided on other potential breast cancer risk factors, such as age, weight, smoking status and family cancer history.

The results showed that women who ate more than 5.5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day had an 11% lower risk of breast cancer than those who ate 2.5 or fewer servings.

A serving was defined as one cup of raw leafy vegetables, half a cup of raw or cooked vegetables, or half a cup of chopped or cooked fruits.

In particular, cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, and yellow and orange vegetables, were found to have a particularly significant association with lower breast cancer risk.

The team also studied whether fruit and vegetable consumption affected various types of breast cancers differently, finding that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables appeared to be particularly beneficial for lowering the risk of more aggressive tumours, including ER-negative, HER2-enriched, and basal-like tumours.

“Although prior studies have suggested an association, they have been limited in power, particularly for specific fruits and vegetables, and aggressive subtypes of breast cancer,” commented first author Maryam Farvid.

“This research provides the most complete picture of the importance of consuming high amounts of fruit and vegetables for breast cancer prevention.”

Previous work by the same researchers found that a higher intake of fibre is linked with a reduced risk of breast cancer.

But the benefits of fruits and vegetables found in this study appeared to be independent of their fibre content, suggesting that other components, such as antioxidants and other micronutrients, may also be important in reducing breast cancer risk.

“While a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables is associated with many other health benefits, our results may provide further impetus for women to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables,” said senior author Heather Eliassen.

The results were published online in the International Journal of Cancer. – AFP Relaxnews

https://www.star2.com/health/2018/08/04/eat-up-fruits-and-vegetables-to-prevent-breast-cancer/

Lack of These 4 Crucial Nutrients Is a Common Cause of Cancer

In a world full of toxins, pollution, bad food, and who knows what else, avoiding cancer may seem like more trouble than it’s worth. Every day it seems we’re urged to give up yet another food we love, or we learn of some new substance that causes cancer.

By Lee Euler / May 13, 2018

And, of course, usually it’s something found everywhere, something we’ve been exposed to since infancy.

But don’t give up. There’s one factor you have nearly complete control over. . .

Mounting evidence points to cancer as a disease triggered or at least influenced by vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. Critical nutrients are ‘experts’ at healing your body, protecting your DNA, detoxifying pollutants, and fighting off invaders.

While we should get these nutrients from our diet, all too often we don’t. And if you don’t make up for the shortfall through supplements and/or better food choices, you leave the door wide open for cancer.

Research indicates that the following four vitamins and minerals in particular could be closely tied to cancer risk…

Is this deficiency an incubator for breast cancer?

Vitamin D isn’t just good for your health. It could be essential to your survival. A study published in Endocrinology showed a strong link between breast cancer and vitamin D deficiency.

Brian J. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D. noted, “A number of large studies have looked for an association between vitamin D levels and cancer outcomes, and the findings have been mixed . . . Our study identifies how low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood may play a mechanistic role in promoting breast cancer growth and metastasis.”¹

In one study, mice were injected with tumor cells, then fed either a standard diet or a diet low in vitamin D… Those with lower vitamin D intake grew larger tumors, and grew them more quickly, than did the others.

The team concluded, “Our results indicate that loss of vitamin D signaling is sufficient to convert the cells from non-metastatic to metastatic.”²

Another small clinical trial of women with early-stage breast cancer showed greater levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream lowered tumor expression. But the trial was stopped early, so final data was not collected.³

Dr. Michael Holick is an endocrinologist who studied vitamin D for more than two decades. In fact, he is the guy responsible for identifying the importance of vitamin D and telling the public about it. He overcame fierce opposition from conventional scientists and doctors.

Now his findings pretty much are conventional science.

Dr. Holick believes that the evidence for vitamin D’s protective effects against cancer (and all other disease) is rock-solid. I strongly recommend his book, The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problems.

It’s worth noting that getting sufficient vitamin D requires you to be outside with exposed skin during midday. You can do this without damaging your skin. A small exposure is all that’s required.

You won’t get what you need from drinking “fortified” milk… which is generally not a good idea anyway because of dairy’s other problems.

If you work indoors or live far from the equator, getting enough sun can be a problem, so a supplement may have to suffice, especially during the winter. Make sure it’s vitamin D3 (not D2).

Don’t gyp your DNA of this forgotten nutrient…

Vitamin B12 promotes and protects your nerves, DNA, red blood cells, and more. It plays a key role in DNA synthesis, working together with folate (note: not synthetic folic acid) to help keep your DNA from mutating. Yet it could be one of the most forgotten nutrients.

According to an article published in the Harvard Health Blog, B12 deficiency can lead to many serious symptoms, including but not limited to:

• Numbness
• Loss of breath
• Jaundice
• Joint pain
• Severe depression
• Paranoia
• Delusions
• Memory loss
• Incontinence
• Loss of taste and smell⁴

It’s also linked to cancer risk…

According to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, “Increased intake of B12, folate and B6 may lower the risks for breast and cervical cancers.”

But some research suggests that in male smokers, taking B12 over a long period of time may increase the risk of lung cancer.⁵

A typical adult should get 2.4 micrograms of B12 per day, but many either don’t consume that much through their diet or can’t absorb what they get.⁶

Plants don’t contain B12, so you have to get your daily dose from meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, and other animal foods. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you’re at much higher risk of deficiency and should definitely take a supplement.

You’re also more likely to be deficient if you’re over 50, have a serious health condition, or take drugs (Metformin, for example) that interfere with your ability to absorb B12.⁷

This single mineral lowers risk of many cancers

Magnesium is a mineral vital to many aspects of your health. Your brain, heart, muscles, and bones all depend on it. Recent studies also show a link between higher magnesium intake and lower risk of certain cancers.

The Swedish Mammography Cohort conducted a study of 61,433 women. They found that the one-fifth of these women who ingested the most magnesium had a much lower risk of colorectal cancer (CRC).⁸

A large study of 66,806 people found that those who consume less than the recommended amount of magnesium had higher rates of pancreatic cancer – especially those who consumed below 75 percent of the recommended amount.

A mere 100 mg per day decrease in magnesium intake corresponded to a 24 percent increase in cancer risk.⁹

Daniel Dibaba, the Ph.D. student who led the study, stated, “For those at a higher risk of pancreatic cancer, adding a magnesium supplement to their diet may prove beneficial in preventing this disease. While more study is needed, people should strive to get the daily recommendations of magnesium through diet, such as dark, leafy greens or nuts, to prevent any risk of pancreatic cancer.”¹⁰

Popular against the common cold, could it help prevent cancer too?

There’s no doubt other nutrients play a role in cancer development too, even if the research is somewhat sketchy. We know, for example, that some cancers are caused by pathogens. So wouldn’t it make sense that vitamin C and possibly other anti-viral nutrients would help protect your body from these pathogens?

There is, in fact, some evidence that vitamin C may protect against certain cancers. Research is ongoing in some of them. Here’s what we know so far…

Research suggests that vitamin C may be useful in eradicating H. pyloriand thus reduce risk of ulcers and stomach cancer.¹¹

Vitamin C also seems to protect against breast cancer, especially for premenopausal women with a family history of breast cancer. Those who consumed an average of 205 mg/day lowered their risk 63 percent versus those who got just 70 mg/day.¹²

And eight-ounce serving of orange juice from a carton has only 65 milligrams. Freshly squeezed orange juice has more – 96. After a carton is opened the amount of vitamin C begins to decline.

The no-brainer way to find your weak points and fix them

Most of these vitamin and mineral levels can be assessed. Ask your doctor to order a blood analysis. Find out where you’re low, adjust your diet and lifestyle, and take supplements as needed.

A “rainbow” diet of organic, pesticide-free whole foods and organic grass-fed meats is a terrific defense against all disease.

Real food gives you vitamins and minerals in balance and in their natural forms – including not-yet-discovered compounds. So you can’t go wrong with getting your nutrients from food.

But because the soil your food grows in may be nutrient-poor, and because we all have dietary indiscretions from time to time and possibly even cumulative deficiencies, supplementing with vitamins and minerals is a key part of a smart prevention strategy. Plus, it’ll give you more energy and vitality to boot.

It’s very unlikely you’ll ever overdose on vitamin C. At something like 10,000 milligrams a day – a huge dose – you may get diarrhea. It won’t kill you. Merely cut back and you’ll be fine. I take two or three thousand milligrams a day.

Similarly, you’re super-unlikely to take in too much vitamin D; nearly everyone can safely take 5,000 i.u. per day. But longtime readers of this newsletter know I recommend getting a blood test to determine how much vitamin D you need. Some people may need as much as 20,000 i.u. for a time, until their blood levels are adequate.

Magnesium likewise is quite safe. Just check the directions on the bottle.

For B12, you need a blood test to be sure, but a thousand units a day is safe for all but a tiny number of people.

https://www.cancerdefeated.com/lack-of-these-4-crucial-nutrients-is-a-common-cause-of-cancer/6889/