Dear Friend,

I always advocate self-care as the first step in preventing and treating health challenges. When it comes to breast health, the importance of self-care is a message I can't share often enough. It was great to see pink ribbons everywhere this last October during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month! If I had my wish, every pink ribbon would carry an additional important message for women:

YOU can improve your breast health and reduce the risk of breast cancer right now with a few simple lifestyle changes.

Estrogen Metabolism

It's true. A growing body of research is showing us that women really can make a difference in their breast health through diet, exercise, and weight management. The key is estrogen metabolism.

The body breaks down, or metabolizes, estrogen in two ways. Along one pathway, estrogen is converted into 16alpha-hydroxyestrone (16alpha-OHE1). 16alpha-OHE1 acts to stimulate breast, bone, and endometrial tissue. While having a positive influence on bone health and normal menstruation, over a period of years, too much 16alpha-OHE1 may predispose a woman to conditions associated with estrogen excess including breast cancer and lupus.

Along the other pathway, estrogen is broken down into a weaker metabolite, 2-Hydroxyestrone (2-OHE-1) that has the positive effect of slowing down cell proliferation, including those cells associated with cancer. Though a 2-OHE-1 excess is not usually the case, high levels of this metabolite have been linked to conditions associated with estrogen deficiency, such as heart disease, depression, and osteoporosis.

What is most important for good health, including optimal breast health, is the ratio of these two metabolites in your body. The exciting thing is that you can favorably alter that ratio through diet, weight management, and exercise.

Diindolylmethane (DIM)

Grandma was right when she told you to eat your vegetables. One to three servings a day of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage help your body produce more of the "anti-cancer" metabolite 2-Hydroxyestrone (2-OHE-1). Other foods with a similar positive influence are those containing phytoestrogens, such as flaxseed and soy products, and those with omega-3 fatty acids.

An easier way is to supplement daily with natural, plant-derived Diindolylmethane (DIM). As DIM is metabolized, it favorably adjusts the estrogen metabolite ratio by increasing the favorable estrogen metabolite 2-OHE-1 while decreasing 16alpha-OHE1, the metabolite associated with promoting unhealthy breast tissue.

Weight Management and Exercise Really Do Make a Difference

Studies also show that maintaining a healthy, average weight is just as important in favorably influencing the metabolite ratio. Regular exercise is equally important. On the other hand, obesity, high insulin levels, alcohol intake, smoking, oral contraceptives, hormones from meat and meat products, pesticides, and herbicides can swing this ratio in the wrong direction.

Monitoring

The best way for premenopausal and postmenopausal women to know if their bodies are metabolizing estrogen favorably is with an FDA-approved Estrogen Metabolism Assessment. This non-invasive test can be completed with a urine sample you conveniently collect in the privacy of your home and send to the lab for analysis. The lab analysis determines the levels and ratio of the two estrogen metabolites (16alpha-OHE1 and 2-OHE-1), which are linked to bone health, cardiac function, immune function, and hormone-dependent diseases such as breast and endometrial cancers and lupus. Baseline and follow-up tests are recommended.

Optimizing Breast Health

These simple steps can help optimize your body's estrogen metabolite ratio, reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, and provide additional health, anti-aging, and disease-prevention benefits.

1. Include one to three servings of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and cabbage in your diet each day.
2. Make soy, omega-3 fatty acids, and flaxseed a regular part of your diet.
3. Supplement with 30 mg of Diindolylmethane (DIM) a day (at mealtimes to avoid stomach upset). The supplement should be standardized to 25% DIM.
4. Maintain the weight recommended for you by your health care practitioner, following healthy diet guidelines for protein, fats, and sugars and limiting alcohol consumption.
5. Exercise regularly.
6. Eat organic to avoid pesticides, herbicides, and estrogens in meat and dairy products.
7. If choosing hormone therapy, choose low-dose natural hormones.
8. Use the Estrogen Metabolism Assessment for baseline and follow-up analyses of your body's estrogen metabolism.

Education and self-care are the first steps toward a long and healthy life. Please call us at 800.558.7046 if you have any further questions about breast cancer or other women?s health issues.

Here's to a vibrant you,

Marla

Links to more information:

Indolplex™ Diindolylmethane (DIM)

Natural Hormone Therapy

Natural hormones