Hi
Does anyone have any information on low estrogen diets? have been told by consultant today to try this, as have found several cysts today. which he says are caused by too much estrogen?
And does the mirena coil make this worse??
Thanks
cathy
Hi Cathy
If you go to the “For those interested in research on diet and cancer” thread, there is a lot of stuff about this, but beware, it’s a bit of a contentious subject!
I was 7/8 ER+ and I have adopted a low E diet based on my own research and reading. Main points for me are that I now only eat organic meat and no beef or lamb, vary rarely eat dairy products and then only organic. The issue phyto oestrogens is not such a big deal for me but I do only have small amounts of soy just in case!
Have a look at the current thread “Changing diet to beat breast cancer” this may also have some stuff that is helpful.
All the best
DaisyGirl xx
Hi Cathy
Quite honestly I’m astounded that a Consultant would say such a thing without giving you a diet sheet or advice! From everything I’ve read there isn’t such a thing as a low oestrogen diet - so if you Consultant thinks otherwise could he either point us in the direction of the research or please publish a paper on it as many of us would love to see it!
there are certain things that he may be alluding to. I’m no expert but these are things that spring to mind:
Alcohol - they seem to think increases circulating oestrogen (not sure if that is proven). Alcohol consumption does appear to be linked with breast cancer risk and recurrance which is why they suggest keeping this very limited for those with breast cancer. This relates to BC but this is BCC’s viewpoint:
breastcancercare.org.uk/news/blog/alcohol-breast-cancer-report-our-view
Keep body weight within the healthy weight range as fat stores oestrogen.
There is some thought that it is better to avoid chemicals such as pesticides by going organic. This is because some chemicals called xenooestrogens appear to mimic oestrogen in the body. Again I’m not sure how strong the evidence is for that.
Things like dairy do contain hormones such as oestrogen. We’ve had a lot of debate on this site about this and whether there is sufficient research on this. However, it is not a general recommendation made by the medical profession or by BC organisations to exclude dairy.
Soy - this is a powerful phytooestrogen (plant oestrogen) and some research has shown that some components in soy can cause growth of breast cancer cells in vitro. So whether or not it would have any effect on cyst development I don’t know. Again the jury is out on soy because of conflicting evidence.
Generally it is thought good to eat lots of vegetables and particularly to include cruciferous veg such as broccoli and cabbage - see wiki link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruciferous_vegetables
I’m not sure how much evidence there is about brassicas and oestrogen but I found this research paper which suggests it may have an impact on oestrogen metabolism:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10952093
Again this relates more specifically to BC risk.
As I understand it (having previously had one for many years)the Mirena coil releases a form of synthetic progesterone.
I’m attaching a link that you might find helpful. It lists side effects but this won’t necessarily be all of them so I’d check this with your GP or preferably with a gynaecologist.
netdoctor.co.uk/sex-and-relationships/medicines/mirena.html
I’m not sure how much the above helps. These are my thoughts and others may have different views.
I would recommend ringing your consultant’s secretary and saying that he recommended a low oestrogen diet but you didn’t ask at the time what that was and could he please clarify. If you get a response please will you post?
take care, elinda x
great response elinda!!!
cathy you can have a coil fitted without estrogen
As far as I know the Mirena Coil is progesterone based!
Julie x
Thnk you - it all seems baffling!! have read a few of the websites and am slightly confused to say the least!!!
But thanks for the advice ladies xx