Please send any query regarding this topic to our ‘Ask the Nurse’ service which you can find on our home page. Sending your question to this service will allow the nurses time to research the topic and provide a detailed personal response from one of our experienced nurses. This allows you to take the time to prepare your question and the confidential service means no one else will be able to see your question.
Kind regards
Lucy
Thanks Lucy,
I have today recieved a response to an email from one of the cancer organisations i contacted (CRUK) and i wonder if it is ok with BCC to copy it here for everyone? CRUK are awear as i explained in my email of our recent discussion on Flaxseed and BC on the forums and have tried to help in answering some of our questions .
If you could let me know if its ok to share their response here id be very greatfull,of course ladies can also personaly contact the BCC nurses for some further advice and information too.
Thanks Linda x
Hi Linda
If you can send it to the <script type=“text/javascript”>eval(unescape(‘%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%6d%6f%64%65%72%61%74%6f%72%40%62%72%65%61%73%74%63%61%6e%63%65%72%63%61%72%65%2e%6f%72%67%2e%75%6b%22%3e%6d%6f%64%65%72%61%74%6f%72%40%62%72%65%61%73%74%63%61%6e%63%65%72%63%61%72%65%2e%6f%72%67%2e%75%6b%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b’))</script>
I will pass it on to Mike for checking
Thanks
Lucy
Thanks Lucy,i have forwarded CRUKs response on to you at the above email address for checking.
Best Wishes
Linda
Cornishgirl, thanks for acquiring the information. Look forward to reading it.
Just on another note, I was thinking about the milk debate, and discovered that a doctor at the Mayo Foundation (which became the Mayo Clinic), was a firm advocate of what he called the milk cure (which basically involved giving patients un-pasteurized raw milk, and nothing else). Apparently he claimed that bovine anti-bodies in raw milk could destroy human cancer. Oddly enough he seemed to have quite a bit of success.
Hi just thought I would pop on and post this if anyone is interested :).Out of my own interest I emailed Susan G Komen for there view on flaxseed and got this reply.
Dear Melanie,
Thankyou for contacting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Breast Care Helpline. I understand you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and you are interested in information on flaxseed/flaxseed oil for yourself.
Flaxseed/flaxseedoil, for example, has caused much debate about their role in breast cancer. As you know, one study reports that the menstrual period may be altered in women who take flaxseed powder by mouth daily. Due to the possible estrogen-like effects of flaxseed (not flaxseed oil), it should be used cautiously in women with hormone sensitive conditions such as breast cancer. At this point, there is a lack of information from human studies that flaxseed is effective in preventing or treating breast cancer.
You can read more about our perspective on the role of flaxseed/flaxseed oil inbreast cancer using this link ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/Flaxs … edoil.html. You can also contact the National Cancer Institute, on the ongoing clinicaltrials on this topic, by calling 1-800-4-CANCER.
I would also encourage you to speak with your healthcare provider for more information about risk factors. Your doctor can provide their medical opinion and make recommendations for you based on your medical history on different topics related to breast health and nutrition.
I hope this information is helpful. If you need further information, please call our breast care helpline at 1-877 GO KOMEN(1-877-465-6636) or visit our website at komen.org for more information.
Regards,
Maria Victoria L. Zitelli
Melxx
lemongrove-- yes I remember the milk cure. I do not read any articles or debate on milk and dairy because the studies are based on pasteurised milk from Friesian cows fed on cereal and left over waste products from factories. (my friend tests food wastes for nutritious content before it is sold cattle farmers) The cows are fed antibiotics and other drugs to keep them healthy and they are stressed, so their bodies have stress hormones. That milk has so few vitamins in that they add artificial A and D and omega (is it 3 or 6) which do not have the same effect as natural sources
My milk comes from Jersey cows ( did you know new zealand has banned Friesian cows) that wonder around fields eating grass and clover, it goes straight from the cow into the bottles and i get it the day after it is milked. No processing to alter the structure, no heating to destroy the vitamins, full of bacteria that helps fight bad bacteria and stop the milk going off. ( you can still drink it for over a week later if you have any left) aparantly some people who are lacto intolerant can drink it because it has enzymes that help you digest it.
sorry to rant. But drinking this is like drinking liquid ice-cream and just feels right to me.
Interesting. Can we get this milk from anywhere on the high street?
Ramsfan you can only really get it from farm shops, that have a herd of cattle certified free of TB (don’t think you can get it from supermarkets or health shops). If you do a Google search putting in the County you live and the words unpastuerized /raw milk suppliers, you will be directed to a site that will give you a list of suppliers.
I bought some from a farm shop near where I live, and it tastes delicious (really creamy). Teh other advantage is that it’s organic (so no chemicals), the cattle are grass fed for most of the year (so more GLA), and they don’t milk them while they are lactating (so low in hormones). However, it’s quite expensive, at £1.30 per pint, but
if you’re drinking it for it’s antibodies,there’s no point putting it in hot drinks, so I just put it on cereal.
Don’t know if it works, but as long as it doesn’t cause harm, it’s worth a try.
Absolutely. Thanks Lemongrove x
I’m stating the obvious here, but raw milk probably isn’t a good idea for anyone currently having chemo (in the same way that those of us who’ve had chemo are told not to eat raw eggs etc). Elinda x
Hi Ladies,
Mel,Firstly thanks so very much for posting that info from Susan G. Kormen re the Flaxseed and exsisting Breast Cancer issues that a few of us ladies have been discussing of late on this thread , its very good to be able to get some clarification especialy from very highly respected cancer organisations such as this as it can often be very confusing to know what to do for the best sometimes so thanks a lot for posting the info.
As you all im sure already know , i contacted a few cancer organisations a couple of days ago about the Caution advised if considering suppliementing higher amounts of Flaxseed with exsisting Breast Cancer, i recieved a reply to some of my questions from CRUK
a couple of days ago which BCC has kindly okd for me to post on the thread. I hope CRUKs response may be of help also along now with Susan Kormens to any ladies on here who may be concerned about the use of suppliementing Flaxseed with exsisting BC .
show details Aug 17 (2 days ago)
DearLinda,
Thankyou for your email to the nurse team at Cancer Research UK. I was sorry to learn that you
have been affected by breast cancer. This
must be a difficult situation for you.
You explained that you are particularly interested in diet related research and you have come to the
conclusion that following a healthy balanced diet is
probably the best thing that you can do. But you have
read a lot about flaxseeds and breast cancer and in particular that research has given conflicting
results.You mentioned that all of the studies that you
have found have been very positive. You wondered if
we could point you to any studies which show that Flaxseed may have negative effects.
You also asked if we could clarify why people with
breast cancer should not take large doses of flaxseed.
I had a quick search of the medical literature that is available to me and as you pointed out,there is some
evidence from laboratory studies to suggest that flaxseed can inhibit the growth of breast cancer
cells. Like you I could not find any studies which specifically demonstrated that flaxseed were harmful.
But in the absence of large human studies it is difficult to draw firm conclusions.
I mention this because in laboratory studies substances are often placed directly on to cancer
cancer cells in a dish. It is relatively easy to
inhibit cancer cells in a dish. Also in animal studies substances are often given in far higher
concentrations than could be realistically
taken in a human diet. This makes it difficult to know what impact flaxseed might have in humans.
There is some ongoing research with flaxseed. This is mainly being conducted in the USA.This is mainly looking at flaxseed and breast cancer risk.
You probably know that flaxseed is considered to be a type of phytoestrogen. These are natural oestrogens derived from plants and they can mimic effect of
oestrogen on the body. I think that the main
concerns about flaxseed supplementation in people with breast cancer stems from conflicting research with other phytoestrogens and in particular a lack of large
studies in humans.
You are certainly doing the right thing in following a healthy diet,as this has many health benefits.
It will reduce your risk if developing heart disease
and strokes. You may know that although the
research is far from conclusive, there is some evidence to suggest that a healthy diet may
reduce the risk of breast cancer coming back.
The Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) suggested that a low fat diet might reduce the
risk of early breast cancer coming back in
postmenopausal women. If you have not already seen it you can read more about this research on the website
of the American National Cancer Institute at this link;
cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/2006/winsbreaststudy
Researching diet interventions in humans is very difficult. This is because people eat vastly
different diets. There may be an interaction
between the other foods that we eat and the product that is being studied. It is far easier to control
the diets of animals in the laboratory.
Because dietary studies are so complex and difficult to
do, there has not been an abundance of research. This makes it tricky to draw very firm conclusions.
Linda x
Thanks very much Linda for posting up the response. It is reassuring to see that the situation is much as we concluded in that the research published to date is positive but limited.
I will continue with one tbsp of flaxseed per day but probably won’t go any higher now until there is more evidence. It is shame given that the study on women was conducted in 2005 that more hasn’t been done to follow this up given that it had such positive results. Elinda x
I have today e-mailed one of the researchers (now a Professor) who was involved in the Canadian flaxseed study. She is still looking at phyto oestrogens including flaxseed so i’ve asked if she could let me know what research is being currently being conducted into flaxseed. If I hear anything I’ll post. Elinda x
Hi Elinda your very welcome,im glad you found the response from CRUK of some help.
I exspect it is proberly wise like you say at the moment to limit the amount of added Flaxseed to our diets at least untill much more is known about any of the possible benefits vrs potencial risks that may be involved .
I currently at the moment dont add any Flaxseeds to my own diet and have now decided not to do so at this stage,one of my reasons being aside from the caution with exsisting Breast Cancer i think it is very difficult to judge how many Phytoestrogens i am already getting in my diet, there are already over 300 food products in our current food supply that contain Phytoestrogens according to Cornell so i am a bit concerned about adding even more until i am sure that any benefit would outweigh any possible risks,along with this i am also still takeing Hormone Therapy at the moment so am still undergoing breast cancer treatment and that is also a bit of a concern for me.
I understand that everyone feels differently though so all any of us can do at the moment is to make our own judgements and do what feels best for us on how we each feel about all these differnt issues.
I do agree it is a shame that the study conducted on women hasnt seemed to have been followed up with any newer or much larger human studies ,i dont know why that is or the reasons for it , but my voice of reason head tells me if the study was of good quality and showed enough substancial evidence i would of thought funding wouldnt be an issue and researchers would be biteing at the bit to get these studies done,on the other hand its also proberly very difficult to recruit BC patients into studies like this for a much longer time scale because of the current conflicting phytoestrogens issue.
It will be good if you can get a response from the Prof involved in the Canadian Flaxseed Study, for some more ongoing info on all this ,it would be particularly good also to know if the Prof is currently only looking at Flaxseed and breast cancer risk (for people without breast cancer) or is studying both (people already with a current DX),it will definately be good though to get some feedback on what research is currently being done on Flaxseeds/Phytoestrogens anyway ,i think that Susan Kormen also mentioned something about contacting the National Cancer Institute,for info on the ongoing clinical trials on this topic too in the post earlier today from Mel,which will be worth following too.
Linda x
Unfortunately the Professor is away until end of August and will no doubt have an inbox with hundreds of e-mails to plough through - so probably won’t get a response for a while.
I used to work in research and I don’t think it’s right to conclude that if the study was good there would automatically be funding for more. It depends on so many factors. It does seem to me that dietary oestrogens (phyto oestrogens or oestrogens in milk) have been quite a low priority and perhaps that will change.
Many of the foods that are thought to be so good for us have phytooestrogens. I do wonder if there is too much fear mongering about them. After all if soy was so dreadful you’d expect high or at least higher rates of breast cancer in countries like China and Japan regardless of life style or other factors. A large recent study has suggested that soy, for example, is safe to eat in moderate amounts and yet that doesn’t filter through to mainstream advice. Why not?
Yes, there are studies that say some elements of soy are stimulatory to breast cancer cells in vitro. We also know that oestrogen and progesterone, both found in milk are most definitely stimulatory for ER+ and PR+ breast cancer cells. That’s why so many of us take things like tamoxifen.
I’m not trying to open up the for or against dairy or soy debate but want to point out the inconsistencies in the approaches taken with advice and where to be cautious. I find it very confusing and would love to see the advice from a country where things like soy and milk are both used in equal measure but I don’t think such a place exists! Elinda x
Hello Elinda, thanks for the update. It will be interesting to see what she say’s.
To be honest, I’m finding it very difficult to know what to believe.
It appears that there is no research to suggest that lignans stimulate cancer - only that phytooestrogens in general might. However, there has been some research in humans (the Goss study), that suggests lignans may inhibit cancer progression - but this study was only small, with 32 people in it. To my way of thinking this suggests the balance tips in favour of flaseed, but the balance is so tiny that there is very little evidence one way or the other.
I take your point Elinda about the low incidence of BC in countries with high consumption of soya, but this is a different type of phytooestrogen isn’t it?. Also don’t scientists say this advantage is conveyed to the population during childhood. In other words, a diet rich in soya helps prevent cancer, but stimulates cancer once someone has it.
The jury also seems to be out on the milk debate. Cornishgirl posted some very interesting links to studies that suggest milk inhibits cancer, but then Jane Plant has come up with some sound reasoning as to why it might stimulate cancer. For me the answer is raw milk, because if there is an advantage to milk consumption, I will benefit from it, but at the same time, raw milk avoids the problems raised by Jane Plant.
I was reading an article (can’t remember where), about a Country that exist almost entirely on a diet of milk mixed with blood (sorry can’t think of the country), and the article said that BC is virtually unknown (mind you I would have thought this is a poor country and doubt their methods of recording or treating cancer are up to much).
Anyway, have decided to have raw milk, and continue with moderate amounts of flaxseed in my bread.
Hi Lemongrove, when I lived in Africa many moons ago, the Masai used to live off milk and the blood of their cows. I presume the cows weren’t pumped full of drugs like modern intensive farming permits. I live close to a dairy farm and to be honest seeing the poor cows in for milking every day put me off milk before I was even diagnosed. Lou
You’re right … had some time with the Masai and they do indeed live off the milk and blood of their cattle … infact they bleed their cattle!
Thanks angielav and louplou. I have now looked up the study, and it appears a chap called Dr George V Mann, did an extensive health study of the Maasai, and it appears they have a very low incidence of Breast Cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, yet their diet consists almost entirely of milk (mixed with blood). So maybe milk isn’t so bad after all (at least raw milk isn’t).