Every woman has a significant risk of developing breast cancer, and we make every effort to reduce that risk and prevent this potentially fatal condition. However, occasionally we unintentionally damage our own health and raise the risk of contracting diseases like breast cancer, among others.
In a study done by a group of researchers at Kaiser Permanente, it was discovered that women with breast cancer who had a diet high in full-fat dairy had a higher probability of dying than those who consumed a diet high in low-fat dairy.
The growth of breast cells is stimulated by the hormone estrogen, and this includes the growth of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. Estrogen is produced and stored in fat cells. The majority of experts claim that dairy products sold in the United States and other Western countries contain an increased amount of estrogen and progesterone because the milk is sometimes comes from pregnant cows. If we follow this logic it’s safe to assume that low-fat dairy products contain lower levels of estrogen and progesterone because they’re stripped from most of the fat.
That’s why it’s advisable for women diagnosed with breast cancer to consume less full-fat dairy products and more low-fat ones, and this is especially important for those with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer.
Following the abovementioned claims, experts wanted to prove if consuming full-fat dairy products really increases the possibility of breast cancer reappearance, as well as the possibility of dying from breast cancer. Here are the full-fat products the study included:
- whole milk
- condensed or evaporated milk
- pudding
- ice cream
- custard
- flan
- cheese
- yogurt
- butter
The participants in the study were monitored over the course of 12 years and the results were rather shocking.
The study revealed that the subjects who consumed one or more servings of full-fat dairy products every day had a 64% higher chance of dying from any factor and a 49% higher chance of dying from breast cancer compared to the subjects who consumed low-fat dairy products or less servings of full-fat dairy product a day.
Even though these results are quite shocking we need to consider a few other things before we jump into conclusions. The study reveals a connection between full-fat dairy products and fatal breast cancer outcomes, however it doesn’t prove that the one necessarily leads to the other. More tests, experiments and researches are needed in order to discover the real connection between the two.
Until more information on the subject is available, it’s advisable for every patient diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer to do everything he can to reduce the risk of reappearance and increase the possibility of survival. Here are just a few advices they should follow in order to improve their overall state:
- start a healthy eating regimen, eliminating processed foods and sugar
- eliminate alcohol
- balance your body weight
- work out regularly
- quit smoking
- take all the medications your doctors prescribed in order to prevent reoccurrence.
