How Meat Products, Alcohol and Tobacco cause, fuel and aggravate Breast Cancer

Meat consumption and other animal products

 Most people are familiar with the adage that you are what you eat. The veracity of this adage is as solid today as it was millions of years ago. The physical body is made up of a multitude of tiny cells. The body produces new cells regularly. These cells go through the process of birth, maturity and then old age. These aged or worn out cells must be replaced by new cells. The food we consume, especially protein, is broken down and ultimately become the cells of the body. In their book titled: Poison in your body, Steven Null et. al. stated: The animals are kept alive and fattened by continuous administration of tranquilisers, hormones, antibiotics and 2,700 other drugs. The process starts even before birth and continues long after death. Although these drugs will still be in the meat when you eat it, the law does not require that they be listed on the package. When we consume meat and other animal products containing such a frightfully high level of dangerous chemicals, they form intoxicants in our system. Intoxicant briefly means poison. Therefore, these toxic products quickly ruin our health and disable our system. They mutate the normal physiological processes in the body; and precipitate numerous diseases, including breast cancer. To artificially preserve the freshness of meat products, they are usually administered with nitrates, which have been established to be cancerous.

A diet high in animal fat, especially the carcinogens found in cooked red meat, and the fat-soluble hormones found in milk from cows, enormously intoxicates the system. According to Arthur Upton, former Director of The National Cancer Institute in the USA, both breast cancer and colon cancer have been generally associated with the level of consumption of animal fat.

According to fresh compelling data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study, participants who ate the most red meat and processed meat increased their risk of dying by 14 and 44 percent respectively; compared with those who ate the least. Also, The National Cancer Institute in the USA found that women who consumed one or more servings of high-fat dairy products per day, were at a 49% increased risk of dying from breast cancer. Therefore, there is a positive correlation between the consumption of animal products and getting breast cancer. A Harvard Medical School study of more than 90,000 women revealed that the women who ate the most meat were nearly twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those who did not eat much meat.

Saturated fats and breast cancer

The consumption of a high fat diet also leads to the accumulation of excess cholesterol in the body. Sources of saturated fats in the body include meat products; among them, sausages and pies, butter, ghee, lard, diary products such as cheese, cream, sour cream, ice cream, chocolate products, cakes, biscuits, pastries, eggs, animal fats etc.

An overview study (meta analysis) of 45 studies reported that women who consumed a fat-rich diet had an increased risk of breast cancer. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC study) has demonstrated that women who ate higher levels of saturated fats were twice at higher risk of developing breast cancer, compared to those eating the least. Saturated fats also have the tendency to induce weight gain and obesity, which are both positively correlated to increased risk of breast cancer. Omega-6 fats can increase the risk of breast cancer, while omega-3 fatty acids are known to lessen the growth of breast cancer cells.  Sources of omega-3 fatty acids include flaxseed oil and beans such as kidney, great northern, navy, and soybeans.

Tobacco and Breast Cancer

Tobacco contains a highly poisonous substance called nicotine, together with a large number of other poisonous substances, which are best at nothing else than ruining our health.

According to Cancer Research UK, tobacco smoke contains more than 70 different cancer-causing substances. When you inhale smoke, these chemicals enter your lungs and spread around the rest of your body. Research has further revealed that these chemicals can enter and damage the DNA and mutate important genes. This scenario prompts a perpetual and uncontrollable growth and multiplication of the cells, hence causing not only breast cancer, but a multitude of other forms of cancer. When inhaled, these poisonous substances rapidly infiltrate the blood vessels and are speedily transported all over the body. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco use is the single greatest avoidable risk factor for cancer mortality worldwide, causing an estimated 22% of cancer deaths per year. In 2004, 1.6 million of the 7.4 million cancer deaths were due to tobacco use. Tobacco smoking causes various types of cancer, including lung cancer, oesophagus cancer, larynx cancer (voice box), mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach and cervix cancers. Therefore, women who smoke have a higher risk of getting breast cancer than their non-smoking counterparts.

Alcohol and Breast Cancer

Alcohol consumption is the most well established dietary risk factor for breast cancer. The Harvard Nurses' Health study, in conjunction with numerous others, have demonstrated that consuming more than one alcoholic beverage a day can increase breast cancer risk by as much as 20-25%. Alcohol includes beer, wine, whisky, gins etc. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), other types of cancer caused by alcohol consumption include oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, and colorectum cancers. One very crucial study that clearly demonstrated that alcohol consumption substantially increases the risk of breast cancer is the Million Woman Study, conducted by Oxford University in the United Kingdom. The report revealed that every 10 grams above a unit of alcohol consumed, increases a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer by 6%.

When consumed, alcohol breaks down into a substance called acetaldehyde, which can cause genetic mutations. This amounts to a permanent change in the DNA sequence that makes up genes. This can elicit a response from the body, resulting in the development of cancerous cells.

Alcohol is also thought to increase the production of the female hormone oestrogen in pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women. A key feature of a cancer cell is its ability to grow and multiply uncontrollably. In certain types of breast cancer, high circulating levels of oestrogen can trigger the uncontrollable growth and multiplication of cancer cells in the breast. Alcohol can also alter the immune system and contribute to nutritional deficiencies, including folic acid, vitamins A, B₆, D and E and zinc, all of which make it harder for the body to fight cancerous cells.

Women who adopt proven and effective breast cancer preventive measures are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer. In contrast, women who fail to adopt breast cancer preventive measures are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with the disease. This book presents excellent breast cancer preventive measures, as approved by the most trusted breast cancer research institutions around the world.Considering the enormous complications associated with remedying breast cancer, all experts are unanimous on the truth that when it comes to breast cancer treatment, prevention is the best cure. To view this book, click here.