EASY WAY # 7
Detox from alcohol, smoking and sugar
This is the hardest of our 7 Easy Ways; so we have saved the hardest way for last. Everyone knows that sugar, alcohol and cigarettes aren't good for you, so it makes sense that these things can all contribute to the development of breast cancer.
There are many ways to try and cut down or eliminate sugar, alcohol, and cigarettes, so instead of describing easy ways to reach any of these goals (there really are no easy ways) we are going to tell you why you should reduce or eliminate these harmful habits to avoid breast cancer. Just understanding these reasons may be an easy way to begin to detox from one or more of these lifestyles.
The most important way you can help stop breast cancer from ever starting is to take 2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 a day. However Vitamin D3 in your blood serum does not seem to protect heavy drinkers or smokers from developing breast cancer due to poor absorption of vitamins and minerals.
The Link Between Elevated Blood Sugar and Breast Cancer
Insulin is a hormone that also acts like strong estrogen flowing through your body with the ability to irritate breast cells and possibly turn them into cancer cells. High levels of insulin in your blood increase your risk of developing breast cancer, no matter what your age. This is why diabetics have double the risk of developing breast cancer than non-diabetic women.
To illustrate this fact, when you have a Pet Scan to detect existing cancer cells in your body, you are asked to drink glucose after fasting. Why? Because cancer cells light up like a Christmas tree on the scan as they hungrily grab the glucose entering your body.
Research shows that excess sugar or glucose from alcohol stays in your blood stream for hours after you have finished drinking. In addition, the sugar or glucose in food, wine, beer and other alcoholic drinks acts like Miracle Grow fertilizer on any existing cancer cells, by feeding and accelerating the growth of cancer cells throughout your body.
Recent Research Says:
Younger women — According to the 2003 California Teachers Study, younger women who have two or more alcoholic drinks a day have a 21% increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer. These pre-menopausal women who also have high blood sugar levels have an even higher risk of developing breast cancer than women with normal blood sugar.
Older women who have gone through menopause and drink more than two glasses of wine or other alcohol a day, have a 32% increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer, compared to women who rarely or never drink alcohol. Older women who are obese and/or have high blood sugar levels also have increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Diabetes (type II) — No matter what your age, diabetics have double the risk of developing breast cancer than non diabetic women.
Breast Cancer survivors or “veterans” — A small but growing body of evidence shows that obesity, alcohol use, smoking and obesity put breast cancer veterans at an even higher risk for developing another invasive breast cancer diagnosis than other women.
A recent study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that:
- breast cancer veterans who were obese had a 50% increased risk of developing breast cancer;
- breast cancer veterans who consumed at least one alcoholic drink per day had a 90 percent increased risk;
- breast cancer veterans who were current smokers had a 120% increased risk.
Articles and research on Blood Sugar and Alcohol
2003, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention — Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Breast Cancer Risk in the California Teachers Study cohort
Sept 8, 2009, Journal of Clinical Oncology — Obesity, Alcohol Consumption and Smoking Increase Risk of Second Breast Cancer
November 2002, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers & Prevention — Fasting glucose is a risk factor for breast cancer: a prospective study