There are hundreds, if not thousands, of papers in peer-reviewed medical journals dating back to the mid 1980s relating to the causes and prevention of breast, cervical, ovarian, endometrial and corpus uterine cancers. Unfortunately, this information is generally not read by medical practitioners, specialists or health support organisations.

As Professor Michael Brown, one of the leading medical researchers of the 20th century, stated in a speech to students at an Academy of Achievement event in 2006:

Whilst Professor Brown, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1985, was referring to heart disease, the same applies to other “diseases of affluence“.

Sex Hormones and Cancer

There are many papers linking sex hormones to breast, endometrium and ovarian cancers as well as prostate cancer. Below is a very small selection.

Diet and Sex Hormones

Given that sex hormones are implicated in a number of cancers, how do we reduce the amount of sex hormones? Caldwell Esselstyn writes that in Japan in 1958 there were 18 deaths from prostate cancer and 137 in the year 1978. As their diet becomes more western, then their incidence of prostate cancer rises.

One simple way is to stop consuming meat, milk and cheese. A 2005 paper ⁸ examined the link between breast, ovarian and corpus uteri cancers and diet. Food intake was obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization for the years 1961-1997 for 40 countries. Cancer statistics were obtained from national registries for the years 1993-1997. It found significant and substantial correlations.

r is the correlation coefficient which is a number between -1 and 1. A correlation coefficient of 0.7 or greater is often considered a strong correlation.

A 2001 paper ⁹, discusses a method of reducing sex hormones through a comprehensive change in diet. The study period was 4.5 months.

The suggested intervention diet was based on Mediterranean vegetarian and macrobiotic recipes. The dietary recommendations were:

It is much more informative to compare the changes of the participants over the study period instead of comparing them to the control group.

A 1990 paper ¹⁰ stated, “a 17% reduction in plasma estradiol may explain a noteworthy component of the international variation in breast cancer incidence“. The 18% reduction in estrodiol is a significant reduction as is the reduction in weight and testosterone. Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) was increased 25%. SHBG inhibits the function of sex hormones so the bio-availability of these hormones is influenced by SHBG. All of these changes occurred over a period of 4.5 months.

A whole-food, plant-based diet shows even a greater impact.

The control group also improved their results to a lesser extent.

A short-term study ¹¹ of 17-27 days examined the effects of a low-fat (less than 10%), high-fibre (35-45g) diet on estradiol levels. The average fat consumption of the US diet is 33% and the average fibre consumption is 10g. ¹² The recommendation is 25-30g.

Serum estradiol fell from an average 66.4 pmol/L to 34.5 pmol/L – a reduction of 48% in a period of 3-4 weeks.

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and Cancers

Insulin-like growth  factor (IGF-1) plays a role in cell division (cell proliferation) and inhibits cell death. This applies to tumors as well as normal cells. As a result, IGF-1 is significantly implicated in the development of cancers. ¹³

The EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) has more than 500,000 participants from 10 European countries. It commenced in 1993.

One research finding ¹⁴ showed that for each standard deviation increase in total protein, dairy protein and calcium intake was associated with an increase in IGF-1 concentration of 2.5%, 2.4%, and 3.3%. The standard deviation is a measure of the variability of the data. A small standard deviation means that the data values are clustered around the mean whilst a large standard deviation means the data values are more widely dispersed.

A 2002 paper ¹⁵ compared IGF-1 concentrations in three populations of women: non-vegetarians, lacto-ovo-vegetarian (includes milk and eggs,) and vegans. Data was obtained from participants in the Oxford component of the EPIC study.

Vegans had a 13% lower IGF-1 concentrations than both the non-vegetarians and the lacto-ovo-vegetarian. Giving up meat, fish, eggs and dairy did not make an impact on the IGF-1 values.

A 2006 study ¹⁶ over a 2 week period women where placed on a low-fat (10-15% of energy), high-fbre  diet and attended daily exercise classes for 2 weeks. Alcohol, cigarettes or caffeine were not permitted. Serum estradiol was reduced 37% and IGF-1 was reduced 19% – in just 2 weeks. The paper stated that other studies have shown alcohol intake of approximately one drink per day was associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.

Tamoxifen is an estrogen antagonist (or anti-estrogen) drug. Some side effects include “excesses of endometrial cancer, pulmonary embolism, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, and cataracts”. ¹⁷

Yes – tamoxifen was associated with a 3.4 times increase in endometrial cancer rates and nearly a two times increase in thromboembolic events.

In comparison, one diet described above reduced serum estradiol by 48% over a period of 3-4 weeks. Another study showed a reduction in serum estradiol of 37% in 2 weeks. The only side effects are the reduction of many other “diseases of affluence“.

If diet is a deeply implicated in the cancer process as the above evidence suggests, then it makes no sense to hope that research, obtained through massive amounts of funding, will find an answer that is more attuned to society’s dietary preferences – and will not make any impact on corporate profits.

Walter Willet, the famed Harvard epidemiologist and former director of the Nurses’ Study stated in a New York Times interview:

Eric Rimm, another researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health, stated:

Last updated on Friday 31 March 2023 at 05:11 by administrators

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