Pink Day Blues

In 1985, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) was created by the American Cancer Society. Funding was provided by Zeneca (later AstraZenca) , a British pharmaceutical company. AstraZenca is still (as at 2018) associated with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. AstraZenca produces Tamoxifen. Tamoxifen is an estrogen antagonist or anti-estrogen drug which works by blocking the effects of estrogen.

Pink Day is one day in October which is designated to create awareness of breast cancer and to raise money for research.

Lifetime exposure to estrogen is 2.5-3 times higher in Western women than rural Chinese women in the 1980s. ¹ Chinese women reach menarche later, menopause earlier and have reduced levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone during their reproductive years.

There is much evidence that increased levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are associated with a significant increase in breast cancer as well as evidence that low-fat, high carbohydrate diet reduces the level of these hormones. ^{2 3 4 5 6}

The [WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer] Working Group classified consumption of processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans” and red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans“. ⁷ Processed meat includes bacon, sausages and ham.

The [Australian] National Breast Cancer Foundation sells a recipe book, Cook 4 A Cure ⁸. Recipes include:

There is a good correlation (correlation coefficent [r] = 0.58) with the consumption of milk and breast cancer. This does not mean that milk causes breast cancer. However, a diet high in milk is often high in fat, saturated fat and animal protein. The graph shows “western” countries and a number of Asian countries. The diet in Asian countries has become more western in recent decades. ^{9 10}

In the 1980s, China had a breast cancer rate that was 20% of the US.

In 2017, the Chinese aged-adjusted breast cancer rate per 100,000 population was 35% of the US. Despite the increase, China is still ranked 179 out of 183 countries. For ovarian cancer, it is ranked 175. ¹¹

The country with the highest breast cancer rate was 6.3 times greater than the lowest rate.

AU=Australia; CA=Canada; CH=Switzerland; CN=China; CZ=Czech Republic; DE=Germany; DK=Denmark; ES=Spain; FI=Finland; FR=France; GB=United Kingdom; IE=Ireland; IL=Israel; IN=India; IT=Italy; JP=Japan; KR=Korea, South; MN=Mongolia; MX=Mexico; NL=Netherlands; NO=Norway; TR=Turkey; US=United States

Walter Willet, the famed Harvard epidemiologist and former director of the Nurses’ Health Study II stated in a New York Times interview, ¹²

Most people are aware that trans-fats are really bad for you and that trans-fats are found in margarine.

According to the 1357 page Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients) report produced by the National Academy of Sciences, ¹³

According to Eric Rimm, the renowned Harvard nutritional epidemiologist and co-author of this report, ¹⁴

Of course it is possible to avoid trans-fats.

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Last updated on Wednesday 25 December 2024 at 15:13 by administrators

1. Campbell, T. C. & Campbell, T. M. (2016) The China Study. Revised and Expanded Edition. Dallas, Texas: BenBella Books.
2. Endogenous Hormones Breast Cancer Collaborative Group (2003) Body Mass Index, Serum Sex Hormones, and Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women. JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 95 (16), 1218–1226.
3. Boyd, N. F. et al. (1997) Effects of a low-fat high-carbohydrate diet on plasma sex hormones in premenopausal women: results from a randomized controlled trial. British Journal of Cancer. 76 (1), 127–135.
4. Berrino, F. et al. (2001) Reducing Bioavailable Sex Hormones through a Comprehensive Change in Diet: the Diet and Androgens (DIANA) Randomized Trial. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 10 (1), 10.
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6. The Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer Collaborative Group (2002) Endogenous Sex Hormones and Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women: Reanalysis of Nine Prospective Studies. CancerSpectrum Knowledge Environment. 94 (8), 606–616.
7. Bouvard, V. et al. (2015) Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group (ed.). The Lancet Oncology. 16 (16), 1599–1600.
8. McCosker, K. (2012) Cook 4 A Cure. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
9. World Life Expectancy (n.d.) World Life Expectancy – Statistics [online]. Available from: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/
10. Canadian Dairy Information Center (2016) Per Capita Global Consumption of Butter – Canadian Dairy Information Centre (CDIC) [online]. Available from: http://www.dairyinfo.gc.ca/index_e.php (Accessed 20 June 2018).
11. World Life Expectancy (n.d.) World Life Expectancy – Statistics [online]. Available from: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/
12. Kolata, G. (1990) Animal Fat is Tied to Colon Cancer – New York Times [online]. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/13/us/animal-fat-is-tied-to-colon-cancer.html (Accessed 28 January 2017).
13. National Academy of Sciences. (2005). Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients) (p423 ).
14. Fox, M. (2002) Trans-fat increase cholesterol levels. Jawawa – Indonesian & Financial News. 17 July. [online]. Available from: http://jawawa.id/index.php/newsitem/trans-fat-increase-cholesterol-levels-1447893297 (Accessed 30 March 2017).