breast cancer and meat
So like i've said before, i'm not vegan to be healthy, but i use the health benefits as an argument for when people start to criticize my lifestyle. I was reading a little bit about red meat and breast cancer, but noticed that it only is a risk for hormonal breast cancer and not non-hormonal. I couldn't find much info about non hormonal and wanted to know if anyone here knows anything about it and can put it in layman's terms for me. See my grandmother has had breast cancer about 7 times, and I want to find out if this is something that was caused by her eating lots of meat or because of this non hormonal thing. I'd rather just ask here instead of calling her or my dad up. Its such an awkward question for people who know each other, especially when its his mom thats suffering, I'd rather just send it out into the unknown and see what comes back.
I think the more estrogen you have in your body (when you're younger), the faster the farther cancer spreads. Perhaps it's because she is post menopausal and no longer having periods. I've never heard of cancer called nonhormonal, but maybe that's what it means. This is the best I can do, sorry.
What do you mean by non-hormonal breast cancer?
If she eats organic, free range farm animals, who are given no antibiotics, no hormones, no pesticide sprayed grass ... then she's OK. Again, being overweight has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer so, obviously, if she's eating fatty stuff all the time ... it's not good. But, that type of meat, in moderation (as anything) is OK.
This also goes for dairy - if she's drinking milk or eathing cheese from cows that have been given hormones, antibiotics, etc., then this is not good.
As far as I am aware, organic, free range animals from local farms (not those that are in enormous farms where disease is rampant) have not been proven to cause breast cancer.
The growth hormone given to cows, though, has been linked to all kinds of stuff from early onset of puberty to breast cancer.
Beyond that anti-perspirant deodorants have also been linked to breast cancer. So, she should not be using those.
My grandmother has had breast cancer, but it's not from food or genetics. She lives in Poland, and everyone is getting cancer due to the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. So, if your grandmother lives anywhere near easten Europe ... that's another cause.
I could be way off, but my guess is that non-hormonal breast cancer simply means hormones didn't cause the cancer. Similar to how a person could be a non-smoker for their whole life and still get lung cancer. Sometimes cancers happen and you can't pin down a cause. So in this case, it would mean meat alters hormones and altered hormones can lead to breast cancer, but if her hormone levels were normal then it probably wasn't a meat problem.
So like i've said before, i'm not vegan to be healthy, but i use the health benefits as an argument for when people start to criticize my lifestyle. I was reading a little bit about red meat and breast cancer, but noticed that it only is a risk for hormonal breast cancer and not non-hormonal. I couldn't find much info about non hormonal and wanted to know if anyone here knows anything about it and can put it in layman's terms for me. See my grandmother has had breast cancer about 7 times, and I want to find out if this is something that was caused by her eating lots of meat or because of this non hormonal thing. I'd rather just ask here instead of calling her or my dad up. Its such an awkward question for people who know each other, especially when its his mom thats suffering, I'd rather just send it out into the unknown and see what comes back.
I know that this thread is too old but I still want to say something. Eating red or white meat, including meat cooked at high temperatures, does not increase the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a large study conducted by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study was published this month in the International Journal of Cancer. According to the Hattiesburg radiation oncologist, a number of previous studies have found that eating red meat or meat cooked at high temperatures increases the risk of breast cancer. (High temperatures caused by grilling, barbecuing or pan-frying produce high amounts of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in meat; HCAs and PAHs are mutagens (chemicals capable of causing mutations in DNA) that can cause breast tumors in laboratory animals.) Over the next eight years, approximately three percent, or 3,818, of the women developed breast cancer. The researchers found no evidence that the amount of meat consumed, meat-cooking methods used, or meat-mutagen intake was associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. Reported meat intake included steak, hamburger, chicken, pork, processed meat and meat cooked at high temperatures. The study also found that consumption of meat or meat cooked at high temperatures, through grilling and oven-broiling, did not increase breast cancer rates in subgroups including obese women, those who did not have children, who were consumers of alcohol, who were smokers, who used menopausal hormone therapy, who had low levels of physical activity, or had a low intake of fruits or vegetables.
More details here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151796.php