The Flax Myth

Wendy Sellens, L.Ac. and William Hobbins, M.D.Breast cancer is on the rise.

Breast cancer is on the rise. The American Cancer Society estimated that the number of women diagnosed increased from 175, 000 in 1999 to 211,300 in 2003. Not only are the numbers increasing, but the women afflicted with breast cancer are getting younger.

One of the reasons for this increase is due to the rise in environmental estrogens found in our food, water, air and household products. Phytoestrogens, one type of environmental estrogen, are derived from plants. They mimic estrogen in the body, but because it comes from a plant, its effect is different. Soy, flax and bio-identical products contain Phytoestrogens.

When estrogen becomes dominate in the system, it creates a hormonal imbalance, often seen as PMS and symptoms of menopause, along with an increased risk for breast cancer. Estrogens, as well as Phytoestrogens, cause breast cells to grow rapidly, so if there is a cancer cell present, it has the possibility of being stimulated as well.

Stimulation of breast cells in breast thermography is referred to as “vascularity.” Vascularity is stimulation from all types of estrogens and produces an increase in blood flow. In normal, healthy, balanced breasts there is no vascularity. With the Bales Tip infrared image analysis, an integral element of breast thermography, measurement of an increase or growth of vascularity can be monitored. Hormone levels of estrogen and progesterone can be determined with accuracy because the analysis measures the effects of all estrogens, including environmental.

Most women who are analyzed are estrogen stimulated or relatively free of adequate progesterone to reduce the effects of estrogen. Again, these symptoms are seen as PMS or the side effects of menopause. If a woman is hormonally balanced, she will not experience either. We recently conducted a pilot study to prove that flax, which contains Phytoestrogens, would increase breast cell stimulation, or vascularity, thus putting the breast at risk. It was challenging to find a subject who was relatively balanced to proceed with the study.

The study was to last for six months. Due to the fact that we added an exogenous (outside the body) estrogen, flax, to a relatively hormonally stable system, the subject had such adverse side effects she refused to continue. Her side effects are similar to those caused by the synthetic estrogens found in birth control pills: severe mood swings, breast tenderness, weight gain around the abdomen and severe cramps. As seen in the accompanying images, six weeks was enough time to prove that flax, which contains Phytoestrogens, increases vascularity in the breasts, thus increasing risk. There is a misconception that women need more estrogen—women are bombarded all day by environmental estrogens. Most women are actually progesterone deficient due to this environmental stress. We rarely see women who need estrogen. At one time, flax may have been a great health supplement, but now, due to the prevalence of environmental estrogens, this is simply not true—it actually increases the risk of breast cancer.

Try it for yourself! Remember, most of you are estrogen dominant or progesterone deficient, so you may already have these complaints. If you add flax to your diet, watch the symptoms increase. Conversely, if you are taking flax, stop and see what happens. When we have our patients remove flax from their diet, they notice a decrease in weight, breast tenderness, hair loss, hot flashes and PMS, with an improvement in sleep, energy and mood.

Find out if you have breast vascularity by contacting our Patient Services Associates at (949) 680-1880 to schedule your Thermographic Breast Imaging.