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An even bigger factor in this hormonal soup is the fact that cattle in United States and in Canada is commonly fed all sorts of hormones to make them grow quicker and fatter, and to produce more milk. These hormones then stay in the meat fat, or in the fatty part of the milk, and people consuming dairy products and meat get an extra load of the hormones. The milk from cows that have received the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone rBGH also contains high amounts of IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor I). Women with elevated IGF-1 blood levels have a much higher risk of breast cancer.
Also, the mere consumption of more meat and dairy in general might play a part. It is known that signs of early puberty are especially prevalent within African-American girls. A study compared the diet of young African-American girls and old African American women, asking the women to remember what they ate as girls. The old women ate less as girls (only two meals a day), and the young girls eat more milk and meat.
Yet another, often overlooked fact is soy infant formula. Soy contains a high amount of substances called isoflavones or phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are similar to the female hormone estrogen, but weaker. Infants fed soy formula are exposed daily to levels of isoflavones that are 6-11 fold higher on a bodyweight basis than the dose that has hormonal effects in adults consuming soy foods. So it is very plausible that such high levels will have hormonal effects in babies!
The research on soy in general presents a contradictory picture. It seems to have some positive effect in hormone-sensitive diseases like breast cancer, but there are a lot of negative reports from animal studies, suggesting that phytoestrogens cause cancer and thyroid disease, and damage the reproductive and immune systems. But since there is very little research on the effects of soy infant formula on human babies, researchers are cautioning against the use of soy formula. Some people argue it should only be available by prescription.
All this excess estrogen (or phytoestrogens in case of soy formula) from various sources is very likely disrupting the hormonal balance in the human body. Besides causing early puberty in females, the overabundance of estrogen can cause reduced fertility and reproductive system malformations in males. An excess of estrogen versus progesterone or estrogen dominance is connected with the premenstrual syndrome (PMS). And, the amount of estrogen a woman is exposed to during her lifetime is a risk factor for breast cancer.
On the positive side, there is a study where the onset of puberty was delayed by consuming flaxseed. In a 1999 report in Carcinogenesis, Lilian U. Thompson from the University of Toronto and a co-investigator presented experimental evidence that consuming lignan-rich flax from early on (including consumption by the mother during pregnancy) can reduce the lifetime breast cancer risk of women. In this experimental study, early consumption of flax also delayed onset of puberty.
Flax is rich in the omega-3 essential fatty acid (the word essential means you need it!), and the lignans in flax regulate estrogen levels. The researchers have found that flax both protects women from breast cancer and can reduce the tumor size. This is such a good news because flax is just a food substance used for thousands of years, and does not have side effects like tamoxifen (a drug used to prevent breast cancer).
A spanish study evaluated the relationship between diet and menarche (the time of first menstruation), and found that those who experienced menarche later than average (after 12 years of age), consumed more nuts and seeds. (Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1995 Jul;74(6):455-61..) It is also generally known that vegetarian diet delays the onset of puberty. All this is re-emphasizing how good vegetables, fruits, seeds, and nuts are for us! Don't let your children live on sugary breakfast cereals and white flour products and other processed foods - give them real nutrition.
The following is a list of suggestions for protecting children from the effects of xenoestrogens. See the links belows for more information.
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