Flax seed oil counterproductive???

Last week I spoke with my surgeon and she indicated that flax was ok and on soy.. "we really don't know enough about to say if it's good or bad"...my tumor was strongly ER/PR+.  Bottom line here I think is that they just don't know.  I go with my gut...I do what makes me feel healthy and strong.  I think flaxseed is an excellent food.  I stopped eating soy because of all the controversy but I'm not sure it makes any difference really. 

Hi again:

I found the paper but all the studies seem to have been done in the 1990's.  I did find this site with information but of course, it's selling products. http://www.flaxhealth.com/breastcancerupdate.htm

I don't see that they've studied it a great deal.  The paper I have had a couple of studies done in Israel, Italy and Australia.

Peeps

I started eating ground flaxseed in may of last year before I ever read about the budwig protocol.  As far as I know, the objection to flax (and soy) is the presence of phytoestrogens.  Opinions are divided  on this topic.  Some say phytoestrogens could feed cancer cells the same way estrogen does.  Others say the phytoestrogens are weaker and it is to our benefit to eat phytoestrogens because the plant esters combine with the receptors but are too weak to feed a tumor.  But here's my gripe -- if the plant ester is too weak to feed a tumor, how can anyone be certain that it's the phytoestrogen and not real estrogen (or foreign xenoestrogens) connecting to the receptor? 

It stands to reason that the stronger estrogens would just elbow the phytoestrogens to the side as they glom onto the receptors.  I'm actually hoping that the opposite is true, however, since I've kicked tamoxifen to the curb and placed my hopes on the flaxseed being beneficial to me.  Even if it doesn't keep the receptors occupied, there are a host of other benefits associated with flaxseed and its oil.   I like mine mixed with yogurt and honey.  I tried the cottage cheese route and really missed my yogurt.  Hopefully, yogurt has whatever cottage cheese has for creating the chemical combination that's supposed to be so good.  

Dear kryptonite,

I have also done some research on flax seed.  I think there seems to be a difference in the flax seed oil and the ground flax seed.  My understanding is the ground flax seed goes through the intestines and grabs the carcinogens and carries them out of the intestines.  I don't recall the oil, bit it is totally different.

Unfortunately, in this country and probably others... it is about the almighty buck.  There is minimal money to be made in flax seeds compared to pharmaceuticals.  Therefore when a corporation is deciding what to do a "study" on which requires $, they look at the return.

Moral of the story is I appreciate both... but like to have a plan "B" so will continue to do my own research and trust that the right information will come to me.

 You may have seen in other posts that I have a friend who is 10 years cancer free who did it totally holistic, after surgery.  She does take ground flax seed.

Good Luck and keep the hope alive.

I get about 3 tablespoons of ground flax a day.  I'm also taking a mushroom capsule, CoQ10 and a tumeric supplement.  Fortuantely I was eating clean before my diagnosis so my eating habits didn't need to change.

I highly recommend reading The Warrior Goddess by Chritine Horner...a wealth of information!

Soy can be really confusing.  It can act as both agonist and antagonist for breast cancer.  Then you have the processed soy and the fermented soy and the supplements.  Ugh!  Too complicated for this simple mind but that is why the research is confusing.

But even though soy and flax are both classified as a phytoestrogen, they are not the same.  It's the lignans in the flax seed that they claim are the benefit.

There are so many websites out there promoting their own ideas of what we should be doing.  It's hard, but we need to be careful of the information we gather and make sure we do our own research.  The more we understand about our case the more tools we have to make life saving decisions.

Good luck with your decision

jan

Amber,

I was not eating ground Flax until after BC. I eat 2 TBSP a day with my cereal, (with blueberries!) and swithed from cow's milk to Soy milk b/c I thought it would be better for someone ER+ and PR+. But I feel like I need more help. After surgery (Dec 2nd) and recovery, I want to start focusing on foods. 

I'd join your thread if you start one!.... I will have to look up Diana Dyer. 

Springtime...

The whole soy and flax thing is confusing. I asked my onc and he said there hasn't been enough studies to show it is bad or good. He said it would be my desicion. I decided not to. I was never a big soy eater, before BC I did like my chocolate soy milk and occasionally I would throw tofu in a stirfry just for something different. I thought I would miss it, but no. I switched to Almond milk and love it. I think it tastes better than soy milk and a lot less fat than regular milk. It comes in vanilla, chocolate or regular.

I decided to go to a natural path a month ago and she recommended no soy products untill research has come out. Argg..but thats ok. she did recommend Omega 3 Fish oil tablet 1 a day and Co Enzime Q10 2 a day for the prevention of recurrence. Along with the Calcium, Vitamin D, Multi vitamin ect. I'm glad I went to see her now that I'm finished with the conventional "stuff". Spring, blueberries are so very good for you I eat them at least 3 x week. They are more expensive now that they are not in season but I buy them frozen and throw them in oatmeal or baking. Also dark, dark chocolate the higher the percentage the better. Dark chocolate has the highest antioxidant content its great for baking!

This is a good site to research Flax and soy.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&tool=toolbar