Flax Seeds Can Help Breast Cancer Patients

Thank you for posting this study!   My naturopath has me on flax and I was a little worried initially, although my oncologlist said it is okay.  It's good to see something beneficial printed about it.

Can anyone find the actual study referred to in the article? 

Molecular Nutrition & Food Resource journal.  

I'd like to know what it says, and what work was done.  I hate simply reading someone elses take on research.  I'd like to know what was studied and how.

In 2008 I did some research on flaxseed. This was before my BC dx. What I found agrees with Somanywomen. Ground flaxseed is the best. I have been grinding my own and it is easy. The seed keeps well in the refrigerator ground and seeds.

Regarding ER+ women this is what I found

                        Who Should Not Consume Flaxseed
Lignans have antiestrogen properties similar to those of drugs such as tamoxifen. Because there is no published research on the interaction of these drugs with flax, Thompson recommends that people who are taking this therapy speak to their physicians before regularly adding flax to their diets. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not eat large quantities of flax until more is known about its effects on fetuses and nursing infants.

Unfortunately I did not make note of where I found this information.

I have attended a number of sessions with nutritionists and doctors regarding diet and when the issue of flaxseed came up, the response is always the same which is "we don't know"  There is no absolute scientific evidence out there. People are only speculating on possibilities. I am proof that flaxseed does not help and in fact might contribute to breast cancer.

After my first cancer dx (TN), I learned about the health benefits of freshly ground flaxseed and so I put a couple of teaspoons into my organic oatmeal every day along with lots of blueberries. I ate this following my few ounces of pomegranet juice. Guess what .... 3 1/2 years later I had a brand new dx of breast cancer -- 100% ES+ (even though I had had my ovaries removed)

Pardon me for being cynical. Just do what feels right for you but don't expect any miracles. And I still wonder if the flaxseed caused my second bc. No one has proven that it didn't. I don't use flaxseed anymore and I would advise against using it as protection from breast cancer.

I've been to a few conferences on nutrition and how it affects diseases in the body.  The understanding I have of flaxseed is that it has a weak estrogen effect which can compete with and crowd out our stronger bodily estrogen at the receptor sites.  Yes, tamoxifen does the same thing without any estrogenic effect on the breast cells.  Based on this understanding, I would think that a woman on tamoxifen taking any estrogenic substances would have bodily estrogens, tamoxifen and plant estrogens such as flax and soy all competing for that estrogen receptor.  Which one would win and get in most of the time?  Probably can't ever be proved or believed without serious clinical trials.  But tamoxifen is supposed to beat our regular estrogen from getting into the cells, according to researchers who've done clinical trials on that..

For somebody not on tamoxifen who doesn't want to take anything else, such as AIs, I would think that flaxseed and other similar substances would be a good thing as they would block out some of the stronger bodily estrogens. For somebody on an AI, where the body is cut off from making any estrogen, I would think that plant estrogens might add back a little weak estrogenic effect.

Being on tamoxifen, I use flaxseed for its health benefits and don't worry too much about it being mildly estrogenic as I figure the tamoxifen should be the strongest substance at getting to the breast cells.  This is the reason why I agreed to take tamoxifen, I'm trusting that it does what researchers have said it will do.