Flaxseeds & Breast Cancer Survival

cp418 · May 2013

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/flaxseeds-breast-cancer-survival.html

lightandwind · May 2013

Amazing! (and very current info too) So glad to see this. Thanks for posting.

curveball · May 2013

when I clicked on the link it didn't say anything about flaxseeds, it goes to a screen saying "watch the video and money will be donated to..." some charity I've never heard of. I'm interested in knowing what the article says about flaxseeds, but not enough to go through the hassle of checking out this charity to see if it is one I wish to support, even indirectly. If you're going to post a link, please make it one that goes directly to the information relevant to bco, not some unknown organization promoting an unknown cause.

lightandwind · May 2013

Curveball, I clicked on the link, never saw any mention of any charity or that money would be donated to anyone. I did not see what you were looking at at all.

The video had a compilation of studies that have been completed in the last few years regarding flaxseed/lignans and bc. Most of them previously have been done on lignan and bc prevention. Up til now we have not had any such evidence regarding flaxseed/lignans, and its effect on women already diagnosed w/ bc, and bc survival. This last study conducted in Germany shows that increased blood lignans are associated w/ increased survival. It is still not clear if it is flax seeds alone or plant based diet that creates this effect.

suntrek · May 2013

I, too, have been looking into lingnans for estrogen dominace and it sounds like it could possibly help.Also, essiac tea is know for reducing tumors.

I have opted for no further treatment after surgery and am going to try these alternatives.

curveball · May 2013

I tried the link again and got the same window, something about butterfly points. I didn't realize the first time I commented that it was possible to get rid of that window without watching the video. Since then, I haven't seen the donation window. I will look at the flaxseed information now.

Momine · May 2013

Here is what drives me nuts. I combed through the studies and other info last night. There is tantalizing, small-scale evidence to suggest that lignans could be helpful. However, in every overview it says that if you are ER+ or you are on an AI you should use caution and consult with your doctor etc. But most doctors know nothing about this kind of thing. So although it seems like it might be a good idea, I end up concluding that it is probably safer to leave it alone.

Heidihill · May 2013

Maybe the omega-3 fatty acids in flaxseeds does the trick with or without lignans? If so, you can get omega 3 from other sources.

wenweb · May 2013

I have not investigated the whole flax dilema, but I am fairly certain that there is a supposed difference between flaxseed meal (ground flaxseeds) and flaxseed oil. The theory being that the meal is ok and the oil is not. This does seem like a contradiction, because if you buy flaxseed oil (that is freshly pressed and kept refrigerated at the health food store), the label states that it contains lignan's where as the capsules only say Omega 3's.

There is also the "Budwig" diet (for general cancer recurrence prevention) which is quite old. This involves daily cottage cheese blended with flaxseed oil... That being said, I have been taking flaxseed oil capsules/liquid/meal for quite a while and still got BC. Of course I realize that the beginnings of BC begin long before it is manifested.

cp418-the article was great, thanks for posting it. However, it didn't make me feel better one way or the other as to whether flax was good or bad

Anonymous · May 2013

I'd be more interested if I knew who funded the research.

What Momine said: "However, in every overview it says that if you are ER+ or you are on an AI you should use caution and consult with your doctor etc" Again, what the SOURCE of this research, who did it, who funded it?

Momine · May 2013

Sunflowers, that is not a study, but doctor opinion based on available studies. I saw this warning both on the cancer institute site and Sloane Kettering's site.

Anonymous · May 2013

I have read the same thing about flaxseed and ER+, Momine. Again, it just reminds me that individually we need to be as proactive as possible with our health. My NO told me to eat ground flax, as did my PCN, but because of the research I did on my own, my heart tells me to avoid in spite of their directive and focus on other supplements, etc. that are safe and effectve for ER+ (and I was highly ER+) for us to use to prevent recurrence.

Claire

ByFaith · June 2013

I love flax seed, but read an article in passing last year listing it as a plant estrogen and directing ER+ BC patients to avoid it, among other xenoestrogens. Now this research encourages our eating it. At this point, I'm inclined to continue avoiding it. Since I've been really struggling with Arimidex side effects for 3 years, I'd hate to be taking Arimidex for nothing for more than one reason!

Has anyone contacted thir oncologist about this? Not that we can't live without flax seed, but I always liked it.

LeeLeeLynn · June 2013

After consuming flax seeds that I grind myself, for the past 5 years, I stopped when this nightmare began and I discovered that flax is grown in Canada, China, North Dakota and Montana where the soil is polluted with cadmium (a metal that has been shown to cause BC)

lightandwind · June 2013

I wonder where the flax seeds used in the study came from?

jojo68 · June 2013

In my studies I have found the oil to be ok, the seeds not.

lightandwind · June 2013

how can that be when the oil comes from the seeds?

Flaxseeds & Breast Cancer Survival

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