Nutrition and breast cancer: myth busting
the three most common myths I bust every day
Disclaimer in that this post is for educational purposes only and is not meant to serve as individual advice. See your doctor or dietitian if you have specific concerns!
Before you stop reading or think this post isn’t for you, hear me out! One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives, and it will eventually affect most women in one way or another. Having some nutrition education or at least knowing how to recognize some of the BS information out there (and there is A LOT) is probably going to help you and/or someone you care about at some point.
soy products like tempeh are absolutely fine. read on!
I say this because, as a dietitian who has worked with women in all stages of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and beyond for several years now, I’ve had many women come to our sessions confused as all hell about nutrition because of the things well-meaning friends, family and Google has told them. Don’t even get me started on social media or “alternative” practitioners who truly do not know what they are talking about. This will probably be the first of many posts on nutrition and breast cancer, but here are my top three myths that I dispel on a daily basis.
Myth 1: soy causes breast cancer because it has estrogen, and I need to avoid it as well as other foods with estrogen.
As background, the reason why this question comes up so much is that the majority of breast cancers are hormone sensitive. This basically means that breast cancer cells need the hormones estrogen and/or progesterone to grow, and we naturally produce both. However, NO FOOD CONTAINS ESTROGEN. There is no food that contains estrogen like the estrogen we make in our bodies. Period the end, if you read, see or hear otherwise know that the information is incorrect or misinformed.
However, there are some foods that have a plant-based form of estrogen, called a phytoestrogen. These foods include soy and flaxseeds. Because of the fact that these are a different form of estrogen and they are thought to have estrogen-like activity in the body, they have been extensively studied in relation to breast cancer. All of the research to date points to soy and other phytoestrogen containing foods not to be harmful in women with or at risk for breast cancer. If anything, they may be protective against breast cancer. So if you like tofu, tempeh, soy milk, etc., have at them as part of a varied diet.
Myth 2: sugar feeds cancer so I have to avoid all sugar at all costs
Nope. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had women diagnosed with breast cancer come to me terrified to eat sugar or carbohydrates because of this myth. SUGAR DOES NOT FEED CANCER. All of our cells, including cancer cells, need sugar, or glucose, for energy. There is no way around that. But, cancer cells are not taking all of the sugar we eat away from our other cells and they will not grow faster if we eat more sugar. When it comes to breast cancer, there is no sufficient research showing that restricting sugar and carbohydrates slows tumor cell growth and I do not advocate for either. I will always encourage a plant-forward diet for women with breast cancer, but this can (and should!) include a treat that contains sugar from time to time.
Myth 3: now that I have cancer, I have to eat as “clean” as possible
We can get into details about how “clean” eating doesn’t have a real definition in future posts, but here it means being generally restrictive and having rules about what foods are “good” and “bad.” When women are diagnosed with breast cancer, they often have a desire to overhaul the diet because it’s one thing that can be controlled amongst a plethora of other things - appointments, scans, insurance, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, etc. etc. - that can’t. But, making restrictive dietary changes during a stressful time puts even more stress on the body, and can cause or resurface disordered eating behaviors. Just as importantly, THERE IS NO ONE FOOD YOU CAN’T EAT WHEN YOU HAVE BREAST CANCER. Yes, there are foods I’d want you to eat more of - vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, olive oil, fruits, fish - and some I’d want you to eat less of - red and processed meats - but nothing is off limits completely. I advocate strongly for a balanced approach to eating while going through breast cancer, gentle nutrition education when it’s appropriate and a focus on nourishing the body with a variety of foods.
Hopefully this is helpful to some of you! Always happy to chat more via Instagram or my website.
*when speaking about nutrition and breast cancer, I don’t take it lightly. everything I say here is backed by research and is not based on my opinions (always happy to share references). Don’t get me wrong I have a lot of opinions, but there is a time and place and plenty of future newsletters for those!