Flaxseeds and Breast Cancer

Cancer – the term gives a frightening connotation just as its definition and detrimental consequences. One of the most deadliest and common illnesses that struck most women and even men is breast cancer. If you have never had the disease or personally know of any close friends or relatives that have been diagnosed with it, then you should definitely count your blessings. I learn in human genetics that women who inherited the BRCA mutant alleles are predisposed to getting breast cancer - that is their chance of developing cancer increases drastically as oppose to the general population. Perhaps in flaxseed they could find a new hope. There are many factors that accumulate in the development of breast cancer and one of which is the high level of estrogen in the circulatory system. Under certain conditions, estrogen binds to certain receptors on cells and allows the cell to proliferate even damaged ones that need to be destroyed. The proliferation of damaged cells is harmful because these cells may result in the formation of tumors or impair the functions of other neighboring cells.

Bacteria in the colons convert a compound in flaxseed, secoisolariciresinol diglycoside (SD) to phytoestrogen, another compound with great similarity in structure to estrogen. Phytoestrogen acts as a competitive inhibitor that is it competes with estrogen in binding to the cell receptors. However unlike estrogen it is not capable of activating genes that are responsible for cell proliferation. As a result the chances of developing breast cancer as well as the cancer’s progression rate are reduced and the tumors are found to be smaller in size.

As humans we have no control over which genes we inherited whether good or bad like the BRCA but we certainly can control what food we consume. I have noticed most of the time the food that are beneficial for our body are not very tasty even more difficult to swallow whereas the food that are not necessarily good for us are simply delicious. Wouldn’t it be lovely if healthy foods are also scrumptious? But the world simply does not operate that way otherwise we would not need so many doctors to take care of us. I do not recall ever eating flaxseeds before but if they could reduce my chance of developing such a horrible disease like breast cancer I definitely would gulp them down in a heartbeat as soon as I can find some. That is before I learn that too much flaxseed would not do much good and may have adverse effects. I find the phrase “Everything in moderation” to be so true! Perhaps the next time I meet up with a friend for a cup of coffee, I will also look for flaxseed bagel on the menu. If flaxseed bagel is not on the menu I may convince enough of my friends of its incredibly beneficial properties that we may persuade the managers to consider putting it on the menu. In the mean time I will do more research into flaxseed and other beneficial properties it has to strengthen my persuasion.