Breast Expert: Interview with Dr. Helayne Waldman

March is National Nutrition Month, so what better place to start than nutritional strategies for keeping your girls healthy? I chatted with Dr. Helayne Waldman, EdD, a professor at Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and author of an upcoming book on Breast Cancer Prevention, publish date January, 2012. Helayne has my fave combo: authentic, brilliant and down to earth. She is teaching an upcoming seminar at the Gottfried Center that starts next week (see details below).

SG: Why do women wait until they have the bad news (breast cancer, DCIS, atypical hyperplasia) before getting proactive about aggressive prevention? Is it fear? Is it that we're too busy to bother - the risk hasn't gotten to the top of the heap yet? You get a bad breast diagnosis, and suddenly being proactive is the top of the heap. But there are so many risk factors we can modify before the diagnosis!

HW: Women need to know they can dramatically modify their risk by getting their vitamin D up, insulin levels down, inflammation down, iodine up -- they can reduce their risk of breast cancer by 50-90%.

SG: Let's talk about toxins in the environment. I find many women don't want to hear about it - there's something dull or dry or unsexy or inevitable or fatalistic that happens in their brains and they tune out when the subject turns to xenoestrogens (chemicals that act falsely like fake estrogen in your body and may increase risk of breast cancer). Can you give us some tantalizing sound bites here to grab the attention of the busy women readers? Let's take nanoparticles in my cosmetics. Short version: what do I need to know about why they're bad & what's the alternative?

HW: Nanoparticles in conventional cosmetics are particularly dangerous.  Because of their minute size, they can easily cross into blood vessels and then get dispersed all over the body.  Do you really want plastics, artificial fragrances, dyes, heavy metals and petroleum particles traveling around in your bloodstream?

SG: Let's turn now to the controversy on goitrogens. I find it curious that most of what is good for the boobs is also good for the thyroid, but there are certain foods that are good for breast health, but can block thyroid function. What gives? Some folks say if you take goitrogens such as cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccolli) and cook it - no worries, goitrogenic activity goes away. We talked recently about the opinion of Chris Masterjohn (Weston Price thought leader) - what are the two sides to this story (cooked goitrogens ok vs maybe still bad for thyroid)? Can you enlighten me? 

HW: Soy is controversial because of its known anti-nutrients such as trypsin inhibitors and goitrogens.  Most (but not all) experts feel that fermenting the soy will help to destroy these “anti-nutrients”.  My own advice is that if you want to eat soy, make sure it’s organic (non organic is GMO) ,fermented and eaten in moderation (stay especially away from “fake” soy foods like soy protein isolate, soy hot dogs, soy ice cream etc which are highly processed with a brew of toxic ingredients.)  The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla Daniels is the best researched, most comprehensive look at soy I’ve ever seen and I highly recommend it.

SG: Coconut oil. Why so good? Is it omega 6 vs 3 or something else entirely? How does it compare to olive oil? How does it act as an anti-inflammatory?

HW: Coconut oil is great on many fronts. The main saturated fat in cocnut oil is lauric, known as a medium chain fatty acid.(does not contain appreciable amounts of Omega 3 or 6)  These fats are good to burn for quick energy, actually BOOST metabolism (leading some to lose weight) and increase levels of HDL.  It’s also considered a great anti-fungal agent, so can be excellent for yeast and other pathogens in the intestines.  And it’s really amazing for your skin.  Put some on and try it for yourself!

SG: What are we forgetting?

HW: There is a problem with American hubris. We stick our head in the sand about toxins in the environment, about GMOs, about prevention. We have magical thinking about toxins or breast cancer not being a problem for us. We are special and it won't bother us. It filters down from the aggregate to the individual. Well, guess what: it is a problem!

SG: Let's get busy, Readers! Post a comment or ask a question if you have more for Dr. Helayne.

Check out Dr. Helayne in person at our upcoming "Radical Breast Health" workshop starting March 10. Click here to register.

What If... Breast Cancer? Dr. Sara's Prevention Top 10 List

With every mammo I get, I think about what I would do if diagnosed with breast cancer. First, I'd wig. Then I'd get all empowered and put on my big girl face, and get down to biznuz. Patients and friends have asked me to post on this topic, usually because they've been diagnosed with breast cancer or pre-cancer or have an increased risk based of family history, or... are just female and concerned.

Kris Carr makes an important point: we all have cancer. What she means is that we all have aberrant cells or oncogenes looking for some action. While we don't fully understand all the ins and outs, it's basically your lifestyle, genetics, immune functioning and nutrition that determine whether those cancer cells grow or get removed by your personal army. Kris has a more metaphorical point here too -- we all have cancer if you look at it as anything about which you feel powerless, see as an extreme struggle, it could be compulsive overeating, grief, a failing marriage. While her message is a little scary, it's also a fab wake-up call to get with the program, or step up to a better program.

Another reason to post is the empowerment piece. I can't sit by and listen to my patients tell me of the disempowering message from breast surgeons which goes something like this: "There, there, I've taken out your cancer, now you go on and live your life."

And to that I would say, "But what can I do to turn the tide - there must be nutritional, hormonal, environmental risks that I can modify."

At that point, Breast Surgeon rolls their eyes and wishes I would go away.

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to turn the tide. It's all about prevention: radical prevention of your first breast cancer, prevention of recurrence, using food as medicine, modifying your risk factors, monitoring your progress.

Below is my top 10 list: Breast Cancer Prevention 101

1. Check my 2/16 ratio. This is a measure of how you are metabolizing estrogen. Are you making more of the good, protective estrogens or more of the nasties that increase your risk of breast cancer? There's good science to support this as a key marker of your risk of breast cancer, and since there's a dearth of markers for breast cancer survivors (and their female relatives) to follow, this is a good one to measure periodically. If I had breast cancer, I'd check it every 3 to 6 months. Here's the two labs (Genova and Meridian Valley) I typically use to run the test. As part of my organic experiment, I'm testing this quarterly to find out if wearing 100% organic improves my estrogen metabolism.
2. Join the Crazy Sexy Cancer community. If I'm going to be dealing with un-fun things like chemo and hair loss and dry vagina - let's do it with some good company and big irreverence! Plus Kris Carr's Diet is very sound nutritionally. See her video on it below.
3. How's your insulin and glucose? I routinely test my patients fasting glucose (want less than 99) and insulin (want less than 7). High glucose feeds cancer cells. My glucose was elevated 6 years ago (even though I'm lean - that's because of my adrenal problems, see below) when I first started getting insulin-obsessed and I reversed it in 6 months.
4. While we're talking sugar, across the board, the white stuff is pretty bad. White flour, white sugar. Either avoid it (best) or use stevia, xylitol, agave nectar, and gluten-free flours.
5. Minimum: 7 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables. Do you know how rare this is? Frightening. Yet those anti-oxidants are preventing mutation. Bite into your organic apple. If you have a tough time with this one, do your boobs a favor and order a greens powder. Email my assistant for some of this stuff and add it to smoothies for breakfast.
6. Check your Vitamin D. Based on observational studies, I recommend a level of 52-90.
7. It's all about inflammation - reduce it, baby. Measure your C-Reactive Protein to track inflammation. Eat turmeric on your food, the world's most potent anti-inflammatory. Keep yourself on the alkaline side of the tracks (Note to self: before you go all Atkins on me, recall that cancer loves acid environment - meats, coffee, peanuts). Alkalinizing foods: pumpkin seeds, persimmons, brocoflower, seaweed, kambucha, just to name a few.
8. Pamper your adrenals. Those little endocrine glands that sit on top of your adrenals like hats and they run the "fight/flight/collapse" show? Yes, those guys. Calm 'em down. Daily. Meditation, yoga, massage, tai chi, whatever it takes. High or low cortisol is a pro-cancer environment.
9. Iodine. Most of us are deficient. It's not a glamorous nutrient but give it the notice it deserves. Check your level, and supplement if necessary. Crucial to breast health (and your thyroid).
10. Speaking of thyroid - stay on top of that lil butterfly in your neck. Ideal is TSH between 0.3-1.0. Underactive thyroid has been linked with greater risk of breast cancer.

Hope that helps. Don't wait for a diagnosis to get you on the path, the path to radical wellness. Act now. With what creds do I write all this? As a gynecologist who saw her first patient in 1989. As a breast cancer prevention researcher. As a woman living through an epidemic of breast cancer. As a human slogging my way through the toxic soup we live in. Who isn't fearful of breast cancer? Best antidote to the anxiety of breast problems? Knowledge. Humor. Greens.

And while you're at it, learn more from Breast Cancer Nutritionist Dr. Helayne Waldman, who is offering a workshop on March 10 and 17 at our office at the Gottfried Center, noon to 2pm.

More from Kris Carr on her Crazy Sexy Diet right here.


Crazy Sexy Diet with Kris Carr from Danielle LaPorte on Vimeo.