Foods to Ingest for Healthy Breasts

Who knew that my fondness for Japanese seaweed salad might also protect me from breast cancer? Apparently researchers did. Nutrition studies are finally exhibiting positive results toward breast cancer prevention. Makes me wish I had listened to Mom a lot earlier when she’d throw something green on my otherwise yellow plate and pester me to eat my veggies. She’ll be happy to know that I’m ready to ingest these five foods to keep my breasts healthy.

Fish Oil
Dr. John Glaspy, Director of UCLA’s Oncology Center, headed a study that had a group of breast cancer survivors ingest large quantities of fish oils for three months while following a diet that was low in fat, high in soy products, and included a variety of vegetables. The increased omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in women’s breast tissue metabolized into prostaglandins—a hormone-like substance that can inhibit cancer-cell growth. Glaspy is furthering his research to follow the effects of Asian diets, which are rich in soy and vegetables, since breast cancer strikes only one in forty Asian women compared to one in eight in America.

Related recipe: Salmon with Horseradish Sauce

The Brassica Group of Vegetables
Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, kale, chard, and turnips
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found that indole-3-carbinol, a chemical in broccoli and other vegetables of the Brassica genus, stops the growth of breast cancer cells. Leonard F. Bjeldanes, professor of toxicology in the College of Natural Resources, has studied indole-3-carbinol for more than fifteen years and discovered that its effects halt the breast cancer cells’ development while maintaining the healthy cells. Researchers also reported that high vegetable diets have been linked to a lowered risk of breast cancer since some chemicals in vegetables suppress estrogen, which can stimulate the growth of both breast cells and breast cancer cells.

Related recipe: Grünkohl (German Kale)

Seaweed
Researchers in Japan and the United States have studied the relationship between seaweed with breast cells and estradiol, the sex hormone derived from cholesterol. At Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japanese scientists found that when mekabu, the gooey thread-like seaweed closely related to wakame (brown seaweed), was left in distilled water for twenty-four hours in vitro, it created a solution that produced a natural process of self-destruction in three kinds of human breast cells. The effects were stronger than any other chemotherapy drug and didn’t kill off any of the normal human mammary cells—making a weekly sushi date is good for your heart and your breasts.