Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Increased Breast Vascularity
- Thermography Can Tell You the Truth About Estrogenic Foods
- Environmental Estrogens Compound the Problem
- Hormone Replacement Therapy
- “Weak” Estrogenic Foods?
- Get Off Soy and Flax!
- Herbs with a Downside
- Natural Does Not Mean Safe
- Calcium D-Glucarate for Removing Estrogen?
- DIM Supplements
- Green Drinks and Powders
- Angry? Confused?
The truth about why estrogenic foods and herbs need to be avoided by women young and old to prevent the development of excessively vascularized, precancerous breast tissue easily identified by thermography.
Is thermography your “new breast friend”? Wendy Sellens, a licensed acupuncturist and the founder of Pink Image Thermography in Solana Beach, CA, thinks it should be!
For every woman who wants to know the truth about the state of her breast health or whether those supposedly cancer-preventing supplements and estrogenic foods recommended by her doctor or holistic practitioner are actually working, her answer is simple: “Your breasts can’t lie.”
In her book Breast Cancer Boot Camp, coauthored with William B. Hobbins MD, Sellens provides striking, irrefutable visual evidence of adverse, precancerous effects on the breasts from birth control pills, hormone replacement therapies, and at least a dozen supposedly healthy estrogenic foods and herbs.
Most of these products come highly recommended by alternative doctors and other health care practitioners, yet promote angiogenesis in the breast, a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Increased Breast Vascularity
Angiogenesis refers to the formation of new blood vessels. It is crucial to form new blood vessels in the placenta during pregnancy and to replace blood vessels during recovery from an injury.
Angiogenesis has a dark side, however, when it helps fuel cancer growth. Because thermograms —unlike mammograms or breast ultrasound — show vascularization, they are highly useful for breast health screening and monitoring.
Dr. Hobbins is a former surgeon who pioneered breast cancer detection through both mammography and thermography.
Now 90, he continues to urge widespread use of thermography for initial screening and prevention because “the angiogenesis of a breast cancer is not only the earliest sign but the greatest sign for detection and prognosis in treatment.”
Back in the 1980s, when soy protein was first widely marketed as a “health food,” Dr. Hobbins noted a link between soy consumption, increased vascularity, and breast cancer development.
Sellens is a licensed acupuncturist and a protegé of Dr. Hobbins who studied with him for five years and spent seven years reviewing his thousands of cases.
She founded Pink Image Thermography in Solana Beach, CA, is president and co-founder of the Women’s Academy of Breast Thermography, president of the non-profit Pink Bow Breast Thermography research and education, and is actively pushing for rigorous nationwide certification standards for thermography.
Thermography Can Tell You the Truth About Estrogenic Foods
Thermography is an imaging technique that can detect abnormalities based on patterns of bodily heat. Because cell proliferation and cancer rarely develop without a vascular process that increases the surface temperature, thermography can identify women at risk for breast cancer or who have breast cancer in a very early stage.
In color thermograms, the cooler areas appear dark blue, purple, and black, while the warmer areas are yellow, orange, red, and white.
Grayscale thermographs show the vascularization itself. For the highest diagnostic accuracy, Hobbins and Sellens recommend both types of thermograms be done and in high resolution.
Many alternative health professionals today recommend thermography as a safe alternative to mammography, which is not only painful and expensive but can increase breast cancer risk through radiation exposure and breast tissue compression.
Thermograms are particularly helpful for the screening of women with young, dense breast tissue, and those with fibrocystic breast disease, breast implants, or scars. Another option is to get a breast sonogram.
Unlike mammograms, thermograms are useful for detecting changes in the armpit area. Thermography is also safe for women who are pregnant or lactating.
Dr. Hobbins and Sellens furthermore recommend thermography because it can help women see the effects on their breasts of the many foods, herbs, supplements, and other products commonly recommended to support breast health.
They’ve consistently seen ill effects from the following:
- Hormone replacement therapies (including bioidentical hormone replacement therapies)
- Soy, flax, red clover, alfalfa and other foods high in phytoestrogens
- Black cohosh, red clover, xiang fu and other herbs high in phytoestrogens
- Supplements such as DIM and calcium D-glucorate.
- Green drinks and powders
Environmental Estrogens Compound the Problem
Particularly worrisome is their finding of unhealthy, vascularized breasts even in young women.
Exposure to environmental estrogens from pesticides, plastics, factory-farmed meats, and tap water is part of the problem.
So is birth control pill usage.
“Breasts do not fully mature until age 25,” explains Sellens. “Breast development is adversely affected by unopposed estrogen . . . The younger the age, the higher the risk.”
Birth control pills are widely dispensed today not only for contraceptive use but to regulate and mitigate the pain of menstrual periods.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
For older women, advocates of hormone replacement therapies not only promise easy menopause with no hot flashes but the fountain of youth.
While the dangers of pharmaceutical hormone replacement therapy have been widely publicized, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is widely promoted as safe and natural.
Sadly, thermographic evidence does not bear this out. Bio-identical pills, pellets, patches, creams, all lead to increased vascularization.
“Weak” Estrogenic Foods?
Sellens and Dr. Hobbins particularly want to debunk the myth of “weak” estrogens as found in soy, black cohosh, and other plant-based products. Although less potent than pharmaceutical estrogens, “weak” estrogens are not anti-estrogens and can still feed cancer.
Back in the early 1980s, Dr. Hobbins linked increased amounts of soy in the food supply to increased rates of breast cancer.
While correlation doesn’t equal causation, thermograms confirmed his suspicions as he compared the breasts of women consuming soy to those who did not. In time, other scientific evidence emerged as well, much of which is discussed in my book The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food.
By 2005 the Israeli Health Ministry had seen enough evidence to warn women to “exercise caution” regarding soy consumption. This was particularly important for those with a diagnosis or family history of breast cancer.
The French Food Agency, German Institute of Risk Assessment, and Cornell University’s Center for Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors soon followed.
Yet, soy is still widely promoted as the ticket to breast cancer prevention, and manufacturers even give it out every October in pink containers — known as “pinkies” — at many Komen Races for the Cure.
Get Off Soy and Flax!
Soybeans — both organic and GMO — are high in the phytoestrogens known as isoflavones. Clover and alfalfa sprouts are rich in the type known as coumestans, while flaxseeds and flax oil are rich in lignans.
Although these phytoestrogenic foods are widely touted as cancer-preventing, thermograms show adverse effects on the breasts.
“Dr. Hobbins and I have gotten thousands of women off soy and flax,” says Sellen. “These estrogenic foods are not our friends, but foes.”
Herbs with a Downside
Similarly, black cohosh, red clover, evening primrose, and xiang fu (cyperus rhizome) are estrogenic herbs.
“Thermograms show how strong these phytoestrogens really are,” says Sellens. “We see many women who start taking these supposedly healthy products go from ‘at risk’ thermograms to abnormal ones in three months or less.
If these weakly estrogenic substances were ‘healthy’ for the breasts, we could expect women who regularly consume them to have non-vascular breasts, which would be evidence of a lack of stimulation and a protective effect.”
Having analyzed thousands of thermograms, Sellens reports, “This is just not the case.”
Does all this seem hard to believe? Is it too hard to sort out the science? Could my doctor, hormone specialist, or health care practitioner be so wrong? Sellens’ advice is simple: “Get a certified breast thermogram from an accredited clinic and take a look for yourself.”
Natural Does Not Mean Safe
Given that many naturopathic doctors and alternative health care practitioners regularly recommend these products, is a sobering reminder to us all that “natural” is not necessarily “safe.” Get a certified breast thermogram from an accredited clinic and see the truth staring back at you on the screen.
If women just stopped walking for a “cure” and stopped buying estrogen products, namely soy, flax, and bioidentical estrogens, breast cancer numbers would plummet.
Stop believing flax, soy, and bioidentical estrogen are healthy because they come from a plant.
Stop believing they are “weak estrogens” because they are natural.
This propaganda that estrogen keeps women young is in fact killing us.
Calcium D-Glucarate for Removing Estrogen?
But what about Calcium D-Glucarate? Can’t this bind and eliminate excess estrogen?
Calcium D-glucarate is a chemical. It is similar to a naturally occurring chemical called glucaric acid. Glucaric acid is found in our bodies as well as in fruits and vegetables such as oranges, apples, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage.
Calcium D-glucarate is made by combining glucaric acid with calcium to make supplements that people use for medicine.
This supplement is used for preventing breast, prostate, and colon cancer. It also helps remove cancer-causing agents, toxins, and steroid hormones from the body.
Calcium D-glucarate might lower estrogen levels, and this is thought to be helpful in treating some people with hormone-dependent cancers.
However, the truth is that there isn’t enough evidence to support the use of calcium D-glucarate for preventing cancer in humans.
DIM Supplements
Beware as well of DIM (Diindolylmethane) and other supplements said to bind excess estrogen or regulate estrogen metabolism.
While doctors cite some science to support that, thermographic evidence suggests that in many cases they act like estrogens and worsen vascularity.
Green Drinks and Powders
Given that DIM and similar supplements derive from compounds found in cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli, it should not be surprising that some brands of green drink concentrate powders have proven problematic as well.
While the whole foods themselves are generally fine, when in concentrated form as blended green drinks and powders, they are best avoided.
Angry? Confused?
Do it now. Schedule a thermography appointment and go and see for yourself. Look at the screen.
While your breasts are being imaged, the proof will be right before your eyes whether the therapies and supplements that you have been sold are actually working.
If soy or edamame snacks are so good for breasts, flax is so healthy, and bioidentical hormones are such a good way for women to stay young and sexy, then why do they cause these unusual vascular and precancerous changes in breast tissue?
If this nutritional and health propaganda was true, then women who ingest these supposedly healthy estrogens should have nonvascular breasts.
But nearly every woman who consumes these “good” estrogens shows an increased vascular pattern. This is precancer!
If the theories were true, then thermography would support such claims with healthy breast tissue images.
However, the hard evidence points to the exact opposite.
Settle the issue once and for all in your own mind and get a certified breast thermogram from an accredited clinic and take a look for yourself. Your breasts don’t lie!
References
(1) Breast Cancer Boot Camp
(2) The Whole Soy Story
More Information
When Breast Cancer Isn’t Bad News
Komen (Not) for the Cure: The Complete and Utter Pinkwashing of America
Thermography: A Perfect Alternative to Cancer-Causing Mammograms?
Why Even Organic Soy Formula is so Dangerous for Babies
How the Birth Control Pill Can Harm Your Future Child’s Health
So, could I still assume flax is beneficial in moderate amounts? Soy maybe too? I’d hate to cross more “health” foods off of an already small list to eat from…
Small amounts are probably ok (soy should of course be fermented!). If you have breast cancer in the family though, you might want to think about not eating these foods at all. It is your call on what is the best approach for you.
What amount is considered a small amount? 1-2 Tablespoons per day? Or less? Also if we shouldn’t take flaxseed and am a vegetarian what should we take? And what supplements or foods are good for our breasts?
I have fibrocystic breasts and have already been down the path of a Lumpectomy when it wasn’t even needed. I did tons of research and discovered Thermography and began doing it as well. Had an abnormal Thermography after three years. Got rid of sugar in my diet and white flours. I already don’t eat processed foods. The only animal protein I consume are Organic eggs. No dairy as well. After six months my next Thermography remained stable and had even improved some.
But I had also added in flaxseed, evening primrose oil, and Turmeric daily. This is all so confusing and frustrating. Any help or suggestions you could provide would be so appreciated. Thank you so much!
If you already have fibrocystic breasts I wouldn’t touch flax or any estrogenic food or herb for that matter. Why don’t you contact Dr. Kaayla Daniel for a consultation (she wrote this post) and ask her for good substitutions?
Dr. Kaayla! Awesome! I’ve been following your blog for a few years and sharing generously. I have a question. I was recently turned on to that Truth About Cancer series and several people are doing some protocol they swear by that makes no sense to me in which they essentially drink copious amounts of flax oil mixed with cottage cheese for a cure. I questioned the estrogen link from flax and higher incidence of cancer in a forum and everyone thought I was the antiChrist or something. There’s so much conflicting information. Is this weird “beverage” part of Gerson Protocol? Are you familiar with it? What’s your take on the thing? Is this a placebo reaction or is this a temporary fix? I just want answers. It doesn’t make sense to me to feed estrogenic foods to cancer patients. I am not nor have I ever been (in regards to this anyway) trying to stir up trouble. Just utterly puzzled. Help me understansd!
Hi, did anyone answer about whether borage oil us a safe alternative to evening primrose oil. I do use evening p on my face mixed with frankincense hopefully that is ok. Also the maca powder is fine right? And what was being said about hemp hearts should I stop those?
During breastfeeding there is increased vascularization of the breasts, yet breastfeeding is a known preventive of cancer. When breastfeeding ceases, does the breast tissue remain vascularized? What does this mean? When a woman is pregnant there is vasculariztion of the breasts and a surge in estrogen in the body. Yet pregnancy and breastfeeding are beneficial to women and their health. Estrogen is what makes us women. It bothers me that the alternative health movement is demonizing estrogen. Yes, many plants contain toxins including concentrated estrogen like substances, but this needs to be seen in the larger context of what else the plant has to offer. Progesterone is the hormone of pregnancy. It is not seen in the normal woman in large amounts and can cause sleepiness, fatigue, lethargy, bloating, depression and more, symptoms common in the early trimesters of pregnancy. I find it interesting that young women , non menopausal are always warning us about the dangers of using bio-identical hormones. I think – wait until you have gone through menopause and then tell me how terrible estrogen is (when you don’t have it any more) 🙂 Benefits vs risks – all medical choices come down to this.
No, it gradually returns to normal when breastfeeding ceases.
My personal experience: I had a miscarriage a few months before I went in for a thermogram, due to lumpy painful area in my right breast. It registered high risk (a “3”, vs. Left breast was a “1”) and I was told to get a mammogram, put on DIM and EPO. I did as told, and started lymphatic massages, going wireless-bra free, and supplementing with iodine. Mammogram was negative and 6 months later my thermogram was perfect “1” on both breasts. Then a year later it showed as a “2” score (still normal but with vascularization) but i was breastfeeding and chalked the score up to that. I still feel it was the iodine supplementation and the hormones finally stabilizing after the miscarriage that led to the improved score.
“Given that DIM and similar supplements derive from compounds found in cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli, it should not be surprising that some brands of green drink concentrate powders have proven problematic as well.”
I’d like to know which brands have proven problematic and how? Which are safe to consume?
You said that DIM, made from substances in cruciferous vegetables, can act like estrogen. What’s your stance on eating cruciferous vegetables? Sauerkraut? Do they act like estrogen? Is it just the concentrated nature of DIM and perhaps the isolation of a substance that causes it to act like estrogen?
I knew soy was bad, but now flax?! Okay, I am approaching burnout on the what’s good, what’s bad lists. It’s getting ridiculous ack!!
brussel sprouts cauliflower cabbage all bad is that what it means someone help I love brussel sprouts can we not eat these veggies im confused please help!!!
I have a patient who had regular thermography done for years; and a thermogram done one month before her primary breast and secondary lymphatic cancer was diagnosed? The thermography center said they didn’t believe the medical diagnosis of cancer – that was rather scary to hear… The woman HAS breast cancer! Can anyone explain the lack of findings?
Frustrating….. so many negatives but not much information for an alternative. I have been taking DIM now for a time so it is interesting to read this.
I had a thermogram a year ago and will schedule another one. It will be interesting to see what the changes are.
This article leaves me with so many questions…… I think the bigger danger w/ EPO and some of the other veggie oils is oxidation and the omega-6’s. Eat more coconut oil! 🙂