On July 9, the Department of Health, in an interview in a nightly TV news program, revealed a study that indicated early menstruation has been linked to a rise in teen pregnancies.
What was not discussed, however, were studies that have confirmed that the younger a woman begins menstruating, the higher her risk for developing both pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer. And the younger a woman begins menopause, the lower her risk of breast cancer.
“The Breast Cancer Prevention Program,” authored by Samuel S. Epstein, MD, professor emeritus of environmental medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health who specializes in toxicology, and David Steinman (author of “Diet for a Poisoned Planet”) with Suzanne Levert, cited the following:
The good news is that you do have some control over the length of time your body naturally produces estrogen (the primary female sex hormones, and on which about 80 percent of all breast cancers grow). The Epstein and Steinman book wrote of a study on 200 women between the ages of 17 and 22 which found that those whose diets were high in fiber and low in animal fat had a later menarche (menstruation) and subsequently fewer ovulatory and menstrual cycles than did those whose diet included more high-fat, low-fiber foods.
Epstein, who authored over 270 scientific publications, is also the author of “What’s In Your Milk?,” an exposé on cow’s milk containing recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), which he dubbed as “dangerous” because of high levels of the growth stimulant (which increases the risk of breast, colon and prostate cancers).
The book states: “Vigorous exercise on a regular basis also works to delay the onset of menarch. Interestingly enough, a low-fat, high-fiber diet and regular exercise are the very same factors that influence the onset of an early menopause and thus reduce the risk of breast cancer by closing the estrogen window sooner than may have otherwise occurred.”
Going vegan vs cancer
Scientist Jane A. Plant, PhD, author of the book “The No-Dairy Breast Cancer Prevention Program (How one scientist’s discovery helped her defeat her cancer),” says: “Undoubtedly, the best anticancer diet would be completely vegan (a diet that foregoes animal protein entirely: no poultry, beef, pork, seafood, egg, cow’s milk or cheese). I was living on a completely vegan diet at the time my cancer disappeared and for about eight months afterward. If you can become a vegan, so much the better, but you must ensure that you don’t become deficient in essential nutrients such as zinc and selenium and vitamins such as D and B12.”
Plant added that one should not confuse being vegan and becoming a vegetarian. Vegetarians, she said, sometimes consume far more dairy products (to replace meat) than other members of society, and some processed, prepackaged vegetarian foods can have particularly high contents of dairy products.
“If you want to reduce your risk of breast (or prostate) cancer, become a vegan, but on no account become a dairy-eating vegetarian. If any anticancer diet includes any kind of dairy products, ignore it,” Plant said.