Imagine the shock of being diagnosed with breast cancer just four months after we lost my dear mother to this beast. I remembering saying, “Well, I know my cancer can’t be estrogen-fed,” but it was! Many times estrogen-driven cancers appear in women who’ve been taking birth control pills or estrogen hormones. My mother’s doctor clearly told her that taking estrogen hormones was the reason for her cancer. Since I was not taking hormonal remedies, I began to search for the estrogens that were invading my body. Where were they coming from? I found they were everywhere! Did you know we are living in an estrogenic world?
I discovered there are xenoestrogens, which are synthetic chemical compounds produced by industry, which mimic the effects of true estrogen and interact with cellular receptor sites. These chemicals are also endocrine disruptors, and they lodge in fat cells and work synergistically when combined with other hormone disruptors causing major problems at the cellular level. According to Dr. David Jockers, these xenoestrogens contribute to estrogen dominance and can block the effects of true estrogen.
Xenoestrogens are found in in our tap water (through prescription drugs and chemicals in our water supply), plastic water bottles and Styrofoam products, cosmetics and personal care products, cleaning products, in the lining of canned foods, pesticides and herbicides used in the growing of our foods, and in feed used in the raising of our chicken, dairy products and beef.
Of the 1 in 1000 men that are diagnosed with breast cancer, 90 percent are estrogen-driven. This statistic gives even more evidence that we live in an estrogenic world. Men can get breast cancer even though their bodies only produce a small amount of estrogen. As with the 1 in 8 women diagnosed, 80 percent are estrogen-driven. It’s often not just the natural estrogen causing the cancer, but possibly the presence of xenoestrogens that mimic estrogen. It’s time we wake up.
Both breastcancer.org and the American Cancer Society (ACS) are cautioning that these xenoestrogens are a possible factor in estrogen-driven cancers. Here’s what the ACS recently said about this issue:
Compounds in the environment that have estrogen-like properties are of special interest. For example, substances found in some plastics, certain cosmetics and personal care products, pesticides, and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) seem to have such properties. In theory, these could affect breast cancer risk.
What was more convincing to me was the levels of accumulated pesticides and herbicides found in this gal’s body! And I had an estrogen-driven aggressive cancer. There’s nothing like seeing evidence on paper.
I was a Southern gal living in an estrogenic world. I was consuming estrogens through my mouth by eating products with added estrogen, by drinking out of plastic bottles and by absorbing these chemical estrogens from personal care products through my skin unknowingly. Unfortunately, that estrogen dominance had my life hanging in the balance! We all must wake up and take note of the changing world around us. I now know we are all living in an estrogenic world. And I’m making lifestyle changes to prevent this from happening again. This information is important to share during breast cancer month. People need to know. Realizing this and making changes is one way we can fight back!
How many of you realized we are all living in an estrogenic world? What are you doing about it?
For Your Health,
Ginny