will eating raw help prevent breast cancer?

[Bethanie]

I've never had it in my family but as i get older i'm wondering about my breast health.
Nothing wrong but just asking if anyone has heard of being raw helping with or preventing breast cancer.
I'm hearing about quite a few people being treated for it with radiation (which i've seen the effects)they're terrible.
B.

[Eva]

It "runs in my family". My mom has (of course) two parents and 4 siblings. Her father had health problems for quite awhile, her mom got breast cancer (removed along with her breasts), one brother died of cancer, the other brother (the youngest and the only other person who doesn't smoke) is in his late 30s and has not had any such problems. One of her two sisters has breast cancer, and the other had to have a hysterectomy (obviously that's not breast cancer).

My mom (a raw foodie!) -- unlike ALL of her family members -- does not smoke, has had wine in the past but I think never drinks that now, obviously doesn't eat meat or dairy. My mom is by FAR the healthiest and most youthful looking/acting/spirited one in her family. She will NOT get breast cancer. She's too alkaline and healthy. Before raw, she at a lot of raw food and very little meat (mostly fish).

She is not a health nut, doesn't really exercise a lot. She just "doesn't feel good" when she has a lot of unhealthy/heavy food.

Have you read The China Study? When she read that, she said she would never have meat or dairy again. That was over a year ago, and I think she has stuck with it so far. She tried telling my aunt to get rid of the dairy (she's the one currently with breast cancer), but she said she feels sick when she has fruits or veggies and she feels really bad without milk. Ugh. So, she's going through radiation now. She also had her breast removed and replace with perky ones, but I think it spread.

[Bethanie]

sad to hear about your aunt's way of eating and the sad results.
Eating raw is the way to go and you've proved it:D
Thanks
I'm eating loads of kale and deep green veggies.
B.

[ViolinCyndee]

Breast cancer runs in my family on my grandmother's side. But of course, I don't think it's genetic! I think it has to do with their fatty, diets. Everything was fried in pork fat!!!

I have been vegetarian for about 20 years, vegan for 6 months and 80-90% raw since after doing the Master Cleanse in July.

So... even though I DO have cysts in my breasts, I don't think I will have to worry about breast cancer.

I DO wonder if my cysts will disappate over time. I have had several aspirated, so far, and will have to go back for an ultrasound relatively soon. Will be interesting to see if the aspirated cysts return, or not, since going mostly raw!

[Ilse W.]

I had cysts in my breasts most of my life, until I went through menopause. They just disappeared. A nurse once told me that excessive coffee drinking causes some of the cysts and they'll go away, if we quit. Every time I hear that "something runs in the family" I think "DUH, of course it does you idiot, families eat together, don't they!" We learn to cook from our mothers and want to continue eating the stuff we grew up on. I had cancer, it does NOT run in my family, but I spent a year of my life doing the Zone diet, with my protein of choice being steak, salami, cheese and my carb of choice being red wine (I lived in Sonoma County, CA with the best zinfandel in the world). I was also in the redwoods and hardly got any sunshine. Since reading "The China Study" a couple of years ago I know that i will NEVER get cancer again. Breast, lymph, colon, brain, doesn't matter. Tumors cannot live in an alkaline, well oxygenated body. Eat raw, life food. Spend time in the sun (without poisonous sunscreens - the food will protect you), laugh, get enough exercise, and enough sleep. Don't worry about cancer. Make sure you don't step in front of a semi instead!:D

[carolg]

Stess is a big factor besides food in disease. Exercise is helpful. Raw food can only greater health benefits. www.hacres.com latest health tips and next weeks will discuss George Malkamus only sibbling who recently died following traditional methods of treatments and eating.

carolg

[Raw Joy]

How do you all feel about getting mammograms? I'm 53, and have only had three of them. I think the last one was five years ago(?).

Every year, my doctor tells me I need to get one, and I've always said, yea, I mean to but keep forgetting. Which was true. But I'm starting to wonder if I really need them. I have absolutely NO family history of cancer.

My doctor was really getting insistent about it last visit, and while I don't mind telling him outright that I don't plan on doing it, I'd at least like to have some sound reasoning instead of I just don't want to.

Thoughts?

[Raine]

Call me crazy - it won't be the first time! - but I've never had a mammogram and have no intention of getting one. This is just my own personal take on the situation.

Women survived thousands of years without a yearly mammogram and it wasn't until the last 100 years when a more sedentary lifestyle, processed foods and meat served at almost every meal per day that cancer and other serious diseases started making in-roads to our health.

I've not been to a doctor in more than 10 years & haven't had a prescription for anything in almost 20 years. I feel great, fast regularly, eat to keep my body alkaline and stay active.

I'm a very big believer in that "you get what you think about whether you want it or not." I think about having fun, being active, treating my body as well as possible, traveling extensively and having sufficient financial means that allow me to do what I WANT to do.


How do you all feel about getting mammograms? I'm 53, and have only had three of them. I think the last one was five years ago(?).

Every year, my doctor tells me I need to get one, and I've always said, yea, I mean to but keep forgetting. Which was true. But I'm starting to wonder if I really need them. I have absolutely NO family history of cancer.

My doctor was really getting insistent about it last visit, and while I don't mind telling him outright that I don't plan on doing it, I'd at least like to have some sound reasoning instead of I just don't want to.

Thoughts?

[Raw Joy]

Thanks, Raine, for the response. If I had a family history, or fibroids or cysts, I may feel differently. But absent those elements, I've found myself leaning against getting it.

BTW, I love the rest of your life philosophy. I think about having fun, being active, treating my body as well as possible, traveling extensively and having sufficient financial means that allow me to do what I WANT to do.

[Raw Joy]

I just did a banana search, and found this already discussed in the following links. thanks.

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42714&highlight=mammogram

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=38080&highlight=mammogram

[Revvell]

Every year, my doctor tells me I need to get one, and I've always said, yea, I mean to but keep forgetting.

Next time your doctor tells you to get a mammogram, tell him you'll do it the day he goes and gets his testicles squooshed, then radiates them.

I'm 59; never had one, never will.

[Stina]

Next time your doctor tells you to get a mammogram, tell him you'll do it the day he goes and gets his testicles squooshed, then radiates them.

I'm 59; never had one, never will.

And your sassiness is why we love you! Sassiness......I meant honesty :D

[Raw Joy]

Good one, Rev. :D :D :D :D

I've come to realize in the last 20 minutes or so that I already knew deep down that I wasn't going to get another one. But I was just kind of avoiding making the decision. By bringing it up, I was just helping myself along.

Thanks everyone.

[Raine]

http://tinypic.com/dpxul1.jpg

[Stina]

Freakin' hilarious Raine!

[Ilse W.]

Raine, you have a great attitude! I don't do mammograms for the same reason I am not having my eyes biopsied, even though two ophthalmologists are trying to tell me that I MUST. I explained to them that, if a biopsy showed a recurrence of cancer, I would put myself on juice and water fasts and raw food. I said, I prefer to just go ahead and do that now and safe myself pain and money. They think I am crazy. I think they are pharma quacks. I also quit putting steroid drops in my eyes.:D

[Bethanie]

I've so grateful for all the information that was posted, i'm glad i don't eat meat or dairy anymore.
With all the health problems associated with it it's just not worth it to me.
I love feeling better than i've felt in over 20 years:Di wonder sometime how i would look and feel if i hadn't found "raw":D it saved me:D
B.

[RawKnitster]

I admire you all for thumbing your nose at mammograms, but I can't join you.

Breast cancer does not run in my family, but my mother died at age 72 of multiple myeloma. She was misdiagnosed as having chronic fibromyalgia. She might have been properly diagnosed two years earlier, if she had followed the doctor's advice and seen an oncologist about a suspicious x-ray. She was a snowbirder, traveling around, and couldn't be bothered to pursue it any further.

I personally know 3 woman that have had breast cancer. Two of them died because it was detected to late for successful treatment. Another friend was treated for it at the end of last year. She caught it early, in a mammogram. She is only 44. Since her mother died of colon cancer when my friend was 19, she started getting mammograms and colonoscopies at age 40. Fortunately, for her and her 3 children she is doing fine.

I am not worried about getting breast cancer, but I have lived a very SAD life and it's going to take several years of raw living to erase all of it's affects. I am not going to be the one dying, saying, gee...sure wish I'd gotten that mammogram. I have one about every 18 months. I had my third one today. It's gotten a lot easier. It's all digital, 150x better than it used to be. My insurance plan covers it without applying the deductible or the co-pay. I never thought for a second that anything would show up today. It was just a precaution.

For what it's worth...the doctor I saw today recommends to all the woman getting mammograms that the next time they go to their regular doctor, they get a blood test to check their level of vitamin D. When I told her I was a raw foodist she was intrigued, but especially concerned about my vitamin D level. Strongly suggested I supplement with minimum of 1,000IU a day. Apparently the sun in my region of the country (Seattle) is to low to provide an adequate source of vitamin D. Something to consider.

[Raw Joy]

I'm so sorry for your losses. And celebrate life with the friend who caught it early and is doing well.

Your point is well-taken about eating a SAD diet for many, many years. And I think that definitely has to come into the decision.

Thank you.

[Emma-Liza]

Yes, RawKnitster, I am in a similar frame of mind as you. And similar to EmmaT and you, I have had many years of SAD eating, interspersed with vegan, low-fat, etc. But I don't know the sum total of the toll.

I had a lump (benign) over 10 years ago and facing the what-ifs before the diagnosis was terrifying. I also know people who have died of breast cancer and know that early detection can be difference in living and dying. I'm not an alarmist, but I like evidence. Maybe it's stupid, I'll accept that designation. I do this, like my pap smear, and the other tests I get once a year and I don't worry. Not worrying is a pretty healthy thing, as we probably all agree. So this is how I help myself not worry. :)

I certainly don't advocate anyone else do what I do. Just wanted to share my perspective.