I will be speaking at the upcoming Breast Cancer Conference in June and the first point I want to say is that cancer isn’t a sentence, it’s a word. When addressing risk factors, it is possible to vastly improve your odds. Your DNA does not dictate your destiny and your predisposition to cancer has to be triggered by outside factors in order to be expressed.....genes do not trigger themselves. Let’s take a look at a few factors. • Estrogen pool: Breast, ovarian, uterine, prostate and testes cancer are most usually due to one main factor: excess estrogen. The liver metabolizes estradiol and estrone (forms of estrogen) into DNA damaging metabolites C4 and C16. o Being overweight increases estrogen production – fat cells produce estrogen o Animal fats and carbohydrates eaten in excess both stimulates estrogen o Regular alcohol consumption increases estrogen production o Dairy products consumption also has a negative influence o Xenoestrogen – “fake estrogen” binds to estrogen receptors (pesticides, BPA/BPS found in plastic, drugs, commercial detergents, chlorine-based chemicals to name a few). • Poor liver Detoxification Pathways o This is where your diet and lifestyle is even more important in keeping the balance in check. Think of your liver as the garbage collector. Liver Detoxification is in a way like collecting garbage in a bag (Phase 1) without spilling the content, and then taking the garbage out for collection (Phase 2 – excretion via the colon and kidneys). In order for these processes to happen, certain nutrients are needed along with a healthy lifestyle. When detoxification is altered, the liver will metabolize estrogen into harmful C4 and C16 capable of damaging DNA in tissues with high estrogen receptors (breast, uterus, prostate, testes, ovaries). • High Insulin and IGF-1

o These two hormones are stimulated on a high carbohydrate diet, specifically processed carbs and increase estrogen production, specifically the more active form: estradiol and estrone. There are other contributing factors but the above are directly linked to your diet and lifestyle and you can take action today to reduce your risk of these types of cancers. If you already have hormonally driven cancers, you can vastly improve your odds by adopting a healthy diet and removing offenders mentioned above to reduce your overall toxic load. Marie-Josée Brown, CHCP, ROHP Certified Holistic Cancer Practitioner Registered Orthomolecular Health Practitioner