Reweighting Your Estrogen Ratios in Hormone Harmony for breast cancer survivors, part 2

Reweighting Your Estrogen Ratios  in Hormone Harmony for breast cancer survivors, part 2

FERMENTED FOODS

We’ve talked quite a bit about the brilliant contributions that beneficial organisms
can make to your health and to your cancer defense team. But where do you find
these profoundly benevolent bacteria? Fermented foods, overflowing with microflora,
are a fabulous addition to your diet. If you’re new to fermented foods, a good place to
start would be organic yogurt. Keep in mind that the carb content of yogurt is
normally lower than that of nonfermented dairy products, because the lactose (milk
sugar) is digested by friendly bacteria as part of the fermentation process.

Perhaps you’d enjoy trying kombucha (fermented tea), amazake (fermented rice
drink), or kefir (fermented milk). What about homemade sauerkraut (see the recipe in
appendix B) or kimchi? They all contain copious amounts of cooperative microflora,
which, as you know by now, we consider to be one of the keys to the kingdom of
good health!

FERMENTED SOY

Because fermented foods provide beneficial bacteria, we also recommend the
consumption of moderate amounts of fermented, organic soy products, such as natto,
miso, and tempeh. Although soy has a long and controversial history, its
phytochemicals genistein and daidzein have been credited with helping to alter the
2:16 estrogen ratio, while the fermentation process helps to deactivate potentially
troublesome goitrogens (substances that induce goiter formation). Soy falls into the
category we call phytoestrogens, compounds that are estrogen-like, but actually compete
with estrogen for territory on a cell’s surface. This ability to bind to cell receptors
instead of estrogen serves to prevent human estrogens and xenoestrogens
(environmental estrogens) from attaching to cells and promoting growth (Tempfer et.
al. 2007).

We do not believe that processed soy has this same positive effect. One study (Allred
et. al. 2004), in fact, looked at the specific effect of soy processing and its impact on
breast cancer. Animals with breast cancer were fed soy from various sources—from
unprocessed soy foods to highly processed soy protein isolates—all containing the
same amount of genistein. When all was said and done, the highly processed soy
appeared to promote cancer growth. For this reason, we recommend against processed
soy products, such as soy burgers, soy franks, soy ice cream, soy protein bars, and so on.