Every year during October, trees and buildings magically get covered in pink overnight. People walk around with pink ribbons on their chests.
It is all part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A breast cancer diagnosis is not only traumatic, it is life-changing. It is a watershed event. After you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, life will never be the same again. Obviously, we want to protect women against this.
But the (red) devil is in the details.
The theory is simple: If we can detect breast cancer in its infancy, we can treat it rapidly and save many lives. With 1 in 27 South African women facing a breast cancer diagnosis during their lifetime, this is a worthwhile investment, right?
Sadly, the reality looks very different.
Let’s follow the process step by step.
A woman goes for her annual or bi-annual mammogram and a small “something” is found. Instantly, the full might of the Medical Industrial Complex swings into action. The poor, bewildered woman is still in shock and trying to come to terms with her new status. She is no longer “alive and well” but rather “probably dying”. Her life has come crashing down around her. She will accept anything offered to her to escape from the cancer prison.
Firstly, a more expensive scan is needed, something like a CT or an MRI. One can never be too careful.
This invariably confirms the “something” really is “Something”. No need to panic, but one can never be too careful.
The next step is for the “Something” to be biopsied. This almost always confirms that the “Something” is cancer, or at least “highly suspicious of cancer”. One can never be too careful.
Next thing you know, surgery is proposed – usually in the form of mastectomy. One can never be too careful.
During surgery, the surgeon also removes some lymph glands for testing. This often causes long-term swelling of the arm, but one can never be too careful.
The human tissues are sent to the lab for analysis. After all, the false positive rate of mammograms is anywhere between 10% and 60%, depending on a range of circumstances.
The woman is expected to be grateful. Breast reconstruction is offered as a consolation prize (for which the medical aid will not pay).
In some cases, a lumpectomy is done, which is less drastic, but still disfiguring.
But what happens if cancer is diagnosed in the amputated breast? Is everyone rejoicing that the cancer was detected early and a life was saved?
Not exactly.
“Yes, yes. We excised the entire cancer. There were clear, clean margins of healthy tissue right around the cancer. The lymph glands were clear. There is no danger that the cancer escaped. But, you know, one can never be too careful.”
Enter the phrase, “Just in case.”
“Just in case” surgery, during which the remaining lymph nodes on the affected side are removed.
“Just in case” radiation of the affected side.
“Just in case” chemotherapy.
The side effects are straight from a horror movie, but, well, you know, “We’re saving your life.”
One can never be too careful.
Meanwhile, debts are piling up. Medical aid may pay for the treatment, but who pays for the time off work? And can any money make up for the way the entire family is affected?
If she has a really good medical aid, she may be offered immunotherapy. The latest, greatest advancement in cancer therapy. And of course it works 100% because there was no cancer to treat in the first place. If she does not have a medical aid, she will still be offered immunotherpay, just in case she can be persuaded to sell a car or a property to afford the therapy.
Roughly one third of women with breast cancer die from the side effects of surgery, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. Exact statistics are hard to come by, since the Medical Industrial Complex goes out of its way to obfuscate the data.
If the above scenario seems cynical, you haven’t heard the half of it.
We did not mention the potential carcinogenic effects of mammograms and CT scans (link).
We did not mention that surgery is likely useless in preventing cancer spread (link).
We did not mention how biopsies actually spread cancer cells (it actually has a medical name: tumour cell seeding) (link).
We did not mention how lymph nodes are key in preventing cancer and infection spread, as well as activating cancer-fighting cells (link and link).
We did not mention that radiotherapy has no proven benefit if the lymph nodes are clear (link).
We did not mention that chemotherapy contributes a mere 2.3% to 5-year cancer survival rates (link).
Nor did we mention that chemotherapy damages the DNA for years (even decades) afterwards (link).
Oh yes! We did not mention that chemotherapy awakens dormant cancer cells (link).
We did not mention the life-altering side effects of hormone blockers, either.
So, we’re not cynical. We’re just following the science.
A Better Way
Instead of having a Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we ought to have a Breast Cancer Prevention Month. But don’t hold your breath.
During 2024, oncotherapy in the USA alone brought in about US$ 145 billion for Big Pharma. Breast cancer makes huge profits for them. Breast cancer prevention makes no money at all.
Let us rather focus on what we know about breast cancer prevention. That will save more lives and costs than simply trying to detect cancer early and then whacking it hard. We’re not saying that early detection is a waste of time and money, but we’re saying that prevention is better than “cure”, especially when the “cure” is so radical.
1. Lifestyle
* Keep it moving (your body, that is). A sedentary lifestyle increases cancer risk factors. Mild to moderate exercise is all you need to do. Try a standing desk or sitting on a Pilates ball if your job requires a lot of sitting. Tiny exercises during the course of the day are better than just one block of time set aside for exercise.
* Do not smoke (or vape). Carbon dioxide feeds cancer cells.
2. Don’t Eat This
* Polyunsaturated Fats (seed oils like sunflower, canola or safflower)
* Hydrogenated Fats (as in biscuits, pies and many other baked goods)
* Wheat (due to glyphosate content)
* Sugar (also has high glyphosate content)
* Artificial Sweeteners
* Processed Foods
* Fried Foods
3. Don’t Drink This
* Alcohol. Ethanol and its metabolites feed cancer cells.
* Sugary drinks
4. Eat This
* Fresh fruits
* Vegetables
* Seeds & Nuts
* Fish
* Unprocessed meat
* Eggs
* Fermented dairy (especially yoghurt)
5. Drink This
* Water (plain or fruit-infused)
* Tea
* Coffee
* Kombucha (home-made)
* Kefir (home-made)
6. Lose Weight
* Obese women have a greater incidence of breast cancer
* Fasting / One Meal A Day: Reducing daily caloric intake substantially reduces the risk of breast cancer.
7. Have Children And Breastfeed Them
* Having at least one child and breastfeeding it will reduce lifetime breast cancer risk by ~20% (link).
* Having more children (and breastfeeding them) will further reduce breast cancer risk by a small margin.
8. Avoid Hormonal Contraceptives
Though complex (and controversial), the use of hormonal contraceptives can increase breast cancer risk by ~10 – ~20% (link). If used for ten years or more, risk rises to ~40%.
9. Avoid Post-Menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Even more controversial is the clear link between Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) use and breast cancer risk. No-one denies that there is increased risk, but they debate whether the risk really increases by ~40 – ~100% or not. In some large studies, the risk increase was much more than 100%. The increased risk persists even ten years after stopping HRT.
Note: Google’s AI will tell you the risk increase is “modest” or “minimal”.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
10. Burn The Bra
Studies showing that wearing a tight bra more than doubles the risk of a breast cancer diagnosis are severely suppressed online, but here is one such study (link).
11. Supplements
The following supplements have shown great benefit in reducing breast cancer risk and/or mortality
Vitamin C
It appears that increased Vitamin C intake may reduce breast cancer risk by about 30% (link).
Our Pure Non-GMO Vitamin C Powder makes it easy to get your daily dose of Vitamin C in a way that is easily absorbed.
Vitamin D3
Low Vitamin D3 blood level (below 20 ng/ml) dramatically increase the risk of breast cancer (up to 680%) (link).
A Vitamin D3 blood level of more than 60 ng/ml reduces the breast cancer risk by 82% (relative to levels below 20 ng/ml). The higher the levels in this study, the lower the risk of breast cancer (link).
Our Mega D3 supplies 40,000 IU/capsule. Taking 1 capsule daily for one month can raise blood levels of Vitamin D by about 40-50 ng/ml (but there are many factors affecting the final number). Once a blood level of 80 ng/ml has been achieved, one capsule a week should help maintain Vitamin D blood levels in the upper range.
Iodine
Lower iodine levels are associated with much higher breast cancer risk, especially in younger women (link).
In woman carrying the cancer risk gene BRCA1, higher iodine levels reduced the risk of breast cancer by about half (link).
Japanese women, with the highest iodine consumption in the world (1,000 – 3,000 mcg / day), have among the lowest breast cancer incidence in the world (7.44 per 1,000). When they change their diets to a standard Western diet, this protection falls away. In other words, the benefit is not due to race genetics, but due to dietary factors. Of these, iodine consumption likely plays a very significant part.
Magnesium
Increased dietary magnesium intake was linked to ~20% lower breast cancer risk (link).
In women diagnosed with breast cancer, higher magnesium intake reduced cancer mortality by 40-50%. Calcium intake showed no benefit in cancer survival (link).
We know that dietary intake of magnesium does not even meet the RDA (~300-400 mg elemental magnesium / day). It is thus highly likely that daily magnesium supplementation will reduce the breast cancer risk even more.
Our MgO provides 240 mg of elemental magnesium / capsule. Well absorbed, convenient, affordable.
Iodine
We are proud to announce the launch of our brand new Iodine Spray product. Each 9 ml spray bottle contains 60 sprays, each spray providing 1,000 mcg (= 1 mg) of elemental iodine. This is 667% of the Ridiculous Daily Allowance.
The intriguing Oriental ginger and cinnamon taste helps mask the metallic iodine aftertaste.
There is no product like it available in South Africa, or the rest of the world, for that matter.
What is more, you can also use it on a wound or shingles to prevent / treat infection. Or spray it on a painful throat infection to improve the rate of healing. This is more than a supplement, it is a useful addition to your first aid kit.
To your (cancer-free) health,
The Team at Integrow Health
