Red Wine Shown to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk When Moderately Consumed
Recently conducted research shows that not every kind of alcoholic beverage leads to an increased risk for breast cancer, which is what most people believe. While it is still being documented that regular alcohol consumption raises breast cancer risk, one type of alcohol, red wine, has actually been shown to have the opposite effect when consumed in moderation.
Red Wine Shown to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
The study, published in the Journal of Women’s Health, was conducted by researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The authors of the study concluded that chemicals found in the skin and seeds of red grapes reduce estrogen levels while also raising testosterone levels in premenopausal women, and therefore reduce their breast cancer risk. Of course you don’t have to consume red wine to experience the breast cancer-reducing benefits, but rather the red grapes which possess the beneficial compounds.
It is important to note that the reduced risk was only noticed in premenopausal females. The study involved 36 premenopausal women which were divided into 2 groups. For one month, each group drank 8 ounces of wine each evening, but one group drank red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) while the other drank a white wine (Chardonnay). After 1 month, the two groups switched wines being consumed and blood was collected from the participants 2 times each month to check hormone levels.
What the study found is quite contradicting, seeing as all types of alcohol are thought to raise breast cancer risk in women. Since alcohol usually raises estrogen levels, the growth of cancer cells is normally encouraged through alcohol consumption. But this research sheds light on some new possibilities for females – at least for premenopausal women.
Although this new information is positive for those regularly consuming red wine, there needs to be more research to support what these authors found so that people can confidently say it works. Luckily consuming wine is certainly not the only method to reducing breast cancer risk. There are over 130 studies confirming the link between bisphenol A and breast cancer, so avoiding or ridding your body of this endocrine-disrupting chemical is key.
In addition to avoiding BPA, fructose consumption should be reduced significantly. High-fructose corn syrup is the primary source of calories in the United States. In addition to containing carcinogenic mercury, it also happens to feed cancers and promote the spread and development of cancer cells like no other food ingredient. A study published in the Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets found that fructose leads to cancer through invoking health conditions such as:
- DNA damage
- Inflammation
- Altered cellular metabolism
- Increased production of free radicals
One other method to reducing your breast cancer risk is to raise your levels of vitamin D. Vitamin D plays an essential role in reducing your risk of not only breast cancer, but also all other cancer types. Influencing virtually every cell in your body, vitamin D is an essential nutrient that can be freely produced as a result of sunlight. If you are unable to attain vitamin D from sunlight, supplementing with vitamin D3 is also very effective. When researchers from the State University of New York at Albany injected a potent form of vitamin D into human breast cancer cells, half of them died within days.
