Top Supplements to Protect Against Breast Cancer
When breast cancer awareness events occur every fall, we don't hear much about the power of supplements to protect against the disease.
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But we should. “There are quite a few things that have been shown to reduce incidence of breast cancer,” says Christine Horner, MD, author of Waking the Warrior Goddess: Dr. Christine Horner’s Program to Protect Against & Fight Breast Cancer. “These are the most powerful ones,” she says.
Did you know?
When taken together, turmeric and green tea are a dynamic duo of cancer prevention.
Turmeric and Green Tea
Both have multiple anticancer properties, and they enhance each other. When taken together, says Horner, “Green tea will enhance the anticancer effect of turmeric by three times, and turmeric enhances the anticancer effect of green tea by eight times.”
Take: 1,000 mg of turmeric root extract and 500 mg of green tea leaf extract.
AHCC
Short for active hexose-correlated compound, AHCC is a bioavailable extract of mushrooms. Used as a cancer treatment in Japan, it reduces breast cancer chemo side effects and helps prevent breast and other cancers. “AHCC helps to support every cell type in the immune system and has direct killing effects on cancer cells,” says Horner.
Take: 500 mg twice daily.
Flax Seed or Lignans
Flax seeds are the most powerful food to lower risk. Flax lignans, a component of the seeds, have 12 different anticancer properties and can be taken as a supplement.
Take: 3-4 tablespoons daily of ground flax seeds or a flax lignan extract supplement.
Vitamin D
Optimum levels can cut the risk of breast cancer in half, says Horner.
Take: Use a test kit from powerofd.org to determine your personal needs.
Meshima
A Little-Known Mushroom for Breast Health. Meshima is not a popular medicinal mushroom like reishi or maitake, but it should be. In relation to breast health, meshima has been shown in clinical studies to target breast cell tissues particularly. And according to a 2015 study in the Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, two compounds in meshima were shown to have “potent anticancer activity,” which led to a significant growth reduction in cancer cells. For products, try Mushroom Wisdom Super Meshima.