>Dear lactnetters, I would like to comment on phytoestrogens. There seems to
>be alot of confusion, plants with estrogen-like components are not estrogen.
>They do bind weakly at the estrogen receptor sites, but taking soy or other
>phyto estrogens will not cause a rise in blood estrogen, or cause the
>estrogen related problems. I like to think of them as female-friendly plants.
>They are also safe to take when pharmaceutical estrogens are not recommended,
>ie, with a history of breast cancer. Hope this helps.  Donna Walls,
>RN,IBCLC,Herbalist

I must recommend caution here -- the research on whether phytoestrogens are
good for women with breast cancer or harmful is completely unclear on this
issue.  Some studies say phytoestrogens are good and recommend women eat
lots of them to both prevent breast cancer and to prevent a recurrence if
you already have it.  Other studies say forcefully that one should stay away
from phytoestrogens, as estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer cells can
use phytoestrogens to grow just as they do regular estrogen.

This is also the problem with Tamoxifen, a synthetic drug which acts as an
anti-estrogen on breast cancer cells (binding to the cell's estrogen
receptors and preventing "real" estrogen from getting in) UNTIL the cancer
cells figure out how to use the Tamoxifen instead of real estrogen.

One cannot say that phytoestrogens are safe to take with a history of breast
cancer.

Kathy Dettwyler, been there, done that, read the primary scientific
literature and came away shaking my head at the lack of consensus

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