CDG works by metabolizing an excess of estrogen in the body. Normally, estrogen is metabolized by the liver. Even though estrogen has many  benefits, as with every hormone, there is an optimal level above which it can create problems. Estrogen is known to potentiate estrogen-sensitive  tumors like breast tumors. The body gets rid of excess estrogen by passing it through the liver, where it hooks onto a conjugate called glucuronic acid and passes out with the stool. This is one way the body cleans house, and the process is called glucoronidation.

Normally, the glucuronide conjugate passes from the liver into the bile, then into the gut where the body gets rid of it. Sometimes, there are high levels of a bad enzyme, called beta-glucuronidase, that rip the glucuronide conjugate off the estrogen. Then the estrogen is free to be  reabsorbed back into the bloodstream where it originated. So the body actually wastes many nutrients in the process of detoxifying the estrogen, only for it to be reabsorbed. The net effect is that of losing detoxifying nutrients and having the excess cancer-promoting estrogen still floating  freely. This is not desirable, especially if breast cancer is a risk. CDG inhibits or stops the glucuronidase from freeing the estrogen for reabsorption. (J National Cancer Inst, 1989;81:1820-3 and Bio Chem Pharmac, 1991;41 (10):1471-7)

It is now possible to measure the amount of harmful beta-glucuronidase activity in an individuals body through a simple stool test that you can do at home once your doctor orders it.

There are several things you can do to decrease your beta-glucuronidase activity. For example, diets low in meats promote intestinal flora that are low in this enzyme. Conversely, diets high in meat foster more of this bad enzyme.

CDG supplementation can also reduce beta-glucuronidase activity. In addition to promoting the metabolism of estrogen, CDG promotes the  metabolism of environmental cancer-potentiating chemicals. (Carcinogenesis, 1986;7(9):1463-6 and Res Comm Chem Pathol Pharmacol, Sept. 986;33:25-32)

Because CDG speeds the detoxification of hormones and chemicals, a potential side effect is that blood levels of drugs being taken could be lowered, and their reabsorption impaired. Therefore, if you depend on medications, ask your doctor what the function of beta-glucuronidase is in the bowel. If he gives you the correct answer, then he knows enough chemistry to guide you in factoring CDG in with your medications.

The dosage would be three to four 500 mg capsules twice a day as a preventive, or if you have already had breast cancer, four to six 500-mg  capsules twice a day. It appears that women with high risk of breast cancer would be wise not only to take antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E, and CoQ10, but also to eat a diet rich in phytochemicals. Anyone who has already rallied against breast cancer may want to consider taking it for the rest of her life.

Sherry A. Rogers, MD
The Health Letter
Sand Key Publishing Company
Box 40101
Sarasota, Florida
34242 USA

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)
A diet rich in sources of the antioxidant beta-carotene may help lower a woman's risk of breast cancer after menopause, according to a study in the January issue of the Journal Epidemiology.

Yet unclear, however, is how early in life a woman should begin to pay careful attention to beta-carotene-rich foods such as spinach, broccoli, and cantaloupe.

These findings indicate that although diets high in beta-carotene may be associated with lower breast cancer risk, there does not seem to be evidence of a critical time period during which such diets are more relevant,'' according to the researchers, Aisha Jumaan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, and multicenter colleagues in the US and Sweden.

The authors write that a diet high in beta-carotene at least 1.5 years before the date of diagnosis of breast cancer in subjects, or the date of screening mammography in the controls, was associated with reduced breast cancer risk. The relationship was stronger in women whose diets had been rich in sources of beta-carotene for at least 20 years before diagnosis or screening.

However, the authors note that recall bias may cause small but significant differences in the eating habits of the subjects to remain undetected. ``Such misclassification might impair our ability to identify a critical time period when dietary beta-carotene may exert a protective effect on breast cancer risk,'' they said.

The case-control study included 273 women with breast cancer and 371 women without breast cancer, who ranged from 40 to 70 years of age. Researchers conducted telephone interviews with subjects about diet at various periods throughout their lives. The subjects were selected from of a group of women screened for breast cancer in Sweden.

Beta-carotene intake was divided by quartiles at various reported years before the reference date, defined as 6 months before the date of diagnosis of breast cancer in the cases, or 6 months before the date of screening mammography in the controls. Researchers examined beta-carotene intake at 5-year increments before the reference date in order to gauge the effect of exposure to beta-carotene on breast cancer risk.

SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology 1999;10:49-53.

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