Re: comments re plant estrogens
Lara Wiggert (lwiggert@nalusda.gov)
Fri, 11 Feb 1994 18:05:17 -0500 (EST)
The assertion that plant estrogens are more associated with health
problems than animal estrogens is false. In fact, plant estrogens
(phytoestrogens) actually have a protective effect when it comes to
cancer. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, MD, a professor at the University
of Arizona College of Medicine, instead of acting like a superefficient
key in the body's estrogen receptor "lock", phytoestrogens act more like
rusty keys that fit the lock, but fail to turn it easily, if at all. By
occupying the receptors without activating them or activating them only
slightly, phytoestrogens prevent other estrogens from occupying these
sites. This results in a net decrease in estrogen exposure.
This is consistent with studies that have observed that Japanese women,
for instance, have much lower rates of breastand other female
reproductive cancers than American women, but, if these japanese women
move to america and adopt a typical american diet, their breast cancer
rates rise quickly to equal those of their American counterparts.
Until recently , it was thought that a difference in fat intake accounted
for this difference in cancer incidence, but now some researchers are
thinking that protective phytoestrogens in traditional Japanese soy foods
might be the key.
I'm expecting to see more and more about this in the near future - its
makes sense to me, with a background in the biological/nutritional sciences.
Lara Wiggert