Diet taboos for patients with breast hyperplasia

Health products/supplements with added exogenous estrogen, long-term heavy drinking, long-term extreme high-oil and high-sugar trans-fat diets, and the rest of the "can't drink soy milk, can't eat honey, can't touch seafood" rumors widely spread on the Internet are mostly cognitive misunderstandings. Different medical schools also have different opinions. There is no need to blindly apply one-size-fits-all.

To be honest, I have met too many patients in my clinic who are afraid of losing their complexion and skinny skin. In order to fight against aging, a 32-year-old white-collar worker followed the trend and bought sheep placenta and snow clam ointment recommended by Internet celebrities. He ate it every day before going to bed. Half a year later, he checked his breasts and found that the hyperplasia jumped from grade 1 to grade 3. The pain before menstruation was so painful that even wearing adjustable underwear felt like torture. After stopping these health products for three months and then checking again, the grade dropped and the pain was almost gone. This type of products containing clear exogenous estrogen is unanimously recommended to be completely avoided by both Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. In addition to the purified snow clam and sheep placenta just mentioned, there are also Ziheche (placenta) products, breast enhancement pills, whitening pills with illegally added estrogen, and even many Sanwu health products that claim to "regulate menstruation and nourish the skin." Most of them secretly add estrogen, so don't touch them.

Then there is the long-term heavy drinking. This is a risk factor clearly mentioned in the domestic and foreign breast disease guidelines. Alcohol will affect the liver's inactivation function of estrogen, causing the body's estrogen metabolism to slow down. People who drink more than 2 taels of white wine or 3 bottles of beer per day for a long time have a risk of worsening breast hyperplasia that is more than twice as high as those who do not drink. Of course, there’s no need to overdo it. It’s perfectly fine to occasionally take a sip of fruit wine when gathering with friends.

We also have to change our long-term eating habits that are high in fat and sugar. There used to be a 40-year-old sister who didn't like to cook. She only ordered takeout every now and then. She had fried chicken, burgers, bubble milk tea, and gained 20 pounds in a year. Before, she was just a little bloated before her period, but later it hurt so much that she even had trouble raising her hands. This is because the fat tissue itself will convert a small amount of estrogen. If the body fat rate is too high, it is equivalent to having an "estrogen production factory" in the body, which will naturally aggravate hyperplasia. But that doesn’t mean you can’t eat fried chicken with milk tea at all. If you’re craving for a drink and a meal on the weekend, it won’t have any impact at all, just don’t make it a daily meal.

Interestingly, the "taboo foods" that everyone is most concerned about are all controversial. For example, the most rumored soy milk, Western medicine research has long made it clear that the soy isoflavones in soybeans are phytoestrogens, which are regulated in two directions - when the estrogen level in the body is high, it will seize the receptors to help you antagonize it. When the level is low, you can supplement it. Drinking a cup of 300ml of soy milk every day, or eating a 200g piece of fresh tofu, will not aggravate hyperplasia at all. I once had a patient who was so scared that he didn't even dare to touch tofu skin. He didn't eat any soy products for half a year. He was so anxious every day that the pain became worse. Later, he resumed eating soy products and drank soy milk two or three times a week. No problems were found during the follow-up examination. However, some schools of traditional Chinese medicine believe that if you have liver stagnation and qi stagnation, you are prone to flatulence and acid reflux. Eating too many soy products may aggravate qi stagnation. It is recommended not to eat too much at a time, and it is not completely untouchable.

There is also honey, which is also a "taboo item" that has been controversial for several years. Western medicine tests show that the estrogen content in pure honey is almost negligible. As long as it is pure honey produced by regular manufacturers without illegal ingredients, it is perfectly fine to drink a small spoonful of it every day. However, some Chinese medicine practitioners believe that honey is a sweet and warming product. If you have a hyperplasia patient with a damp-heat constitution, you are prone to acne, constipation, and breast swelling and pain. Drinking too much may aggravate damp-heat, so it is recommended to avoid it. In addition, honey itself has a high sugar content. If you have diabetes or are obese, you should drink less honey regardless of whether you have hyperplasia or not. This is a consensus.

As for what the elders often say, "Seafood is a hairy thing and growth cannot be eaten", there is no unified conclusion. There is no concept of "hair growth" in Western medicine. As long as you are not allergic to seafood, eating some shrimp, crab, and sea fish and supplementing with high-quality protein will be good for your health. However, Chinese medicine does hold the view that if it is in the acute stage of hyperplasia and the breasts are obviously red, swollen, hot and painful, you should temporarily eat less cold or hot seafood to avoid aggravating the symptoms and wait until the symptoms are relieved before eating again.

To be honest, in my many years of clinical practice, I have seen too many patients who have very strict dietary restrictions. Instead, they are anxious every day and have to check whether they can eat anything for a long time. Emotional stress will affect endocrine, which is much greater than eating the wrong bite of food on hyperplasia. There used to be an aunt who didn't even dare to eat eggs or chicken. She spent every day at home wondering whether eating the wrong food would cause cancer. When she was checked again every six months, the hyperplasia became more serious. Later, I advised her to eat what she should eat instead of just thinking about it every day. She went to the park to dance square dance for an hour every day. When she checked again after three months, most of her symptoms had disappeared.

In fact, 70% to 80% of women have varying degrees of breast hyperplasia. Most of them are physiological, not considered a disease at all, and almost never become cancerous. In terms of diet, as long as you avoid the three clear minefields mentioned above, you can completely follow your body's feelings for the rest - if you really feel the swelling and pain increase after eating something, then eat less. If there is no discomfort, eat what you should. Keeping your mood comfortable is more effective than any taboo.