Disturbing health news for cheese lovers! Docs petition FDA to add a warning label to cheese.

Kicking off “Let’s Beat Breast Cancer”, a celebrity-backed initiative that aims to prevent the risk of developing breast cancer. 

“The body’s cellular response to consuming animal protein and animal fat is everything that feeds and fuels illness while choking health to death. Estrogen levels rise, growth hormones skyrocket, inflammation abounds, free radicals run around damaging cells and mutating DNA.”

These are just a few of the headlines connected to the initiative “Let’s Beat Breast Cancer. A 4-Pronged Approach” from The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. The initiative kicked off earlier this month, in concert with the start of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (1)

Per the website, “You can take four simple steps to make breast cancer less likely to start in the first place, or less likely to come back if you’ve already been diagnosed. . .”

Here are the four steps:

• Choose plant-based foods.
• Exercise regularly.
• Limit alcohol.
• Maintain a healthy weight. 

Well, yes. Yes to ALL of that. 

That’s what the American Institute for Cancer Research (and other evidence-based cancer organizations) has advised for YEARS. That’s what credible research supports. That’s what I advocate for and encourage ALL women to do. (2)

There’s no question that adopting these lifestyle behaviors is beneficial for breast and overall health. The more women who can, the better!

What I have difficulty with is this:

1. The definitive, fear/guilt/shame-inducing language around the effectiveness of a plant-based diet in preventing breast cancer (first diagnosis or recurrence.) 
2. A celebrity-backed breast cancer campaign with a poor choice of celebrities as the “face of the campaign.” Jon Stewart, James Cameron and Alec Baldwin. WTH? A comedian, a director (who happens to have a documentary on plant-based athletes coming out soon), and an actor – all of them male – not even remotely versed in the science of breast cancer nutrition. I’m a big fan of Jon Stewart’s comedy, but I certainly don’t give him props for advising women on what to put on their plates. (3) 
3. The irresponsible (and again, fear-inducing) messages advocating “cheese warning labels.” 
4. The oversimplification of adopting and implementing lifestyle behaviors that for most women require a drastic change in daily habits.

To demonstrate the impact of those words, I want to share some of the responses I read from actual breast cancer survivors (maybe you?) to that “cheese warning” headline:

• “I’m from Wisconsin and we eat cheese on EVERYTHING. Probably what caused my cancer.”
• “It’s the hormones they give cows. They make our hormones go up. My cancer was hormonal.”
• “Could have contributed to my cancer, I’ve been a cheese-eater my entire life.

See how easy it is to make the leap from “I’m reading a headline” to “I caused my cancer because of this single food I eat/ate”?

That’s not right. 

Getting The Message Out at All Costs

I get the need to involve celebrities. In the cacophony of today’s media environment, gaining a messaging foothold for any type of campaign is daunting – especially one aimed at improving health. Just ask any public health organization. . .they’ve been at it for decades.

I get the need to take a complex, multi-faceted health message and strip it down to be simple and catchy to engage the public.

I get why headlines like “Evidence does not support specific recommendations on dairy consumption for breast cancer” are snoozers, and sensationalism demands attention.

I get the urgency behind this message. There’s too much breast cancer. Something is broken. We need to find the cause so we can implement prevention strategies. 

But we’re not there yet.

The Devil Is In The Details

For the most part, the scientific and “how-to” resources on this site are solid enough, although some of the bloggers tout nutritional information that is blatantly erroneous, and some of the science reads as cherry-picked to support “the steps.”

They missed an opportunity to make a positive impact with this message.

Irrespective of my opinion about the celebrity line-up, the campaign got visibility. 

A lot of it. 

Heck, I’m writing about it, and although it’s just my tiny blog, that’s visibility.

Women in the breast cancer community are desperate for clarity, consistency and truth about nutrition and lifestyle recommendations. They want to do what’s best for their health, but that’s tough to do when you’re confused and freaked out. 

I wish they would have tapped those of us on the front lines to help craft and spread the word. Those of us who’ve been down that road (to be fair, there are 5 breast cancer survivors on their advisory board) AND work daily with women across the breast cancer continuum.

So even though it’s not sexy, sensationalized or promoted by anyone terribly famous, I’ll leave you with these (truthful) reminders:

• A healthy weight is associated with decreased risk of breast cancer recurrence. 
  • Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve gained weight as a result of treatment, but do take tiny steps toward regaining your health. Walking, yoga, and gentle stretching will all remind you how good it feels to move. And skip the fad diets – intuitive eating strategies and plant-based meals can help.  
• Alcohol is associated with an increased risk of a variety of cancers, including breast.
  • There’s no minimum amount of alcohol considered safe. If you choose to drink, lose the guilt, and aim to keep it to one/day or less.
• A plant-based diet may help reduce risk of initial diagnosis or recurrence, but there’s no guarantee.
  • You can eat a vegan diet and STILL be diagnosed. But that doesn’t mean the standard American diet should be your go-to. Put more plants on your plate, push meat to the side, and pick up a great plant-based cookbook for inspiration. 
• Exercise is linked to potentially reducing risk of recurrence and/or initial diagnosis, with a stronger association for post-menopausal breast cancer. 
  • Add movement to your day. Doesn’t matter what it is, just avoid being sedentary at all costs.
• Knowing the EXACT way food can outsmart and offer protection against a cancer cell is still elusive. 
  • Science is ongoing, and they’re making headway, but we don’t know this yet.
• No single food causes or cures breast cancer.
  • I don’t know any other way to put it. So I just repeat it, over and over and over.
• We don’t yet have true PREVENTION of breast cancer through diet.
  • But the day we do? You can find me spearheading the world’s biggest campaign ever. Who shall I tap to be my celebrities? 

Cathy Leman has over 20 years of experience as a registered dietitian and nutrition therapist, certified personal trainer, speaker, writer, and most recently a breast cancer risk reduction strategist, educator, and inspirationist.

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Sources

1. Let’s Beat Breast Cancer
2. Can We Truly Prevent Breast Cancer with Diet?
3. JON STEWART JOINS VEGAN CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BREAST CANCER
4. Committed Vegan Jon Stewart Believes More Women Should Eat a Plant-Based Diet To Prevent Breast Cancer– What Are The Facts?