Is there a relationship between estrogen levels and breast cancer? The answer is yes. Studies now find that estrogen has a huge protective effect on women, for example, it can protect women’s cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, bone health and even cognitive function, so women’s risk of developing coronary heart disease before menopause is much lower than men’s, and osteoporosis often also worsens rapidly during the 1-2 years after menopause, just because women lose this protective relationship as their estrogen levels drop rapidly after menopause. However, there are many other estrogen target organs in the female body that are particularly closely related to estrogen levels, as the name implies, including the uterus, ovaries and breast. These include the uterus, ovaries, and breast. If estrogen levels are consistently too high, these tissues may also develop problems, such as endometrial cancer, uterine fibroids, or breast cancer. Why is it that women who become pregnant and have children and breastfeed after giving birth can greatly reduce the risk of breast cancer? One reason for this is that the hormonal environment in a woman’s body undergoes a major adjustment throughout the process of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, which makes the risk of breast cancer significantly lower. On the contrary, those women who remain infertile throughout their lives are naturally at a relatively higher risk of developing the disease because their estrogen levels continue to remain high. Since estrogen levels may be related to gynecological tumors in women, this rumor seems to make sense, since soy milk contains soy isoflavones, which is a phytoestrogen, right? In fact, phytoestrogens are not that bad. In terms of how estrogen causes gynecological tumors, phytoestrogens are similar to estrogen and should pose the same risks. However, a large number of epidemiological studies have shown that the intake of phytoestrogens is negatively correlated with the risk of breast cancer, that is, breast cancer is not increased but rather suppressed. For example, a survey in Shanghai showed that eating soy products significantly reduced the mortality rate of breast cancer patients, and that soy products, a high-protein, low-fat dietary source, are actually safer than a high-fat diet. Why is this true? There are many claims on this one, and frankly, different scholars have come to different conclusions, and some have even come to the fundamental opposite. The effective doses and modes of action of different phytoestrogens are not yet clear, so the medical community is still doing further research. However, current research shows that the relationship between phytoestrogens and breast cancer incidence is not as clear as that of estrogen, or it can be said that phytoestrogens are not as “cruel” as imagined. As for the consumption of soy milk, the safety factor is even higher. Let’s take estrogen. After menopause, many women need to receive estrogen replacement therapy under the guidance of their doctors because of various discomforts. At this time, doctors will ask patients to maintain follow-up, especially to be careful of some gynecological tumors. Under normal circumstances, the amount of soy milk you can consume in a day is limited, and I am afraid how it cannot be compared to the amount given for actually receiving estrogen replacement therapy. The dose of phytoestrogens that can be provided by one cup of soy milk a day under a normal diet is not that high and should not have serious effects in terms of tumors. If someone can really drink a liter of soy milk a day and eat several large bowls of tofu, then I’m afraid the concern is not about phytoestrogen intake, but whether they are consuming too much protein and purine, which increases the burden on the kidneys.