Rumors about food and breast cancer are everywhere: “Soy milk can cause breast cancer”, “Drinking red wine can prevent breast cancer”, etc. are spreading among our circle of friends. How credible are these rumors? Is it true that drinking soy milk can cause breast cancer? First of all, the estrogen in soy milk is not the same as human estrogen. Phytoestrogens are a class of non-steroidal compounds with weak estrogenic properties that exist naturally in plants and are named because of their biological activity similar to estrogen. Although the phytohormone has a molecular structure similar to that of estrogen, isoflavones in soybean preferentially bind to the estrogen beta receptor through trans-action, resulting in structural changes in the estrogen receptor and producing selective estrogen receptor modulator effects, which in turn can play a therapeutic and preventive role in breast cancer. A study published in June 2008 in the Journal of Nutrition, a leading international medical journal, showed that Asian women could reduce the incidence of breast cancer by 1/3 by drinking soy milk. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment also showed that soy milk intake in Asian populations significantly reduced breast cancer risk. In 2012, a joint study published by experts from the United States and China stated that they investigated 9,154 breast cancer patients with an average follow-up time of 7.4 years and concluded that there was no difference in breast cancer mortality between the group that drank more than 10 mg of soy milk per day and the group that did not drink soy milk, but the recurrence rate was significantly lower. This shows that drinking soy milk not only does not lead to breast cancer, but can reduce the risk of breast cancer. Drinking red wine can prevent breast cancer We can see from various sources that “drinking red wine can prevent breast cancer” in the past. The rationale is that red grape skin and grape seeds contain a natural anti-cancer substance that can prevent high estrogen levels. Therefore, if women drink a moderate amount of red wine or eat some grapes every day, the natural ingredients will help them prevent breast cancer. However, it is important to remind women that drinking alcoholic beverages can increase the incidence of breast cancer. According to the 2012 Etiology of Alcohol and Breast Cancer Correlation, women who drink one glass of wine (<12.5 grams) per day have a 4% increased risk of breast cancer, and those who drink three or more glasses (≥40 grams) per day will have a risk of 40% to 50%. The root cause of why alcohol can trigger such a large risk is that it increases estrogen levels. According to analysis, there are three reasons for this: i. Mutations in the acetaldehyde gene in alcohol initiate an estrogen uptake mechanism response, leading to oxidative damage that reacts in response to folic acid. Second, people who drink and blush due to a defect in the gene for alcohol-related metabolic enzymes, which are also present in mammary tissue, and due to this defect, leads to the accumulation of acetaldehyde toxins, increasing the metabolism of ethanol, which affects mammary hormone levels under the effect of as well as protein methylation, thus affecting estrogen receptor levels. Third, the oxidative stress effect of acetaldehyde interferes with normal methylation and decreases retinoic acid levels, thus altering the cell cycle of the mammary gland. Kelp can prevent breast cancer It has been reported that Japanese women have a much lower incidence of breast cancer than American women, possibly related to the traditional Japanese diet of seaweed-based foods. So can regular consumption of seaweed foods such as kelp and nori, which contain iodine, really prevent the occurrence of breast cancer?" Don't believe it, in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2010, it was proven that kelp does have a preventive effect on breast cancer." Although the mechanism of action is still unclear, a study analyzing 362 cases of breast cancer patients aged 35-65 years old finally confirmed that kelp can indeed reduce the recurrence of breast cancer by 52%. So how much kelp should be consumed daily is enough? It is best to consume 36 grams of wet kelp or 2 grams of dried kelp daily." So in this era of information explosion, we should have a clear ability to distinguish between the various truths and falsehoods spread by our circle of friends. Don't follow blindly, you should follow the authoritative sources of information!