Breast Health

Supplements

Over the last several years, Dr. Randolph has researched and tested hordes of nutritional supplements to ascertain their true mechanism for beneficially influencing estrogen metabolism. Today, we recommend a select group of supplements to enhance healthy hormone balance and, therein, promote weight loss and weight management.  They are:

Calcium D-Glucarate
Calcium D- Glucarate is a natural substance that promotes the body's detoxification process and supports hormonal balance. Calcium D-Glucarate facilitates the detoxification process by inhibiting the re-absorption of estrogen-like toxins into the bloodstream, allowing them to leave the body and be excreted in the feces. Calcium D-Glucarate has been found in animals to lower unhealthy estrogen levels and thereby inhibit the development or progression of cancer. 

Diindolymethane (DIM)
DIM is a phytonutrient akin to the Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C) found in cruciferous vegetables. DIM has unique hormonal benefits. It supports the activity of enzymes that improve estrogen metabolism by increasing the levels of 2-hydroxyestrone, e.g. the “good” estrogen. When taken as part of a healthy diet, I have found that DIM helps support PMS symptoms, fat loss and healthy estrogen metabolism.

Vitamin D
Studies have shown a strong correlation between blood levels of Vitamin D and breast cancer risk.  A 2008 study in the medical journal Carcinogenisis found that women with highest level of vitamin D had a nearly 70 percent reduction in their risk of breast cancer compared with women with the lowest Vitamin D levels.

Multiple studies indicate that vitamin D suppresses growth of breast cancer by 1.) blocking signals that stimulate cancer cell growth, and 2.) optimizing signals that inhibit cancer growth. 

Iodine
Recent studies have examined the relationship between iodine deficiency, fibrocystic breasts, breast cancer risk and thyroid disease.  For breast patients, iodine's therapeutic mechanisms of action is that it desensitizes the estrogen receptors, alters the chemical pathways as well effects on the genes, resulting in less cell growth, and causing anti-tumor effect by causing apoptosis (programmed cell death) of malignant cells.

The B Vitamins
The B Vitamins, such as B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12 and folate, do a lot within your body to support estrogen detoxification.  Conversely, if your body is deficient in B vitamins, you will have higher levels of circulating estrogens.  By now, you definitely know that increased estrogen levels lead to estrogen dominance and estrogen dominance will most certainly lead to weight gain and the inability to get that weight off. 

B vitamins also impact estrogen activity for the hormone receptors at the cellular level.  Clinical studies have shown that high levels of intracellular (e.g. within the cell) B6 can decrease the binding response at the estrogen hormone receptor site.  What happens at the cellular level is sort of like an internal game of musical chairs:  If the music stops and B6 sits down in the “estrogen chair” then the estrogen molecule is out of the game.

Because the B vitamins work together to perform such vital tasks at the cellular level, I recommend that you take the entire B-complex, not just one or two of the vitamins. To treat symptoms of hormone imbalance, you will need between 50-100 mg of B Complex that contains 50 mgs of thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niaicin (b3), pantothenic acid (b5), P6, PABA, choline, inositol,; 50 mcg B12, and 400 mcg of folic acid.

Vitamin E
Researchers studied the effects of Vitamin E in reducing the effects of menopause and most studies found Vitamin E to be helpful. Vitamin E has been shown to reduce PMS related breast-tenderness, nervousness, depression, headache, fatigue and insomnia.

Low Vitamin E levels were linked to estrogen dominance. Furthermore, Vitamin E deficiency has been found to inhibit estrogen detoxification.

Calcium – Magnesium Combo
Most women and men find it difficult to get 1200 – 1500 mg of needed calcium from their diet. As a rule, I recommend supplementing calcium intake with a calcium-magnesium combination supplement.

Magnesium is another supplement that helps the body eliminate excess estrogen.  For women, magnesium levels tend to fall at certain times during the menstrual cycle.  These shifts in magnesium levels can upset an optimum calcium-magnesium ratio.  In proper balance, the body better absorbs and assimilates the calcium it needs and allows calcium to migrate out of tissue and organs where it doesn’t belong. 

Without magnesium, calcium may be not fully utilized.  Under absorption of calcium can lead to menstrual cramps.  Similar to a Vitamin E deficiency, when the body does not have enough magnesium to support calcium absorption, many women report PMS symptoms such as mood swings, fatigue, headaches and sleeplessness. 

Premenstrual chocolate craving is a phenomenon that has puzzled a great many physicians.  They have been unable to explain why some women have this overwhelming urge to eat lots and lots of chocolate right before their periods yet, at other times of the month, their chocolate cravings remain under control. When I started thinking about it, the PMS- chocolate connection made a lot of sense.  You see chocolate is very high in magnesium content.  Keeping an optimal balance of calcium and magnesium is critical for optimal physical functioning and for hormone balance. I recommend that each day you take a calcium-magnesium supplement that combines these minerals in a ratio of two parts calcium (1500 mg) to one part magnesium (750 mg) . 

7- Keto Dehyroepiandrosterone (DHEA)
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is one of the hormones produced by the adrenal glands. After being secreted by the adrenal glands, it circulates in the bloodstream as DHEA-sulfate (DHEAS) and is converted as needed into other hormones.  While many anti-aging enthusiasts are familiar with DHEA, far fewer are likely to be as aware of its metabolite, 7-Keto DHEA, which functions within the body to safely boost immune function and help reduce body fat.  The term 7-Keto DHEA is in fact a brand name for the chemical compound 3-acetyl-7-dehydroepiandrosterone.   Human blood levels of both 7-Keto DHEA and DHEA tend to rise and fall in a similar pattern with age:  increasing until the twenties, beginning to decline in the thirties and continuing decline until the levels are reduced by about 50% by age fifty.  Clinical studies have shown that, as 7-Keto DHEA levels go down in middle age, body weight tends to goes up. 

7-Keto DHEA stimulates weight loss through a process called thermogenesis.  This term refers to the creation of heat at a cellular level.  The more thermogenesis, the higher the metabolic rate and the more fat that is literally burned up as energy. Studies have also demonstrated that 7-Keto does not accumulate in the body over time and is free of unhealthy side effects.

Because 7-Keto DHEA is a natural hormone metabolite, it benefits the body in two ways:  1.) it helps restore hormone balance while, at the same time, it 2.) works internally to melt away those unwanted pounds that can produce unwanted estrogen.