Joel Fuhrman - Eat To Live

Eat to Live 79

sumption of fat, refined carbohydrates, cheese, and meat and a huge

decrease in the consumption of complex carbohydrates such as

starchy plants. Modern studies of girls on vegetarian diets character-

ized by more complex carbohydrates and no meat show a later age of

menarche and as one would expect, a significant reduction of acne as

well.^54 A greater consumption of animal foods leads to a higher level

of hormones related to early reproductive function and growth.^35

These hormonal abnormalities persist into adulthood.^1 '' Uterine fi-

broids also develop from a diet deficient in fruits and vegetables and

heavy in meat. As the consumption of meat increases and vegetation

decreases, one's risk of fibroids increases proportionately.^37 In other

words, the stage is set by our poor dietary habits early in life. Breast

and prostate cancer are strongly affected by our dietary practices when

we are young.

First European and then American studies have indicated that

the protein richness of one's diet is a more sensitive marker of early

menarche than increased body weight.^38 This conclusion is consis-

tent with the data relating earlier menarche with increased animal

protein use in South African girls.^39 Then in the 1990s, when the

data from the massive China-Oxford-Cornell Project was dissected,

we again saw the high correlation between breast-cancer incidence

and the consumption of animal products.^40

In China, animal-food consumption correlated well with early

menarche and increasing levels of sex hormones. Serum testosterone

levels had the best correlation with breast cancer, even better than

estrogen. Of note is that increasing levels of testosterone significantly

increases the risk of both breast cancer and prostate cancer. Testos-

terone rises as well with increasing levels of obesity, and being over-

weight is another consistent risk factor.^41

What makes the data from the China Project so intriguing is that

breast cancer incidence is so low in China compared with Western

countries and that animal-food consumption is so much lower than in

America. Even those consuming the most animal products in China

consume less than half the amount Americans do. As animal-food in-

take increased from about once a week in the lowest third to about

four times a week in the highest third, breast cancer rates increased by

70 percent. Of note is that the only difference among the diets was the

addition of meat in varying amounts. Consumption of fresh vegetables

in all groups was about the same, offering little chance of confounding

variables. There was a strong increase in the occurrence of breast can-

cer mortality with increasing animal-product consumption.