Calcium D-glucarate

Your Breast Defense

The human breast is perhaps our most enduring symbol of nurturing and compassion. The breast literally provides the milk of human kindness. Unfortunately, during this half of the 20th century, it is in peril. Problems with breast tissue are becoming the number one cause of suffering for women in the developed countries today.

Wonderful new research may change that. Introducing a nutrient that may help the body remove excess estrogen, thereby giving relief to estrogen-sensitive tissues. Calcium D-glucarate is currently the subject of numerous clinical studies. It is proving to have great potential for addressing this health concern closest to our heart.

One of life's most delicate balancing acts is found in the ebb and flow of hormones, which constantly takes place in the human body. These messenger chemicals are fundamental to the process of life. Produced by endocrine glands, hormones travel throughout the body, communicating with each other as they direct cellular activity. For example, the hypothalamus gland monitors hormone levels in the body. It signals the pituitary gland, advising it to send messages to the ovaries to either produce or stop producing estrogen.

Estrogen is an extremely powerful hormone whose activity can be measured in parts per trillion. Therefore, it doesn't take much to create an imbalance. Like all hormones, estrogen communicates with a cell by docking to a particular receptor site on that cell's membrane. The problem is that these estrogen receptors are not very particular, in fact they are downright promiscuous, accepting many chemicals other than estrogen. This is not the sole problem; an excess of circulating estrogen in the bloodstream or an excess of estrogen-sensitive receptors can alter normal cellular metabolism.

Natural and artificial estrogen
Estrogen-mimicking compounds are found throughout the plant kingdom as well as among the 70,000 synthetic chemicals introduced into the environment this century. Due to our long period of adaptation with plants, our bodies are able to utilize, then break down and excrete these natural phytoestrogens. On the other hand, artificial compounds resist normal breakdown. They tend to accumulate in the body, resulting in low-level but long-term estrogenic exposure.

There is a correlation between estrogen exposure and increased risk of damage to certain tissues such as breast and uterus, because they have more estrogen receptor sites and are therefore very sensitive to estrogen. Many researchers see a connection between the proliferation of synthetic estrogenic chemicals in the environment and the steady increase (one percent a year) in breast tissue problems.

Researchers discovered significantly higher levels of pesticides and PCBs in women with breast cancer than those with benign breast disease. (Archives of Environmental Health, 1992, vol. 47)

Israel, the only nation in the world to reduce the incidence of breast cancer, did so by banning a number of organochlorine pesticides.

The National Cancer Institute is conducting a four year investigation into the health effects from exposure to synthetic hormone-like chemicals in the environment.

The effects of these estrogen-mimicking chemicals can take decades — even generations — to manifest. Diethylstilbestrol (DES), the first synthetic estrogen manufactured in 1938, was embraced by the medical-pharmaceutical complex and prescribed with abandon to women over 40. Eventually DES was even recommended for pregnant women. Unfortunately, over two thirds of "DES daughters" had abnormalities in their vagina or cervix, and tens of thousands have died from breast problems due to DES. (Robbins)

How the body removes excess estrogen
One of the processes by which estrogen and estrogenic compounds are metabolized and broken down is through glucuronidation. In the liver, they're bound to glucuronic acid and then excreted in the urine or feces. This process can be disrupted by an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase, which is found in the gastrointestinal tract. It frees the bound-up estrogen or estrogenic compound, releasing it to be reabsorbed back into the bloodstream — to again affect cells.

Obviously estrogen is needed by the body; however, too much can lead to damage in sensitive tissues and organs. Since it can be very difficult to avoid the estrogenic chemicals rampant in our environment, another strategy is needed, and that is to reduce their negative effects by supporting the body's natural ability to remove excess estrogen and other hormones and toxins.

Calcium D-glucarate and hormone metabolism
The removal of excess estrogen can be increased by a natural substance called Calcium D-glucarate (CDG), because it inhibits beta-glucuronidase activity in the body. This means that estrogen bound for excretion stays bound, and the total estrogen load on the body is reduced.

In clinical trials, tissues that are sensitive to excess hormones — such as breast, liver, and lung — have been shown to respond favorably to CDG. In addition to estrogen and estrogenic compounds, CDG helps promote excretion of other hormone metabolites as well as cellular toxins and steroids. In men, this means testosterone and DHT, thereby protecting tissues sensitive to these hormones, such as the prostate gland and testes.

CDG is made naturally in small quantities in the body; it is also found in a variety of fruits and vegetables: oranges, broccoli, carrots, spinach, and apples. Vitamin A has been shown to have a synergistic effect with CDG. The National Cancer Institute is conducting human clinical trials on CDG and has found no toxicity in its usage. One 500 mg tablet of Calcium D-glucarate is equivalent to the phytonutrient activity found in 82 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. The suggested use for preventative health maintenance is 3 to 4.5 grams per day.

Phytonutrients also help reduce estrogen exposure
Another strategy to reduce the effects of excess estrogen is to increase the intake of plant estrogens. This helps for two reasons. First, by occupying estrogen receptor sites, these natural estrogenic compounds block synthetic ones from attaching to these sites. Second, phytoestrogens only mildly activate receptors.

One of the best phytoestrogens is genistein, the isoflavone in soybeans responsible for soy's beneficial influence on the human body. Increased intake of genistein and/or soy is being recommended by many health professionals, especially for post-menopausal women. One study suggests that soy products actually protect against breast cancer in young women. (Lancet, 1991, vol. 337 )

Reduce your exposure to estrogenic chemicals
Pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables are a source of synthetic estrogenic chemicals. Although only in parts per million, these poisons biomagnify and accumulate in one's fatty tissues, glands, and organs into dangerous levels. For example, sea birds at the top of their food chain have been found with concentrations of PCBs in their tissues 25 million times that of the surrounding water. (Colborn)

Estrogen-mimicking chemicals have been shown to leach from plastic containers, bags, and from the linings of canned goods. Detergent breakdown products and personal care products (including some contraceptive creams) are also a source of estrogen-mimicking chemicals. (Colborn)

New research indicates that combinations of chemicals can increase the toxicity of a single poison by a thousandfold. (Science, Jun '96)

Mammograms — help or hindrance
Many chemicals are mutagenic; they can alter DNA, causing cells to replicate incorrectly. Radiation is also mutagenic, which brings into question the use of mammograms. Since mammography was introduced in 1983, one form of breast cancer (DCIS) — representing 12% of all breast cancer cases — increased by 4,000% in women under age 50. (Alternative Medicine Digest #15, Nov '96)

"Our estimate is that about three-quarters of the current annual incidence of breast cancer in the U.S. is being caused by earlier ionizing radiation, primarily from medical sources." Dr. John Gofman, nuclear expert. (Robbins)

Replaced with what?!
The estrogen issue is a complicated one, made messy by the pharmaceutical companies who enjoy increasing profits as an aging population becomes a vast marketplace for their drugs. Today, the estrogen most often prescribed in the U.S. is "conjugated equine estrogen" (sold under the brand name Premarin), which is derived from the urine of pregnant horses. Besides the suffering endured by the mares — who are impregnated, confined, and then "milked" of their urine for 7 of their 11 months of pregnancy — 90,000 foals are destroyed each year. (Robbins)

Nursing — back to health
Another factor in breast problems may be due to the fact that women's breasts do not get the type of stimulation traditionally received from years of nursing, which provided protection through increased lymph drainage and oxygenation. (Spectrum, May/Jun '96)

References

• Colborn, Theo. Our Stolen Future, New York: Dutton, 1996.
• Curley, R.W., Jr., et al. (1994) Life Sciences 54(18): 1299-303.
• Dwivedi, C. (1990) Biochemical Medicine & Metabolic Biology 43(2): 83-92.
• Heerdt, A.S., et al. (1995) Israel Journal of Medical Sciences 31(2-3): 101-05.
• Robbins, John. Reclaiming Our Health, Tiburon: HJ Kramer, 1996.
• Walaszek, Z., et al. (1986) Carcinogenesis 7(9): 1463-6.