How to Reduce Your Risk for Breast and Prostate Cancer
Viana Muller, PhDThere’s a time of life when many men and women begin to experience unwelcome changes in hormonal health. Women notice worsening PMS, painful periods, hot flashes, or painful intercourse. Men face less frequent and shorter erections and loss of energy. This time of life is also when we become increasingly aware of the risks of a hormone-related cancer diagnosis. It’s not a theoretical concern, either! If you’re a woman, you have a lifetime chance of developing breast cancer of one in seven. Men have a one in three chance of developing prostate cancer. Yikes!! These statistics can make you feel like a walking time bomb!
In this article, I’d like to share a promising way to help reduce your risk of breast and prostate cancer while improving your sexual health and function.
The Mighty Maca!
You may already know that Maca is a cruciferous vegetable that resembles a turnip and belongs to the same botanical family. Maca is exceptional, however. It’s the only vegetable in the world that helps your body achieve better hormone balance – without taking any hormones. The phytochemicals in Maca stimulate the liver to make more insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-I). Increased IGF-1 levels, in turn, affect the entire endocrine system by helping increase the number of hormone receptors – including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone receptors produced by the adrenals, the ovaries, and the testes.
Our Royal Maca ® – the premium formulation of authentic Peruvian Maca on the market – is certified organic, sun-dried, and heated (gelatinized) to remove slightly toxic enzymes and make it safe for people with hypothyroidism. Our popular Royal Maca products help relieve mid-life hormonal symptoms and help the body produce anti-inflammatory metabolites of our sex hormones.
The Power of DIM!
When it comes to cancer prevention, we’re told to increase our intake of fruits and vegetables – especially cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and watercress. When eaten raw or lightly steamed, these cruciferous vegetables result in diindolylmethane – a phytochemical produced during digestion. The laboratory-made, bioidentical version of diindolylmethane is known as DIM.
Numerous studies show DIM positively changes estrogen metabolism, increasing 2-hydroxy-estrone – known as the “good estrogen” – and reducing 16-alpha-hydroxy-estrone – the “bad estrogen.*” This change in the estrogen balance has the ability to stop hormonal cancers in their tracks!
Specifically, studies show that DIM helps slow or stop abnormal, hormone-driven precancerous cells – known as dysplasia – from developing into cancer of the breast, cervix, ovaries, and prostate. In some cases, precancerous cells have even reverted to normal.
As an added benefit, DIM also helps reduce symptoms of estrogen dominance, PMS, and perimenopause/menopause in women. In men, DIM also frees up testosterone to help improve muscle mass, energy, and libido!
You can get the incredible benefits of DIM by eating cruciferous vegetables. But there’s a catch. You need to eat at least one cup of any combination of cruciferous vegetables at least three times a week. And you must eat these veggies raw or so lightly steamed that you need a knife to cut them after cooking. Despite our best intentions, it’s difficult for many of us to meet this goal. This is why DIM supplements have become so popular. They deliver the cancer-fighting benefits of cruciferous vegetables in a convenient, concentrated form!
Learning about DIM sparked a “eureka” moment for me. Since we introduced Royal Maca to the U.S. market more than 20 years ago, it’s been incredibly popular with people looking for a natural way to support hormone balance and energy. But how gratifying it was to discover that we could provide an extra benefit: adding DIM to help reduce the risk of hormonal cancers!
Royal Maca and DIM: The Perfect Pair!
This was the genesis of our Royal Maca® Plus for Women with DIM, and Super Royal Maca® for Men with DIM. These supplements combine Royal Maca, a proven hormone-regulating supplement, with the estrogen metabolism-regulating power of DIM. Together, Royal Maca and DIM are a perfect pair, helping you enjoy optimal hormonal balance while reducing your risk of hormonal cancers!
Taking Royal Maca with DIM
If you have family or friends who have battled breast, cervical, or prostate cancer, you no doubt want to do everything you can to reduce your own risk. This was the situation our customer Joan faced. Joan recently shared her story with me.
“When I went into menopause, I knew I should avoid going on hormone replacement therapy with estrogen because my mother had hormone-positive breast cancer after her menopause. But I desperately needed relief from my hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. I started taking Royal Maca, and it was a godsend, completely resolving my hot flashes in just a few days! When I learned about Royal Maca with DIM, I was thrilled because it appeared that I could relieve hormonal symptoms and also help lower my own increased risk of breast cancer. These days, I don’t dread my annual mammogram anymore or anxiously wait for the results. Instead, I smile when I get the ‘all clear, come back in a year’ report after every mammogram, and say ‘Thanks, Royal Maca with DIM!’”
If you’re interested in the protective power of DIM but haven’t taken any of our Royal Maca products before, I recommend you start with one of these products without DIM. Once you have established your correct dosage of Royal Maca for hormone balance, you can switch to Royal Maca with DIM for the extra cancer-protective benefit.
NOTE: Those of you who are highly sensitive (or small in stature) will only need half of our suggested dosage for these products. In these cases, I suggest you might be better served by taking Royal Maca and DIM as separate supplements.
