Wheat Acting as an Anti-Cancer Agent

Whole Wheat Promotes Women's Health and Gastrointestinal Health

The wheat bran has been shown to function as an anti-cancer agent. Wheat bran is thought to accelerate the metabolism of estrogen that is a known promoter of breast cancer. In one study, pre-menopausal women, ages twenty to fifty, who ate three to four high fiber muffins per day made with wheat bran, decreased their blood estrogen levels by 17 percent after two months. The women eating corn bran or oat bran did not show the same benefits.

Interestingly, whole grains such as wheat also contain lignans, which are phytonutrients that act as weak hormone-like substances. Lignans occupy the hormone receptors in the body, thus actively protecting the breast against high circulating levels of hormones such as estrogen. By accelerating the metabolism of estrogen and occupying estrogen receptors in the body, the components of wheat appear to have a dual function in protecting women against one of the leading causes of cancer death.

The fact that only wheat bran, and not corn or oat bran, is beneficial in preventing cancer-promoting changes in the colon, provides additional clues that wheat bran contains something special that makes it a true cancer fighter. Only the bran from wheat has been shown to reduce the concentration of bile acids and bacterial enzymes in the stool that are believed to promote colon cancer.

The protective dose for colon cancer may be more than 28 grams a day, since men who ate this amount had only one-third the rate of colon polyps (precancerous tumors) compared to those who ate only 17 grams/day. The amount of wheat bran needed for protection from other cancers is still unknown, but based on the health benefits of this food, it may be wise, if you are not sensitive to wheat or gluten, to include several servings of whole wheat grain foods such as bread, pasta, and bran cereals every day in your diet.

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