Today, we’re unraveling the complex roles of two essential minerals—iron and calcium—in our health and their unique implications for breast cancer survivors.
Iron and calcium are critical for numerous bodily functions. Iron is essential for producing hemoglobin, which transports oxygen in our blood, while calcium is vital for bone health, muscle function, and nerve signaling.
In this episode, I’ll explore how these minerals support our overall well-being and why maintaining adequate levels is crucial, especially during recovery.
Iron is a double-edged sword. While it is necessary for energy production and immune function, it also fuels rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells. We explore why cancer patients, particularly those with breast cancer, are often advised to avoid iron supplements.
Calcium is paramount for bone health, especially for breast cancer survivors who may experience bone density loss due to treatments like chemotherapy and hormone therapy. However, supplementation carries risks.
I’ll discuss the interactions between calcium supplements and cancer medications, emphasizing the importance of monitoring calcium levels and opting for dietary sources whenever possible.
This episode comprehensively examines the benefits and potential risks associated with iron and calcium supplementation.
I’ll also highlight the importance of individualized care, encouraging you to consult with healthcare providers to tailor your nutritional strategy based on your needs and health status.
Understanding the intricate balance of iron and calcium can empower you to make informed decisions, optimizing your recovery and long-term health.
Tune in to this essential episode and take a proactive step towards a healthier, more informed you. Your journey to wellness continues here.
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0:00
You're listening to better than before breast cancer with the breast cancer recovery coach. I'm your host, Laura Lummer. I'm a certified life coach, and I'm a breast cancer thriver. In this podcast, I will give you the skills and the insights and the tools to move past the emotional and physical trauma of a breast cancer diagnosis. If you're looking for a way to create a life, that's even better than before breast cancer, you've come to the right place. Let's get started.
0:33
Hey there friends, welcome to episode 369 have better than before breast cancer. I am your host, Laura Lummer. And this is our Tuesday terrain talk, where we talk about all kinds of great stuff, small steps, little things you can do to support the optimal functioning of your amazing body, very little cell and as supported as much as you can. And today is no different. We're going to talk about something really important. And this actually takes me back to Gosh, in the early 2000s. I graduated from California College of Ayurveda in 2006. And what we're going to talk about is supplements because I get asked all the time about supplements. Now to be clear, as a certified terrain advocate, even with my degree in health coaching and certifications and health coaching and all that, recommending supplements, telling someone to take it and giving them a dosage is outside the scope of my practice. It's not something that I do. But what I do do is educate people on what supplements can do, and why someone might want to take a supplement so that you can take this information and discuss it with your doctor or with your naturopath. So, it takes me back to 2006 When I graduated from the California College of ru VEDA because as a part of that process of studying Ayurveda, and graduating from that school, I hired my own clinical data specialists because I wanted to have that patient experience or the client, I should say client experience, they're not licensed medical people, the client experience and I was super excited to get my herbal recommendations, right and, and part of that training was creating herbal concoctions for people. And so I think that that's kind of regulated from state to state. But it was interesting, because I really wanted herbs right when I went to have my intake, and I filled out all this paperwork, and I was so excited to go there and get my plan and to get the herbal recommendations. And she didn't give me any, she told me to go home and practice mindful eating, which was I was led down at the time until I figured out how difficult mindful eating actually is. But then I started my practice and I started developing lifestyle programs for people based on these are you Vedic techniques and theories and practices? And everybody wanted herbs, right? Everybody was like, what herbs? What herbs can I take what herbs you're gonna make for me, and back then I did make them specialized for each client. So it's so interesting, I think we just have like this romance with them. You know, we I think we think maybe because, you know, since Western medicines, as we all grew up with Western medicine, you get a pill that makes you feel better. So there's just this kind of a romance we have with the idea of supplements, and that if something isn't working, we take a supplement, and that's going to fix it. And, you know, supplements are powerful, they can have a big impact on our body. But they can also have not the kind of impact that we want, we really have to understand why you would take a supplement or why your body has a deficiency to begin with, if it indeed has a deficiency. So a lot of times I hear people ask me about different supplements. And I asked them, I don't know, what are your labs tell you? What are your levels of that in your blood? And they don't know? Why will we go take a supplement if we don't even know what our blood levels are? Now, that could be a really big mistake. So in this show, today, I want to talk to you about two supplements that people ask me about all the time, iron and calcium. I want to talk to you about why we want to think about those with a little bit of a different mindset than just the general population who has never received a cancer diagnosis. And then also, why you think you might need it. And I'll give you some reasons that I hear from people commonly, and what else you might want to look at first before you turn to a supplement. And then hopefully by the end of the show, you will also have some great questions. If one either one of these supplements is something you want to take. So you'll have some good questions to go and talk with your doctor about or if you are ready taking them. You'll have some good questions to think about or to ask your practitioner about to make sure that it's working for you and you're doing it safely. Right Alright, so let's talk about why would I even say that we think about supplements differently? If we have had a diagnosis of cancer versus if we hadn't? Isn't it still a human body? It absolutely is. But since we have had cancer, and since we know that body makes malignant cells, and we don't know why exactly cancer decided to grow on us, right, we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to support the healthiest function of our body, and not fuel cancer. Okay, we want to be tissue focused, body focused. And we want to make sure that our body isn't providing a lovely breeding ground for cancer. So cancer patients are often discouraged from taking iron supplements, because there is a relationship between iron and cancer cell growth, as well as the fact that over indulging in iron supplements can also have negative effects on the body. So let's talk about each of these. Cancer cells have a high demand for iron. And it's necessary for their proliferation for them to grow and for their metabolism. So think about our body, we have metabolism, but each one of these trillions of ourselves they have a metabolism, for taking nutrients in or putting waste out and doing all kinds of work inside that cell. And excessive iron can promote tumor growth and metastasis, because it can provide resources fuel for cancer cells to thrive. Also, if we have too much iron in our body, then it can contribute to the formation of free radicals. And that increases oxidative stress. Oxidative stress puts us at risk for cellular damage, including DNA damage, which contributes or can contribute to cancer progression. Oxidative stress, in simplest form, actually think I gave this a similar analogy. A couple of weeks ago, I did a show on detoxification, and talked about how we could think of our body like a city and garbage trucks needing to come in and take trash out. We'll think about if the garbage man is on strike, as has definitely happened here in California before things build up and get stinky real quick. So think of oxidative stress as if the garbage people are on strike in the trash is not getting picked up. And it's building up and building up. Now as getting started to cause problems, right? So oxidative stress is when we have too many of these free radicals, too many toxins, they're overloading the cell, and the cell cannot function optimally. Right? So another risk, there's a couple more risks. These are like pretty extreme. One is hemochromatosis, that's going to be a genetic problem as well, a polymorphism. It's something in our genes that could drive your body's ability to use iron effectively, and so that it builds up in your body. That's actually something that is test for the 3x four genetics report. And then there's another condition called hemos siderosis. And that, again, is going to be kind of an extreme, that's not like everybody gets this right. And that's just where iron overload leads to a different condition, because the iron accumulates too much in organs and tissues and can cause damage to specific tissues. So when we have iron overload, too much iron, it can lead to serious conditions, it can cause damage to the heart to the liver. And it can even be a complication in diabetes. So it can really complicate just the overall health management of someone who has had a cancer diagnosis of a cancer patient. So then we take iron, and we think we're doing ourselves a favor, that it can actually affect our immune function. And we want the optimal function in our immune system as possible, right. So even though iron is really important for cell function, too much iron can create a problem for immune cells, it can reduce their ability to fight infections and cancer cells. iron overload can increase inflammation in the body, which is already a concern for cancer patients, because of disease treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, and just the root cause of disease, which is too much inflammation, right? So why do people then take iron if all of these are potential risks? Why would we take it? Well, a lot of times, nutrition is a problem and we're undernourished. But we don't know if we need iron. Unless again, we're looking in our blood. But people start to feel tired and we relate very easily this I'm fatigued to a probably anemic. So this interesting thing called anemia of chronic disease and cancer patients can experience that and it means we're iron gets sequestered into white blood cells and liver cells, making unavailable for red blood cells, which is the red blood cells or transport for iron and oxygen, this protective mechanism kicks in, where a body kind of sequestered, it holds it back. So even though we might see normal or high iron stores in the body, it's not available for the body to use. So for that reason, iron supplementation should be really thoughtfully discussed with your doctor, it should be considered on an individual basis. And it's definitely not something that you want to be supplementing, if you don't even know the status of the iron already in your body. All right, we don't want to be randomly diagnosing ourselves and taking supplements, and potentially increasing our risk of promoting cancer growth, increasing oxidative stress, increasing inflammation, iron overload. So, before we even think about supplements, again, do we look at food? And I know a lot of medical practitioners, medical professionals are going to want to look at food first. Are you getting enough iron through the food that you eat? Are you nourishing your body properly? Are you eliminating processed foods and chemicals that don't need to be in your body that might be decreasing your body's ability to function properly? And are you getting enough Whole Foods, dark green leafy vegetables, good healthy grass fed grass finished animal proteins, so the best approach to iron supplementation is talk to your doctor about it first. Don't just think that because you're tired, you should be taking iron or that you might be anemic. And in fact, when people come to me and they say I'm tired all the time. Iron is the last thing that I think about the very first thing that I think about is hydration. Are you hydrated? Are you drinking half your body weight in ounces of water every single day? Are you using electrolytes? Do you put a little bit of good Himalayan or Celtic salt in that water? Are you getting good rest? Are you getting good sleep? If you're not getting good sleep, then we have a whole list of things we can go through to say how do we improve sleep. But I will go through all of that first before I would ever even attempt to say to somebody Oh, go take an iron pill. Right? There's so many other ways we can go about this, especially if fatigue is what you think you're addressing. Because there are when someone is anemic, they have more than just fatigue. And so it's really important to talk to a doctor about that stay safe. Right? So let's talk about calcium. Now I have a lot of clients who are concerned with calcium, because they're concerned about their bone density. And we take we meaning peoples who have had a breast cancer diagnosis as part of treatment, often are given drugs that can impact the health of our bones. When we turn to things like supplements, I just I think we have a false sense of security when it comes to supplements. We have a false sense of security and that we think herbs and vitamins are going to be safe. And they're always okay to take because we think of them as natural. And that is absolutely not true. So even something that sounds as benign and harmless, right as calcium, there are risks involved with that. So some cancer type, particularly those that metastasized to the bone like breast, lung, and multiple myeloma can cause elevated blood calcium levels hypercalcemia. And then if you're taking additional calcium through supplements, that can make this condition worse. And it can lead to a lot of complications, including anything from kidney stones to neurological symptoms, and even heart issues. So, symptoms of hypercalcemia include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, muscle weakness, confusion, and here we go with the fatigue again. So we just talked about that element with iron. What if you're experiencing fatigue, you've not tested or been monitoring your blood, and you think you're anemic? So you start taking iron when the problem is calcium, right? And you're not even addressing the problem? No, and then people take and I hear this often too, they take iron that well, I should take more or it's not working. I'm still tired. So we got to look at the data first, the facts first, and understand what's happening in your blood. And talk to a doctor about it before you take a supplement with your doctor is a standard of care doctor and oncologist and naturopath but someone who understands it. So another reason why is that calcium supplements can interfere with the absorption and the effectiveness of some cancer medications because calcium combined to some drugs in your gut, and then it reduces your ability to absorb them or use them efficiently. So it's really important that even if your doctor did say, hey, I want you to take a calcium supplement that you talked to them about the timing of that, should you take your calcium at the same time you take your medication, because certain breast cancer medications are particularly oral chemotherapy agents, that's something I take. And oral hormone therapies are another one. So tamoxifen, Xeloda, letrozole, and estrus Hall. Those are a few of the drugs that combined with calcium in your gut. So you want to make sure that you're avoiding potential interactions here by consulting with some a healthcare provider who knows what they're talking about when it comes to supplements and medications, so that you get the optimal effectiveness from your medication. And you get the optimal effectiveness from your supplement if they're telling you to take one. And I'm going to refer back to the same advice that I talked about with iron.
16:05
If, and I know osteopenia and osteoporosis are big concerns for a lot of my clients and for good reason, right? We're ageing, typically, people are over 50. But even if you're younger, and you've been put into chemically induced menopause, bone health as it is, the issue is something we want to focus on. Then we take things like aromatase inhibitors and S E RMS like tamoxifen, and those impacts our bone health directly. So it's a valid concern, to be thinking about the health of our bones, and to be thinking about how we keep our body healthy enough so that it doesn't move into stages of osteopenia and osteoporosis. But before I would say, think about a supplement, I would ask, what is your diet look like? Do you have a healthy well balanced diet? Or are you eating all the dark green leafy vegetables? Are you getting like Popeye? Are you getting that spinach in right? Are we getting calcium? If you do eat dairy? Are you using clean, grass fed pasture raised dairy products, maybe other products that are fortified with calcium, so have you got your food dialed in. And if you've got your food dialed in, and you're working with a doctor and your calcium levels are still not sufficient, then for sure, I'm sure you guys will talk about some kind of calcium supplementation, or maybe something else that's available to you. So getting your regular bloodwork is really important like blood tells so much is such an important story. And you can monitor your calcium levels in blood. So if you look or this is, you know, part of this whole way of educating you on what to think about in terms of your body and in terms of food and supplements, is if you're looking at your bloodwork, and it says that you have sufficient levels of calcium, and you're being told to take a calcium supplement, I would ask why. Why do we want to do that? If it's looking like I already have an optimum level of calcium in my blood? What's happening there, right? And if that's because while your body's not using it effectively, you know, this is something to dig into with your doctor and understand the benefits and the effectiveness of taking anything other than food, right? It's why we've got doctors, they're experts on this stuff. So when I talk about having your team together, know what your team players expertise is, and use that. Right. So I get a lot of clients that are super frustrated, because their doctor doesn't tell them the right things to eat. Their doctors aren't nutrition experts, right? So but their doctors are medicine experts, and they understand interactions. And if they don't understand the interaction, it's like I don't know. And that might be dangerous. More often than not, they'll tell you don't take that because we don't know the interaction, right. And you could look further you could look for a naturopath who maybe is more up to date on herbs and vitamins and minerals and nutrition supplementation. There are definitely specialists out there. So just first, educate yourself, know what's actually happening in your body know what's happening in your blood. And don't just assume because you're experiencing a kind of as what you would call a symptom, like fatigue, for instance, that taking the supplement is going to fix that you've got to have the data first so you stay safe. I remember when I first started studying at the metabolic Training Institute of Health with Dr. Nation winters, hearing all of this about iron and calcium. I didn't know nobody had ever told me this. I didn't read about this. And so I went and I looked at the supplements I was taking and I had to get some of those out of my routine and find a doctor who knew how to work with the supplements before I went back to that supplement plan or before I even started a brand new supplement plan. So I really truly believe that's very important. And even though I know that calcium and iron are two big names and big players when it comes to women's health and to just over Are all health, super important that we don't underestimate the power of these minerals, right? The power of any kind of supplementation, because your safety is always the most important thing. And, again, we're not cancer experts. So how would you know that something like calcium or iron could fuel cancer growth? And when you hear that, you know, I don't want you to get scared and go run in the other direction and think, Oh, don't take anything or don't eat anything that has calcium or iron in it. No, we need these things to function and function optimally. But we just need to understand what we're doing before we start putting more of it into us. All right. I hope that helps. Hope that makes sense. I hope that helps you learn a little bit more about supporting your amazing body. And if you want to work with me, and dig deeper into the metabolic approach to health, you can come and find me at the breast cancer recovery coach.com I work with people one on one. And I have of course my amazing group membership which is the better than before breast cancer, life coaching membership, and then I also do metabolic health coaching. You can check that all out at my website and I'll talk to you again soon. Take care
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