ZEN Bust-enhancing Supplements Increase Risk of Breast Cancer

Bust-enhancing dietary supplements that contain a naturally occurring toxin- Mycoestrogen zearalenone (ZEN) could increase a woman's risk of breast cancer, health experts have warned. Some women take these supplements to increase breast size.

ZEN is a toxic non-steroidal mycoestrogen produced by fungi that widely contaminates agricultural products, eliciting estrogenic responses by mimicking the female sex hormones. Previous studies have linked consumption of ZEN-fed animals and products with precocious puberty in young females, including premature breast development.

Consultant breast surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, Professor Ian Fentiman, said, "No clinical trials have been published on the use of potent estrogens like ZEN in bust-enhancing products and their use should be discouraged because of the lack of evidence of their long-term safety. Recently it has been suggested that some ZEN derivatives can increase the growth of hormone-dependent breast tumors."

In fact the European Union has banned using ZEN to fatten up cattle as the use of ZEN in animal feed has been associated with reproductive anomalies in livestock, like diminished fertility and infertility, reduced litter size and smaller offspring and negative effects on the reproductive organs.

The study will be published in the 'International Journal of Clinical Practice'.

Source: Medindia