One nutritional supplement that is been touted to improve the ratio is indole-3-carbinole (I3C). However, I’ve recently learned that the safety claims about I3C may not be true. In fact, this popular supplement may have significant and hidden dangers. You need to know about it is problems.
I3C does improve the 2 to 16 ratio by generating more beneficial 2-hydroxy estrogen. However, that is not where the trouble lies.
I3C also causes your body to produce a third estrogen byproduct called 4-hydroxy estrogen. This byproduct is definitely one of the bad guys. In fact, it could be the worst! Its the most toxic of the estrogen byproducts. Far more toxic than 16-hydroxy estrogen.
This 4-hydroxy estrogen prevents cells from dying when they become abnormal. Such cells can further degenerate to cancer. In fact, 4-hydroxy estrogen can sit in one spot and spin out massive amounts of highly inflammatory and toxic free-radicals. This is possibly why women get more autoimmune disease than men (they have more estrogen to convert to 4-hydroxy estrogen).
In this way, I3C acts very similar to the xenobiotics mentioned earlier. We know that these man-made poisons often have a super hormone-like impact on sensitive tissues, such as in the breast, prostate, or uterus. If these toxins were left alone by your body, they might not be so bad. But when your body naturally tries to get rid of them, it has to produce an enzyme that attempts to detoxify the poisons. However, this same enzyme also generates large amounts of 4-hydroxy estrogen.
An example of how this works is the trouble we had with estrogen-loaded oral contraceptives when they came on the market many years ago. Shortly after they first appeared, we saw a lot of women smokers suffer from unexpected blood clots. The excess estrogen from the contraceptives coupled with the smoke (man-made poison) caused these womens bodies to create the enzyme that produces 4-hydroxy estrogen. The combination of estrogen and smoke created a time bomb in their bodies.
Whether you are a man or woman, taking I3C could create the exact same problem — too much 4-hydroxy estrogen. The resulting inflammation will greatly increase your risk of developing vascular or other problems.
And conventional medicine does not understand the problem and does not have a clue about treatment. But there is a lot you can do about it.
Action to Take: Obviously, if you have been using I3C, you have cause for concern. That is why I am now telling all my patients (and readers) to stop using it. Yes, I3C can be used in specific circumstances. The best use of I3C is to fight the papilloma virus, which causes growths on the larynx, and genital and skin warts. That is probably why I3C is so successful in treating abnormal growths in the cervix. Cancer of the cervix is now accepted to be a venereal disease caused by HPV (human papilloma virus).
Studies show you need 300-400 mg of I3C daily to change estrogen to the 2-hydroxy form. But 300-400 mg of I3C increases your risk of developing 4-hydroxy estrogen and the health problems that come with it. So using it for any reason carries significant potential side effects.
Incidentally, you do not have to take just my word on I3C. I recently spoke with Dr. H. Leon Bradlow. He is the Rockefeller University scientist who discovered the 2/16 estrogen modulating effects of I3C some 15 years ago and is considered the foremost expert on the subject.
Dr. Bradlow took I3C himself at the time of his studies stating, I would not want to give any of my human subjects something I would not take myself. But I would not ever take it again with the latest information. I3C is an ‘at risk compound if taken long term. There is indisputable evidence that 4-hydroxy estrogen is a human carcinogen. 4-hydroxy estrogen spontaneously forms semiquinones, which can directly damage DNA…. Even years ago, the National Cancer Institute held up funding for I3C studies due to FDA concerns over it is safety.
Do we have all the evidence we need to say this supplement definitely causes disease? Probably not. But if you couple the information of Dr. Bradlow with the indisputable evidence that 4-hydroxy estrogen is a human carcinogen (of which I3C is a major producer), you have all the reason you need to avoid this supplement.
The good news is there is a supplement that prevents most of these unwanted estrogen effects. Its one of the most important supplements I’ve ever used. It has none of the negatives of I3C, all of the positives, and so much more. It can help prevent all hormone-related cancers, many heart problems, and many inflammatory diseases, including arthritis. In fact, it is a supplement that I consider a must take for everyone. And Ill tell you all about it in next months issue.
Ref: Toxicol Sci., 2001 December;64(2):162-8.