Natural supplements for breast enhancement

DEFINITION: The use of herbs and supplements, phytoestrogen, and progesterone to increase breast size.

PRINCIPAL PROPOSED USE: Increasing breast size

Overview

Each year, over 300,000 women in the United States utilize surgery to increase their breast size, and this number increase each year. Many other women purchase natural products touted to achieve the same goal without surgery. However, there is no meaningful scientific evidence that these herbs and supplements have this effect and no theoretical evidence to suppose that they would.

Clinically Proven Products

Many manufacturers of breast enhancement products claim that their treatments are clinically proven. A typical Internet site may quote a study that states something like, “One hundred women were given this product, and after six months, their breast size increased by 10 percent!” However, while this may sound promising, it shows nothing.

The problem lies in a deeply rooted feature of human perception: when people expect to observe something, they usually do observe it, whether or not it actually occurred. In the preceding hypothetical breast enhancement study, researchers would find it almost impossible not to “discover” an improvement. Measurement of breast size is an inexact art that allows for considerable leeway. Human nature would inevitably incline researchers to err on the side of finding improvement when they make their measurements at the end of the study. This would be the case even if the researchers were completely impartial, and it is even more of a problem if they are paid by the product’s manufacturer (which is usually the case).

To avoid this problem, medical researchers use a special type of study: the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. In these trials, some participants receive the actual treatment, others receive fake treatment, and neither the participants nor the researchers know which is which (until the study is over). When performed correctly, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies eliminate the influence of bias (and other confounding factors). For this reason, they are the accepted source of reliable knowledge regarding medical treatments.

There are no published double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of breast enhancement products. Until breast enhancement products are subjected to this form of study, it is impossible to take any of them as evidence-based. In lieu of clinical evidence, one might be encouraged to try breast enhancement products if they had a reasonable theoretical likelihood of increasing breast size. However, these products fall short.

There are three basic categories of herbs and supplements found in breast enhancement products: phytoestrogens, herbs and supplements that raise progesterone levels, and miscellaneous herbs and supplements that have no real relationship to breast enhancement.

Phytoestrogens. The hormone estrogen, if taken in high enough doses, increases breast size by stimulating breast tissue growth. However, it is not safe to use estrogen in this way because when breast cells are stimulated to grow, they are more likely to turn cancerous. A woman who takes enough estrogen to enlarge her breasts will greatly increase her risk of breast cancer.

Many herbs and supplements provided in breast enhancement products are included in these products because they act somewhat like estrogen in the body. These substances are called phytoestrogens, meaning “plant-based estrogens,” and include alfalfa, fennel, flaxseed, hops, saw palmetto, pueraria mirifica isoflavones, licorice, lignans, red clover, sage, soy, and verbena. Other herbs and supplements that are not phytoestrogens but are widely promoted as if they were are added to breast enhancement products. These include black cohosh, chasteberry, dong quai, ginseng, and Mexican yam. Black cohosh may have estrogen-like actions in some parts of the body, but probably not in breast tissue; the other herbs are probably not phytoestrogenic.

According to manufacturers of breast enhancement products, phytoestrogens can enlarge the breasts like estrogen, but without the user incurring estrogen’s risks. There are several problems with this hypothesis. Perhaps the most important is that phytoestrogens generally decrease the body's estrogen-related functions rather than increase them. They do so because natural human estrogen exerts its effects on the body by latching on to special sites on cells called estrogen receptors. Phytoestrogens also latch on to estrogen receptors. However, when they do so, they only produce a partial effect. In addition, they block the ability of real estrogen to bind to those receptors. The net impact on women of menstrual age is to reduce the action of estrogen. This may be a beneficial effect because, in theory, it could decrease a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer. However, the same line of reasoning suggests that phytoestrogens should decrease breast size, not increase it. Furthermore, studies indicate that many breast enhancement products do not even contain substantial amounts of phytoestrogens.

In any case, if a breast enhancement product were to contain a powerful phytoestrogen in sufficient quantities to actually stimulate the growth of breast cells, it would also increase the risk of breast cancer. A person cannot get one effect without the other. The measurement of estrogenic breast cell stimulation is one way of determining the breast cancer risk posed by a substance under study, whether it is a supplement or an environmental contaminant. Thus, there is no particular reason to believe that phytoestrogens can enhance breast size or, if they did, that they would produce such an effect safely.

Raising progesterone levels. Other constituents of breast enhancement products are used because of their supposed effect on the hormone progesterone. This approach does have a certain logic to it. When taken as a pill, progesterone increases breast size and is fairly safe. However, it does so by stimulating the growth and development of milk-producing cells, an effect that most non-nursing women wish to avoid.

The herb chasteberry, added to breast enhancement products, might increase progesterone levels in some women. However, there is no evidence that it increases breast size. Mexican yam is another herb added to breast enhancement products as a source of progesterone, which does not raise levels of progesterone. The widespread belief that it does so is based on a misconception.

Other herbs and supplements. Numerous herbs and supplements are added to breast enhancement formulas merely on the basis that they have been used for some condition that affects women. Some of the more commonly mentioned include damiana (an unproven herbal treatment for sexual dysfunction in women), saw palmetto (an unproven herbal treatment for problems with nursing), fish oil (possibly helpful for painful menstruation), and calcium (probably helpful for premenstrual syndrome), among literally hundreds of others. However, there is no reason to believe that an herb or supplement used to treat an unrelated women’s health condition will enhance breast size.

Breast size is determined through genetics and while weight gain, pregnancy, and nursing can increase breast size, most natural supplements remain dubious. Further, many of the natural remedies suggested for improving the size of breasts interfere with blood thinning medications such as warfarin, so caution is advised. Natural ways to increase breast size, according to cosmetic surgeons, include wearing a supportive bra, breast massage, chest exercises, and balancing hormones.

Bibliography

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Fugh-Berman, A. "'Bust Enhancing' Herbal Products." Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 101, 2003, pp. 1345-1349.

Kurzer, M. S. "Phytoestrogen Supplement Use by Women." Journal of Nutrition, vol. 133, 2003, pp. 1983-1986.

"Naturally Enhance Breast Size Without Surgery." RAO Plastic Surgery, raoplasticsurgery.com/natural-ways-to-enhance-breast-size-without-surgery. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

Patisaul, H. B., and W. Jefferson. "The Pros and Cons of Phytoestrogens." Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, vol. 31, 2010, pp. 400-419.

Pruthi, Sandhya. "Natural Breast Enhancement Supplements Work?" Mayo Clinic, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/expert-answers/natural-breast-enhancement/faq-20057834. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.

Setchell, K. D., et al. "Bioavailability of Pure Isoflavones in Healthy Humans and Analysis of Commercial Soy Isoflavone Supplements." Journal of Nutrition, vol. 131, 2001, pp. 362-375.

Warwick, Kathy W. "Possible to Increase Breast Size with Diet? Options That Work." Healthline, 16 July 2020, www.healthline.com/health/can-you-increase-your-breast-size-by-eating-certain-foods. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.