Our culture reveres the breast as a symbol of femininity, and small breasted women are often quick to surgically remedy their less than ample bosoms. But as much as we like a perfect figure, we are also more health conscious than ever. So it is natural to wonder if certain foods can help a woman gain breast tissue. To know what results you can realistically expect from breast-enhancing foods, you need to understand what hormone systems affect breast growth and how foods might mimic these hormones.
Time Frame
Breasts grow most dramatically in puberty. The pituitary gland sends hormones to the ovaries causing them to increase estrogen production. At the same time, pituitary hormones also cause the body to be especially receptive to increased estrogen levels, thus triggering sexual maturation. By the end of puberty, a young woman will have attained most of her full height, her reproductive organs will have matured and her secondary sex characteristics including breasts and body hair will be apparent.
Size
As puberty ends, a young woman can guage fairly accurately whether she'll have large or small breasts. Eating specific foods during puberty will not affect a woman's genetic predisposition to be large or small breasted. A well balanced diet with enough calories to allow for growth, but not so many as to cause unhealthy weight gain, is the best way to ensure healthy maturation of the body and development of breast tissue.
Function
Though the hormonal phenomenon of puberty cannot be duplicated later in life, other hormonal events can affect breast size somewhat. An increase in estrogen during pregnancy may increase breast tissue size. Estrogen decrease during menopause can cause breast tissue to shrink. For most women, these changes will not be as noticeable as initial breast growth during puberty.
Effects
Breast size can also increase with weight gain, and this accounts for some breast size increase during pregnancy. But since many women are not genetically predisposed to gain fat in the breast area, gaining weight by eating a lot of food is usually an unsatisfactory method of increasing breast size. Besides, subsequently losing weight almost always causes the breasts to revert to their normal volume. So once again, our thoughts turn to how specific foods might increase breast tissue.
Identification
Foods that contain estrogen like chemicals, called phytoestrogens, can affect breast tissue almost the same way that natural hormones do during pregnancy. In sufficient quantities, phytoestrogens will all cause breast tissue swelling and tenderness. Some foods that are noted for their high phytoestrogen content are soy foods, flax seeds and sesame seeds. Garlic, sweet potatoes, humus, pomegranates and olive oil contain phytoestrogens too, but in lesser amounts. Herbal supplements containing saw palmetto, dong quai, red clover and wild yam are also high in phytoestrogens.
Considerations
Just as with the estrogen that naturally occurs in the body, when the phytoestrogens are discontinued, the breast tissue will return to normal size. Also, foods high in phytoestrogens can pose the same health risks as synthetic estrogen supplements. So it is important to remember that, though phytoestrogens are natural, they are not necessarily safer than pills. In particular, women at risk for or with a history of breast cancer or heart disease should not deliberately increase their intake of phytoestrogens without consulting a doctor familiar with their health history.
