lump, breast, breast lump, benign, benign lump, abstention, surgery, abstain, coffee, tea, black tea, chocolate, dark chocolate, traute klein, biogardener

Strict abstention from caffeine, including in chocolate, dissolved the benign lump in my breast in 6 weeks. A Lump in My Breast I was aware of the lump in my left breast for years. That was years ago at a time before anyone talked about breast self-examination and before physicians checked our breasts for lumps routinely. I only found out that I had the lump because it hurt, not just to the touch, but constantly. I finally asked my family physician about it. He insisted that I must have injured my breast by falling on something. I was not convinced by his explanation, because I would have remembered the occurrence of such a painful injury. An x-ray revealed that the lump was not malignant. That was good news. It did, however, bother me constantly, and I was scheduled to have it removed surgically. A Solution from a Newspaper Advice Column Two months before the scheduled surgery, I stumbled across a physician's advice column in the Winnipeg Tribune, one of our daily newspapers. The physician connected caffeine with benign breast lumps and urged abstention as a cure. I was as unconvinced by that theory as by that of the injury, because I had not drunk coffee or black tea for years, ever since I was told that I was a menace on the road after one single cup of coffee. That had been enough incentive for me to swear off both of these caffeinated drinks forever. I did, however, enjoy the odd piece of good German dark chocolate. The caffeine in chocolate and green tea appears to be in a different chemical form, because neither of them have any noticeable effect on me. I certainly have no problem falling asleep immediately after eating chocolate. Nevertheless, as a last resort I could see no harm in putting the advice in the physician's column to the test. I strictly refrained from ingesting any and all forms of caffeine, including that delicious German dark chocolate. When I am convinced that something is bad for my health, I have no problem abstaining from it, no matter how good it tastes. Problem Solved Two weeks before the scheduled surgery and six weeks after the beginning of my experiment, I had a final pre-surgery checkup. The lump had vanished. The pain was gone. The surgery was cancelled. Both the lump and the pain had been with me for many years, and I felt a great relief. That was almost 30 years ago. I still abstain from caffeine, and I have no lumps in my breasts. Pain or no Pain I am adding this note in July 2001 after several inquiries from readers about how to tell the difference between malignant and benign breast lumps. If the medical profession knew the answer to this question, there would be no need for a biopsy. I have, however, read repeatedly that benign lumps are often painful and that malignant ones can go undetected because of the absense of pain. Please to not take this as a rule, but get any lump checked out immediately. Time is of the absolute importance in treating breast cancer. Links Breast Cancer Awareness The heartwarming story of a man who honors the memory of his daughter by promoting breast cancer awareness Don't fight the dandelions, eat them! Learn how to curb your chocolate cravings. Graphics in this article courtesy of Carol Sutton's Free Breast Cancer Awareness Graphics Downloads

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