Drop a bra size without going under the knife

Post-menopause, millions of women gain a cup size they just can’t shift. But simple changes to what you eat can target your bust — with dramatic results

BIGGER is officially no longer better when it comes to bosoms. The Triumph Female Confidence Report found that nearly half of women want smaller breasts, and with breast reduction operations rising by 13 per cent worldwide last year, it’s clear we really are bored of the bountiful bust. And no more so than after the age of 50.

The average Irish bust is growing (from 36C to a generous 36DD) but, at a point in life when they’d expect dropping hormone levels to see their cup size reducing, an increasing number of women are finding their busts are bigger than ever.

One study of postmenopausal women f ound t hat a fifth experienced an increase in breast size after menopause. The most common linking factor is weight gain: fat makes up the majority of breast tissue.

Of course this means you can enjoy the cleavage of your dreams but many women l ament the encumberance — everything bounces, clothes no longer fit, and there’s something rather matronly about a big bosom.

As any dieter knows, slimming your bust without surgery isn’t as simple as eating less and exercising more. The fat in your breasts is controlled by your hormones, and this can be particularly resistant to dieting.

But by making a few lifestyle adjustments, it IS possible to ensure your chest toes the line like the rest of your body. Here, we show you how...

A QUESTION OF HORMONES

BREAST size is largely determined by genetics and body fat (the more you have, the larger they are likely to be) but hormones play an important part too, particularly in middle age. From the age of 40 onwards, a woman’s oestrogen levels will start to fluctuate wildly — sometimes dropping dramatically, other times spiking high as the body struggles to keep things on an even keel.

In theory, less oestrogen should mean a smaller bust as milkproducing glands shrink and the body accepts its child-rearing days are over. Certainly, some women notice their breasts shrink once they reach menopause.

But oestrogen levels are (or should be) counter-balanced by the hormone progesterone, and progesterone levels can drop off 120 times faster than oestrogen. This means you can find yourself in what medics call ‘oestrogen dominance’, which can keep the breasts large and full, even as overall oestrogen levels drop.

Oestrogen and fat work very closely at this stage in a woman’s life, says dietitian Debra Waterhouse. She says dominant oestrogen acts as a ‘fat magnet’ locking it in prime areas such as the breasts and abdomen.

In turn, these f at cells can expand and produce oestrogen of their own, as your body attempts to bolster its generally diminishing supply.

‘At menopause your fat cells grow larger and start producing oestrogen for you [to help balance moods and enhance your wellbeing],’ says Debra.

Evolution plays a starring role here. Ensuring you have a good, resilient fat supply is the body’s way of helping you survive a potential famine, while oestrogen plays a role in protecting your bones and heart. But precisely because Mother Nature thinks those expanded fat cells are vital f or your survival, t hey are extremely resistant to dieting.

In fact, your body strives to hold on to this oestrogen-producing fat for as long as possible.

What’s more, in a vicious cycle, this oestrogenic f atty tissue actually makes the body better at storing even more fat.

Although doctors don’t know exactly how this happens, one theory is that oestrogen reduces the body’s ability to process and metabolise fatty acids after a meal, making it more likely to remain in your system and be deposited in fat stores.

BOOB-BUSTING DIET PLAN

IF YOU want to reduce the size of your bust, cutting out carbs, fasting or surviving on cabbage soup is unlikely to do it. Your diet and lifestyle need to focus on balancing those errant hormones and helping your body metabolise excess oestrogen to break, or at least weaken, that fat/oestrogen/ fat cycle.

Max Tomlinson, a naturopath and author of Target Your Fat Spots: How To Banish Your Bulges, has spent 30 years running a successful Fat Spot Reduction programme at his London clinic, targeting what he calls the ‘weird, disproportionate fat deposits’ that frustrate so many of his clients.

He is convinced that by correcting your personal hormonal imbalance through targeted diet, exercise, supplements and lifestyle changes, you can shift those stub- born fat spots and reduce the size of your bust. ‘It’s all about shipping excess oestrogen out of the diet,’ he says.

Tom linson recommends adopting a Mediterranean- style eating plan( lots of fruit, vegetables, fish, a little meat, healthy oils, but no sugar or junk food and only a little alcohol) and combining this with a few highly targeted breast-shrinking adjustments.

Quit the cow’s milk

DAIRY products, particularly milk, can be highly oestrogenic, says Tomlinson. He says milk, often taken from cows milked throughout pregnancy when their hormone levels are very high, is packed with

oestrogen. He recommends switching to almond milk or coconut milk instead. He suggests avoiding soya milk because it may contain plant oestrogen, which can unbalance erratic hormones.

Eat all your vegetables raw

ENSURE green vegetables fill half your plate at lunch and dinner. ‘Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage are rich in a chemical compound called dindolylmethane, which helps the body metabolise excess oestrogen,’ he says. So eat as much asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, Brussels sprouts, celery, beetroot, kale, radishes and turnips as you can.

Time to up your ‘calcium D’ intake

ENJOY legumes ( chickpeas, lentils, beans) and stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums and cherries), which are rich in a compound called calcium D glucarate that helps to inhibit the action of enzymes that reduce the impact of oestrogen on breast tissue.

Choose citrus fruit

CITRUS fruits contain a compound called d-limonene, another substance shown to help the body break down and remove excess oestrogen. So add oranges, lemons and limes to your grocery list.

Stick to brown bread

FILL up on wholegrains such as wholemeal bread, barley, couscous, and brown rice to boost your intake of insoluble fibre, which binds itself to extra oestrogen in the digestive tract and carries it out. It’s also found i n seeds, carrots, cucumbers, courgettes, celery and tomatoes.

Sprinkle seeds on your salads

SPRINKLE 2 to 3 tablespoons of ground linseeds or sesame seeds onto salads or blend into smoothies. The friendly bacteria in our intestines convert these foods into substances with weak oestrogenlike activity. According to U.S. hormone specialist Dr C. W. Randolph, when the body is oestrogen dominant, these ‘new’ plant oestrogens bind to your body’s oestrogen receptors, blocking them and thereby reducing human oestrogen activity.

Sorry, wine’s a no-no

CUT back on sugars (including alcohol). Sugar in the diet raises blood sugar levels, which stimulates the release of the hormone insulin.

Too much insulin encourages your body to store fat and makes it more difficult to break down fat stores when you try to lose weight. Insulin also interferes with the delicate balance of oestrogen and progesterone.

Alcohol itself can be equally damaging. Nutritional specialist Marilyn Glenville says: ‘Alcohol has a toxic effect on liver function, which means it stops the liver effectively breaking down oestrogen and other hormones — this means they can end up being re-circulated around the body and perhaps reabsorbed.’

Ditch the junk food

HIGHLY processed foods may contain pesticides, herbicides and/ or growth hormones, which can act as ‘ hormone disrupters’ according to weight loss expert Janey Holiday.

‘These substances, which aren’t naturally found in the body, can interfere with the production, release, transportation, metabolism, binding, action or elimination of the body’s natural hormones,’ she says.

BOOB-BUSTING EXERCISE PLAN

THE naturopath Max Tomlinson recommends an exercise regime to help keep a lid on body fat.

He says the best plan is to pick an activity you can do every day that raises your heart rate for an extended period — walk, swim, cycle .‘ Invest in a heart-rate monitor and check your heart rate is raised, but under 140 beats per minute, which put sit in the optimum fat-burning zone,’ he says. In addition to this, he suggests a programme of upperbody workouts to keep chest muscles strong and boobs perky.

‘When you hit middle age your muscle structure can lose integrity and breasts can drop, but exercises to build pectorals and pull the shoulder blades back can help your body cope with the weight and keep your bust elevated,’ he says.

Dietitian Debra Waterhouse, agrees. ‘It takes the right combination of exercise to make your menopausal fat cells fit and encourage them to give up stored fat,’ she says.

‘Aerobic exercise will manufacture the fat- releasing enzymes that trigger the emptying of fat into your blood stream, and strength training will speed up your metabolism and condition your muscles to burn up that released fat.’

And if all else fails, remember: big-breasted women are brighter. You may long for a smaller bust, but take heart from the news that, contrary to popular belief, large-breasted women actually have higher intelligence than the less-endowed.

A 2011 University of Chicago study found women with larger breasts scored an average of ten points higher than other women in IQ tests.

Researchers believe oestrogen holds the key, but natural selection could play a part.

If intelligent men choose larger-breasted women, they ensure their offspring inherit a larger cup size (as well as brains).