Can herbal supplements make your breasts bigger? - News

Shape, Sept, 2003 by Sharon Cohen

If you're tempted to take herbal products that promise bigger breasts, you may be risking your health as well as wasting your money. Some of the ingredients--which include hops, black cohosh, dong quai (Chinese angelica), fennel, kava, saw palmetto and chaste-tree berry--may mimic estrogen. As a result, taking them long-term could, at least theoretically, increase breast-cancer risk, says Adriane Fugh-Berman, M.D., assistant clinical professor at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and a consultant on herbs and dietary supplements for the federal government.

Fugh-Berman points out that there's never been a published clinical trial of a bust-enhancing herbal product. What's more, there are no long-term safety data on any of these herbs, either alone or in combination. Kava, for one, has been linked to liver toxicity. "Even if the products did work, no cosmetic benefit is worth a potential health risk," Fugh-Berman says. "Women should work to increase their self-esteem, not their breast size." Her commentary was published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.--S.C.