(0:41) Welcome
Welcome back listeners to The Paleo View to episode 355!We are glad you are here!This week's topic is one that Stacy asked Sarah about long ago, and it has taken her that long to do the researchThere are a lot of myths around this topic, so this show is more of a myth-busting discussionBe warned listeners, Stacy and Sarah may agree to disagree on various points within this discussionThis show is sponsored by Butcher Box, one of The Paleo View' longtime partners on the podcastStacy and Sarah are so glad to have them back and look forward to telling listeners more about their productsYou can get $15 off your first order plus free bacon by visiting https://www.butcherbox.com/thepaleoview/The topic this week is wired bras, shapewear, and compression stockingsThis has been a blog post topic bubbling in Stacy's head for two yearsHowever, when Stacy started staying home and left her corporate job, she started wearing wired bras less often and made a statement regarding how she had lowered her risk of breast cancer - which wasn't a true statement, as addressed by her followersStacy thought it was a scientific fact because it is mentioned so often that wired bras increase your risk of breast cancerWhere Stacy thinks that Sarah and her will have some nuances on their discussion is on Shapewear because Stacy has personally worn body shapewear on almost a daily basis, which she found did have positive impactsSarah found that this was a challenging topic to researchTo ease the research process, Sarah divided the topic of compression garments into three main areasShapewearBrasCompression stockingsFrom here Sarah tried to look into what research has been done on each one of these individuallyTangent - corset wear and corset training can cause a lot of health issues, which has been known for a long time nowThis is a different thing because it is no longer a normal fashion anymoreShapewear today doesn't compare even close to the same level of compression that corsets did/doSo for today's discussion, corsets are not a part of the discussionStacy just wants to take a moment to honor Sarah's soapbox about women's appearancesStacy is living for that and is here for itThere is societal normalcy that you may want to participate in when it comes to wired bras and shapewearStacy lost a lot of weight and had a lot of sagging skin; her shapewear gave her comfort during a certain time in her journey(14:05) Research on Compression Garments
There is a difference between low-pressure compression garments vs. medium compression garmentsHigh pressure would be corset trainingThere is some science that separates out low pressure vs. medium pressure garmentsThere are some documented effects of shapewear, specifically with Gastroesophageal Reflux DiseaseThere have been studies comparing individuals wearing compression garments on the abdomen and those who experience rapid weight gain, as the symptoms are very similarWhat has come out of this research is a substantial increase in acid reflux, to the point where one paper showed a higher risk of hernias in the top of the stomachSo with abdominal compression, there is a doubling of the amount of reflux and a slowing down of reflux clearing after mealsThis particular study looked at people who already had GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) They were then studying the occurrence of reflux after a meal and showing that when these individuals had abdominal compression garments on they had twice the amount of reflux events, compared to not wearing anythingThere have been no studies looking at healthy people without a GERD diagnosis, looking to see if they wear a compression garment if they will develop acid reflux as wellIt is important to say that the science does not support the statement that wearing abdominal compression garments causes reflux If you do all of these diet and lifestyle things correct, it should mean that you don't have acid refluxWould compression wear cause acid reflux?There is no way to answer that question at this pointStacy notes that while the science might not be there (yet) that if one is wearing compression wear and is experiencing digestive issues, there may be symptoms to take personal note ofSarah noted that there are plenty of doctors who have been interviewed who have noted that they have seen increased IBS symptoms and urinary incontinence when patients wear compression garmentsSo while the science is not there, Sarah would definitely suggest experimenting with this if you wear tight compression garments and you experience these symptoms - try a week without them, and see what happensThere is another study that looked at the higher end of medium compression garments worn to control swelling and scar formation after having a tummy tuckThey weren't looking at women who have had an abdominoplasty, they were looking at this type of compression garment because of one of the risks associated with this surgery - deep vein thrombosis (DVT)They were looking to see if the DVT was related not to the surgery itself but to the compression garment worn after surgeryThey did see a more sluggish blood flow in the femoral vein when women were wearing that compression garmentIt was made worse by certain body positions that slowed down blood flowThere are other benefits and studies showing that if you discontinue wearing the compression garment before the scar is completely matured, that the scar can get much worseSo there are other reasons for this compression garmentSarah thought this was an interesting additional thing to look atThis is a much higher form of compression than what is normal for shapewear, but it does imply that there is an additional thing to think about for people with blood clotting disordersThere was another study that Sarah looked at that researched similar garments being worn for postpartum hemorrhage treatmentThis measured blood flow in the legs and showed no change, but they were focused on arteries and not veinsThere are 600 studies looking at different types of compression wear on exercise performance and muscle recoveryIt is worth noting that there are other therapeutic uses of compression garmentsAfter plastic surgeryVaricose vein managementWound healingLymphodemaScar managementNone of what Stacy and Sarah are discussing today is centered on these well established medical procedures that use compression garmentsThese are different situationsThere are trends and styles that mimic compression garments and let's be honest, they aren't fun(32:20) Bras and Cancer
Both Stacy and Sarah have heard claims, but never dove into the research to see if this statement was supported, that bra wearing (especially wired bras) was associated with an increased risk of breast cancerIt turns out that this urban legend originated from a paper from 1991 that was a fairly small studyThere was a nonstatistically significant trend towards increased breast cancer incidents with wired bra wearingThis is where understanding what statistical significance means is really helpfulThere was high variability in this study, so it is really hard to make average statements because your data is all over the placeThis 1991 paper, with low-quality data, became an urban legend that caused people to throw out their bras based on this fear factorThere was a really well-done study out of the Seattle area that looked at women with cancer and match controlsIt was a prospective studyThey looked at bra wearing habits and separated out all the different aspects of bra wearing to determine if there was any link between these aspects and breast cancer incidentsThey found absolutely zero linksThis was a 2016 study that conclusively showed that bra wearing does not increase cancer riskSarah did find a case study of a woman who developed Mondor's disease from wearing too tight of a braThis is something that was seen with a very high level of compressionThere are no concerns in regards to breast health when women are wearing normal well-feeling brasWe as consumers have to learn to look a little deeper(41:28) The Conclusive Science
Shapewear has this whole body image part of the conversationWhy are we feeling pressure to wear this stuff in the first place?But as Sarah was getting into the research on compression garments, what stood out and is very well studied is the benefits of compression stalkings in particular on athletic performanceThere has been a lot of studies showing a significant, although modest effect, in strength training athletes wearing compression stockings during and after working out can decrease delayed muscle soreness and improve muscle recoveryAny small impact that you can have on improving muscle recovery in strength training equals bigger gains, which is something strength training athletes are all aboutThere is also an effect on endurance athletesA lot of studies have shown that endurance athletes will also have better muscle recovery after trainingThere is also a small improvement in performance in endurance athletesMost of that research has been done on lower body compressionThere is a couple of studies who have started to look at upper body compression and the results are mixed at this point, there isn't enough dataThese studies essentially say that by applying some compression to the muscles you are allowing for things like lactic acid build up in the muscles to flush more efficiently and you are allowing the actual repair of muscle fibers to occur more efficientlyThere have been a few studies that have branched out into those who are not athletesOne that stood out to Sarah was looking at patients who had at least two cardiovascular disease risk factorsWhen they were wearing compression garments they fatigued more quicklyThis shows that studies done on athletes aren't always applicable to us "normal people"If you are an active person with a sport, playing with compression wear is interestingHowever, if you don't experience these results, it shouldn't come as a surprise as these studies show results in elite athletes(47:48) Closing Thoughts
Stacy thanked Sarah for always digging into the science and for being our honest voice and for holding us all accountable to the scientific truthSarah has the rule for herself that she won't write about or recommend or create resources around something just because it worked for herEvidence led has become her guiding point when creating resourcesShe really tries to understand the full body of scientific literatureSarah is much more interested in understanding the why's behind contradictory information and trying to form a detailed pictureInstead of trying to simplify everything as right or wrongThank you, listeners, for being here and for hanging tough!Sarah thinks Butcher Boxis the right stuffStep by step Butcher Boxlooks after your health from the farm to your plate by sending you a curated collection of high-quality meat to your door on a subscription basisThank you Butcher Boxfor sponsoring this show!If you want to get $15 off and free bacon you can go to https://www.butcherbox.com/thepaleoview/No coupon code required
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