Fourteen Simple Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Risk for Breast Cancer
1. Increase your consumption of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.
2. Avoid using any pesticides or chemical sprays in your home. Try to avoid new carpet.
3. Avoid drinking tap water.
4. Decrease alcohol consumption.
5. Start an exercise program.
6. Increase consumption of organic whole grains and fiber.
7. Decrease meat, poultry and fish consumption.
8. Stop smoking.
9. Increase consumption of phytoestrogens from organic sources.
10. Decrease or stop consumption of processed foods.
11. Avoid trans-fatty acids found in margarine and some vegetable shortenings.
12. Take two capsules of organic flaxseed oil daily or just add a teaspoon of flaxseed oil to your daily organic salad.
13. If you are pregnant definitely breast feed.
14. Gets lots of sunshine as breast cancer is less prevalent in areas where there is ample sunlight unobscured by fog or smog.
Discussion:
As a retired diagnostic radiologist who read way too many mammograms I am excited because I finally have a path to try to connect to so many women who are having and have had mammograms.I was always chagrined since we would really torture and radiate many breasts but it was as if these breasts were not connected to a human type person. It bothered me that so many mammography programs make no effort at all to educate their clientele about what "they can do" to reduce their risks of breast cancer. I would suggest to the directors of these programs that we try to educate the patients and their response was 100% predictable. They would always first deny the relationship between diet and breast cancer and then add that their patients would not listen anyway.
Increasing your consumption of fresh organic fruits and vegetables has been shown to reduce the risk for breast cancer.
"There is strong evidence from epidemiologic studies that eating more fruits and vegetables decreases a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. This conclusion is strengthened by the similar results obtained from animal studies and experiments using isolated breast cells." Quoted from the Cornell University Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors. They go on to recommend uncooked fruits and vegetables. The reason for this is the heating damages some of the beneficial nutrients in the fruits and vegetables. Carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli and spinach top the list for being most protective. The Cornell study however does not stress the fact that these need to be "organic." Non-organic commercial fruits and vegetables besides being largely nutritionally bereft are also heavily sprayed with a wide variety of toxins.
The relationship between pesticides and other toxic chemicals such as benzene and toluene and cancer has long been established. There are better ways to rid your house of undesired guests than using chemical sprays. It sounds difficult but even if you can't get rid of all your pests you will live a longer and healthier life if you refrain from spraying. New carpet is another source of extremely toxic chemicals that "off gas" for at least a year or so after it is installed. Try to avoid new carpet especially in children's rooms.
Avoid tap water unless you live either in Lake Tahoe or Ithaca, New York. The tap water here in Tucson is CAP water that travels in an open trough from the Colorado River. It is loaded with fungicides / herbicides not to mention all the chlorine added once it gets here. While bottled or filtered water may not be perfect,you will considerably reduce your risk for any cancer by avoiding most tap water.
There is a little debate about the link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. However, the consumption of any simple sugars such as occur in most alcoholic beverages is associated with decreased T-cell mobility and thus some immune compromise. I still have an occasional beer but that is the only sugar I ingest. The general consensus however, is that it is best to reduce alcoholic beverage consumption as much as possible.
Exercise has been proven in multiple studies to enhance the immune system. In order to be beneficial I would recommend thirty minutes at least three times a week. This should be exercise that elevates the heart rate and keeps it there for the thirty minutes. Running is good if you are not biomechanically impaired. Cycling and swimming are also good alternative and or exercise machines.
Increased consumption of organic grains and fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Decrease your meat, fish, poultry and dairy consumption. Animal protein has been linked to all the big three killers in this country as well as osteoporosis. For more on this see the "China Study" by T. Colin Campbell and "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins. Stop smoking is really a "no brainer" here. Smoking is associatedwith a variety of cancers and there is now strong evidence that cancer of the breast is one of them.
Consume more phytoestrogens from soy products like tofu. "Women with diets rich in phytoestrogens also excrete more estrogens into their urine, and have lower blood estrogen levels. Some studies have shown that women with a diet rich in phytoestrogens have longer, and hence fewer, menstrual cycles. All of these factors may contribute to reduced breast cancer risk. " This quote from the Cornell University Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors. Please be sure that any soy products you consume are organic.
In conclusion there are many ways to reduce your chances of breast cancer. I have presented the above from a more subtle point of view. When my wife (now ex-wife) developed a lesion in her left breast back in 1995 we put her on an organic vegan diet. Soon we cut out all sugar and increased her running mileage. She still has her left breast although there is still some skin retraction. My good friend and world class flamenco dancer Carmen Heredia died in her early forties from breast cancer and its treatment. Best not to get breast cancer at all.
For more information on the relationship between diet, health and exercise please go to: http://www.drmericle.com
For more information on cooking and food preparation without animal products please go to: http://www.drmericle.com/fscook3c.html
Copyright J. Mericle M.D. 2004 All Rights Reserved
http://www.DrMericle.com is devoted to achieving optimal health and peak performance through diet and lifestyle change. Dr. Mericle brings together a unique blend of formal medical education, 29 marathons, 3 Hawaii Ironman competitions and a lot of practical real life experience.
Latest News
 WNCT | New Tool in the Early Detection of Breast Cancer MarketWatch - ... 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Avie Products today announced the introduction of a unique new product in the fight against breast cancer called "Cue. ... Breast Cancer Awareness Ads From Around The World Synchronized swimmers fundraise for breast cancer Push for breast cancer awareness |
 SmartAboutHealth | Caffeine probably doesn't influence breast cancer risk Los Angeles Times, CA - Heavy caffeine intake and the risk of breast cancer is a complex topic. Previous studies suggest that women who drink a lot of coffee have more symptoms of ... A head-to-toe look at breast cancer's real effects Younger Breast Cancer Survivors Risk Disease in Other Breast Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Facts |
 TopNews | Stronger Together: The Mohawk Group Supports Breast Cancer ... MarketWatch - All proceeds will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and advocates, and longtime partner ... Video: Race For The Cure Goes To Africa Postal to go pink to support breast cancer awareness Student council to raise funds to benefit cancer research |
 AFP | Nicotine Linked To Breast Cancer Growth And Spread, Study Suggests Science Daily (press release) - ... especially on the metastatic process of breast cancer," said lead author Chang Yan Chen, Ph.D., MD, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. ... Nicotine linked to breast cancer: study Nicotine May Link Second-Hand Smoking to Breast Cancer Geron’s GRN163L Sensitizes Resistant Breast Cancer Cells to ... |
Young Women Diagnosed with Early-Stage Breast Cancer More Likely ... MarketWatch - According to Dr. Margenthaler, treating young women with breast cancer is something of a subspecialty and is a great personal interest, as many of her ... Many still avoiding annual mammograms |
 TopNews | First Coast Oncology Offers First and Only AccuBoost Breast Cancer ... MarketWatch - The AccuBoost system is designed to treat breast cancer and is an image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) technique that uses high-dose radiation (HDR) ... "Breast cancer made me selfish person, Sheryl Crow |
 Voice of America | Birth Size Linked To Women's Breast Cancer Risk Voice of America - Specifically, they hypothesized that women exposed to high levels of hormones when their mothers were pregnant might have a higher risk for breast cancer as ... Unsung sheroes: Cancer survivors share testimony - in God they trust |
Mom endures cancer treatment in hopes daughter won't have to Baltimore Sun, United States - All of this comes over the next eight days in July, a carefully scripted routine of the breast cancer vaccine trial she has been enrolled in since April. ... Peggy Murphy put her faith in an experimental breast cancer ... The characters: Dr. Emens and her patients |
Avon Foundation & US State Department Convened International Forum ... MarketWatch - The Avon Foundation and the US Department of State announced today their partnership to strengthen the global fight against breast cancer at the 2008 Breast ... |
 Wall Street Journal Blogs | For the under-45 set, breast cancer is much harder to beat MiamiHerald.com, FL - She had no family history of breast cancer and a mammogram had given her a clean bill of health. A month later, however, the biopsy told a different story. ... Illinois Medicaid program to cover genetic test for breast cancer Ill. Medicaid To Cover Testing For Genes That Increase Risk For ... 'Gossip Girl' Writer, Producer Removes Breasts to Prevent Cancer |
Resources
-
Natural Cancer Treatments
Cure Cancer naturally. Over 350 natural Cancer treatments for Breast Cancer, prostate Cancer, lung Cancer, colon Cancer, skin Cancer, and every other type of Cancer. And over 2,000 testimonials that prove the treatments work!