Breast Cancer Awareness: 30 Tips

It's been a while...Sorry for the Gap.  But I'm baaacccckkk :).  So in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I decided I want to dedicate several days to posting awareness & prevention tips.  I'm also hoping to interview some survivors and feature their stories on my blog.  If you or a loved one is a Breast Cancer survivor please contact me here I would love to talk to and honor you!

Today's Tips come from http://www.breastcancerwellness.org/assets/30tips.pdf

• Tip # 1:

Eat fresh, organically grown fruits
and vegetables- especially cruciferous
vegetables every day.
These plants, particularly those in
the cruciferous family (broccoli, cauliflower,
cabbage, kale) are filled with a
variety of nutrients, vitamins, and plant
chemicals that act as powerful medicines
against breast cancer.
Tip # 2:
Eat organic whole grains every day.
Whole grains are rich in cancerfighting
antioxidants, vitamins, trace
minerals, fiber, and lignans.
Tip # 3:
Avoid all health-destroying fats. Consumer
health-promoting fats every day.
Saturated animal fats, trans fats,
partially hydrogenated fats, and hydrogenated
fats fuel breast cancer, wheras
healthy fats- especially omega-3 fatty
acids found in flaxseeds- offer protection.
Tip #4:
Eat 2-3 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds
every day.
Flaxseeds are the richest plant
source of omega-3 fatty acids, are high
fiber, and contain one hundred more
cancer-fighting lignans than any other
known edible plant.
Tip #5:
Eat soy-based whole-food products
several times a week.
Women who eat the most whole soy
foods, such as tofu, tempeh, and miso
have a 30 to 50 percent lower risk of
breast cancer.
Tip #6:
Eat Maitake mushrooms or take
them as a supplement.
Maitake mushrooms stimulate the
immune system, and stop tumors from
growing, cause them to shrink, and prevent
them from spreading to other areas
of the body.
Tip #7:
Drink green tea every day or take it
as a supplement.
Women who drink green tea have a
much lower risk of breast cancer and if
they get breast cancer, their chances of
surviving are much greater.
Tip #8:
Consume turmeric every day.
Turmeric, a potent antioxidant and
anti-inflammatory is considered the #1
anti-cancer spice.
Tip #9:
Eat at least one clove of garlic several
times a week.
Garlic is extremely high in antioxidants
and selenium, boosts the immune
system, lessens the formation of carcinogens
in the breast, prevents toxins from
damaging our DNA, and stops breast
tumors from growing and dividing.
Tip #10:
Include Wakame or Mekabu seaweed
in your diet.
Wakame and Mekabu seaweeds are
high in the mineral iodine, which research
shows is more effective at killing
breast cancer cells than many common
chemotherapeutic drugs.
Tip #11:
Take a vitamin supplement every day.
Certain vitamins, especially vitamin
B12, folate, vitamin D and vitamin E,
help to crush the growth of breast cancer.
Tip #12:
Get adequate amounts of selenium
every day.
As little as 200 micrograms (mcg) a
day of this antioxidant lowers your risk
of breast cancer and most other types of
cancer by 50 percent.
Tip #13:
If you are over age thirty-five, take
supplemental coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)
every day.
CoQ10 is a natural vitamin-like
substance and powerful antioxidant that
is essential for the production of energy
in our cells. It also stops the growth of
breast cancer and dramatically shrinks
tumors.
Tip #14:
Take an herbal anti-inflammatory
several times a week.
Research shows that women who
take an anti-inflammatory an average of
three times a week, especially one that
inhibits the COX-2 enzyme, have a 50
percent lower risk of breast cancer.
Tip #15:
Nix red meat.
Women who eat the most red meat
have an 88 to 330 percent higher risk of
breast cancer.
Tip #16:
Avoid refined sugar- use a natural
sweetener such as Stevia instead.
Sugar is cancer’s favorite food. The
more of it you eat, the faster the cancer
will grow.
Tip #17:
Keep your body-fat low.
Fat cells manufacture estrogen,
notably after menopaumenopausal
breast cancers.
Tip #18:
Rarely, if ever, drink alcohol.
Even half a glass of alcohol a day
increases your risk of breast cancer, so
it’s best to avoid this dangerous beverage
completely.
30 Tips to Lower Your Risk of
Breast Cancer by Christine Horner, MD
Tip #19:
Never smoke tobacco products.
Research shows that women who
smoke or inhale passive smoke have as
much as a 60 percent increased risk of
breast cancer.
Tip #20:
Don’t take birth control pills or hormone
replacement therapy (HRT), except
in rare circumstances determined by
your doctor and only for a brief time.
Long-term use of birth control pills
has been shown to increase the risk of
breast cancer. HRT increases the risk of
heart disease, strokes, blood clots, gallbladder
disease, endometrial cancer, ovarian
cancer and invasive breast cancer.
Tip #21:
Use only nontoxic cleaning products
in your home and office.
Cleaning supplies are almost always
filed with health-damaging chemicals,
so use nontoxic cleaning instead.
Tip # 22:
Toxins are everywhere--in your water,
clothing, furnishings, construction
materials, dry cleaning, personal care
products, lawn and garden products,
insect repellant, flea collars, paints,
wallpaper, tile, particleboard. Assume
that everything is toxic unless it is labeled
otherwise and choose its nontoxic
solution instead.
Tip #23:
Take a week or two, once or twice a
year, to purify your body.
Detoxing works! Just one five-day series
of the Ayurvedic purification procedures
known as panchakarma has been
shown to cut your load of toxins in half.
Tip # 24:
Go to bed by 10:00 p.m. and get up
before 6:00 a.m.
Melatonin, the sleep hormone, is a
powerful antioxidant that arrests and
deters breast cancer in many ways.
Staying up past 10:00 p.m., alcohol and
electromagnetic fields (EMF’s) cause
melatonin levels to drop.
Tip #25:
Minimize your exposure to electromagnetic
fields (EMF’s).
All electrical appliances and wires
produce breast cancer-promoting EMF’s -
all you have to do is stand just a few feet
away from them to avoid them. Hair dyers
produce more EMF’s than any other
household appliance, so use a low EMF
hairdryer instead (www.lowemf.com).
Tip # 26:
Embrace thirty minutes of aerobic
activity every day.
Just thirty minutes of aerobic activity
three to five times a week can lower
your risk of breast cancer by 30 to 50
percent.
Tip #27:
Practice a stress-reducing meditation
every day.
Stress has been found to contribute
to about 90% of all illnesses, including
breast cancer. Research shows that the
daily practice of meditation, called Transcendental
Meditation or TM can lower
your risk of all diseases by as much as
50 percent.
Tip #28:
Practice stress-reducing breathing
techniques every day.
The regular practice of special breathing
exercises called pranayama improves
stress-hormone balance, blood pressure,
and heart rate, and lowers cholesterol.
Tip #29:
Take an herbal adaptagen every day
to lower your body’s response to stress.
Certain herbs called adaptogens,
for example ginseng, ashwagandha and
holy basil lower your body’s response to
stress.
Tip #30:
Take care of your needs:
Research shows that women with
breast cancer tend to give too much at
the expense of their own needs. So take
care of your needs first, stay healthy, and
then you’ll have more to offer others.