We are often asked what a woman can do to minimize her risk of breast cancer. As you know by now, we base our recommendations on the latest scientific research and testing to determine each individuals next steps. I’ll recommend a couple tests at the end of this article if you are interested in learning more. However, there are a number of things every woman can do to improve breast health:
- Eat healthy. This is always on the top of the list, but most people have no idea what it means (even if they think they do). For optimal breast health, this means several things:
1. Avoiding hormones and hormone-like chemicals in your food and drinks – eat organic and/or hormone free meats and dairy products and avoid most soft/pliable plastic containers. NEVER heat anything up in a plastic container.
2. Think colors – eat the most colorful food you can and eat a lot of it. The deep colors of many vegetables and fruits provide many phytochemicals that have been shown to protect breast tissue and maintain hormone balance. Eat cooked cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, etc.); deep colored berries, legumes (beans, peas and lentils) , deep green leafy vegetables and tomatoes daily. If you want some insurance, use a broad spectrum ‘green food’ like NanoGreens’.
3. Avoid cow’s dairy as much as possible. Research has shown that the protein casein acts as a cancer promoter; low casein cow’s dairy products include yogurt and cottage cheese. Goat and sheep cheeses are a better option.
4. Follow these dietary guidelines most of the time.
- Sweat. Regular exercise, both aerobic and resistance training, have been shown to help protect breast tissue. The key is consistency – do something most days that you love to do for 20-30 minutes where you break a sweat.
- Get enough sleep. This is often overlooked, but sleep deprivation sets the stage for numerous hormone imbalances that can set the stage from problems down the road. Most people need 8 or more hours of sleep; however the most important piece of this equation may be when you sleep. Research has shown that getting as much sleep before midnight is most beneficial; that’s because the body can make and utilize more melatonin and other beneficial hormones that help restore you, both physically and mentally. So record the news and get some ZZZZs.
- Bone up on beneficial nutrients. There are several nutrients that have been shown to be beneficial for breast health and reducing cancer occurrence including resveritrol, green tea extract, indole-3-carbinol, CoQ10, cysteine, vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin D amongst others.