Is Breast Cancer Something You Worry About?
If So, Continue Reading for Our List of the Top 3 Health Measures You Should Use to Reduce Your Risk
Lifestyle Changes Can Greatly Reduce Your Risk for Genetic Mutations Causing Breast Cancer
1. Exercise and Maintain a Healthy Weight For women who are overweight, there is a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer compared to others, especially after menopause. Not only that but being overweight increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence. Why?
There is a higher risk of overweight women being diagnosed with breast cancer because fat cells make estrogen. Extra fat cells mean more estrogen in the body, and estrogen can make hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers develop. Of course, this complex link is affected by other factors, such as where the extra weight is located. Excessive fat around your belly may increase your risk more than the same amount of extra fat around your thighs. Chronic stress and a lack of sleep can lead to an increase in belly fat. So, this is why it’s super important to exercise, eat right for your unique body, reduce stress, and maintain a healthy weight. And in terms of exercise and reduced breast cancer risk, research shows there’s a link between exercising regularly for 4 to 7 hours per week and a lower chance of being diagnosed. Exercise controls blood sugar and limits blood levels of insulin, a hormone that can affect how breast cells behave.
2. Eat Lots of Cruciferous Vegetables, Especially Broccoli
Cruciferous Vegetables optimize our liver’s Phase ll detoxification system, which helps neutralize the effect of toxins on our DNA.
Following a diet high in healthy oils, certain fruits, and plenty of cruciferous vegetables can reduce your risk of breast cancer by 60% – 70%. You may need to take DIM supplementation if you struggle with estrogen dominance and have concerns over environmental toxins. DIM is a component of cruciferous vegetables and is great for balancing estrogen metabolites. As your liver breaks down estrogen, it is important that the proper ratios of specific estrogens be maintained to decrease aggressive estrogens and increase protective estrogen.
Contact Us HERE if you are interested in strategic medical tests to determine proactive health measures you can take to reduce your risk of being diagnosed.
3. Reduce Your Exposure to Environmental Toxins
Scientists from the Silent Spring Institute in Massachusetts published – in Environmental Health Perspectives – that only 5-10% of breast cancers are a result of high-risk inherited genes.
They note that around 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer are the first in their family. These findings, the researchers say, are evidence that breast cancer is caused by additional external factors. Unfortunately, we don’t think enough about how much we are exposed to chemicals on a daily basis and how harmful they are to our health. We are just beginning to uncover the far reaching effects of environmental chemicals and their connection to developing certain diseases, like breast cancer. A Brief Glance at Chemicals We Are Exposed to Every Day: In the food we eat – pesticides on produce, Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in dairy products, BPA in cans and hard plastics, and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in nonstick coatings on cookware. In the products we use – flame retardants in furniture, phthalates, parabens in personal care products, nonylphenols in cleaning products, detergents, shampoos, and paints. In the environment we live – chemicals of concern are used in the fracking process for natural gas and oil and fossil-fuel exhaust from automobiles and power plants.
Steps You Can Take to Limit Your Exposure to Harmful Chemicals
- Use personal care products that are free of phthalates and parabens
- Clean your house with natural cleaning products or make your own
- Store hot food in glass containers rather than plastic
- Limit exposure to fumes from gasoline and exhaust from vehicles and generators
- Use electric lawnmowers
- Turn on your ventilation fan when cooking and try not to eat charred or burned food
- Avoid stain-resistant rugs, fabric, and furniture
- Use solid carbon block drinking water filters
Watch Dr. Shari Caplan’s video below to learn more about reducing your risk of breast cancer
#breastcancer #functionalmedicine #VitalityMD
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