During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we should not only focus on the cure but also on PREVENTION.
“An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure” – Benjamin Franklin
Please share these Breast Cancer Prevention tips with your loved ones.
- Natural progesterone in a woman’s body prevents breast cancer. A large Johns Hopkins study showed a tenfold increase in cancer deaths in progesterone deficient women.
- Women with PMS or in menopause often have progesterone deficiency, which should be identified by blood tests and treated with natural progesterone. Artificial [drug] progesterone is chemically different from natural progesterone and actually increases the risk of breast cancer. It should be avoided.
- Breast feed, as long as possible. Your baby will be healthier and will have a higher IQ. You will be healthier, more relaxed and have less breast cancer.
- Green tea extract is one of the most health promoting supplements. As an anti-oxidant, it is 25 times stronger than vitamin C. It reduces silent inflammation, the root cause of many diseases. It prevents growth of breast and prostate cancer and even helps reduce cholesterol and body fat. Why not take some every day?
- Omega 3 fatty acids reduce inflammation in the body and can not only reduce heart disease, but have also been shown to reduce the risk of cancer such as breast and prostate cancer. Omega 3 intake can be increased by eating more deep sea fish and/or fish oil capsules.
- PMS is a cyclical problem, affecting women for 1-2 weeks before their periods. It not only causes irritability, breast soreness, bloating, cravings and weight gain, but also increases the risk of breast cancer. It is related to hormonal imbalance and is not a depressive disorder, which should be constant rather than cyclical. We have avoided anti-depressants and relieved suffering for most patients with natural hormone balance.
- If there is a family history of breast cancer (mother, aunts and siblings), consider getting genetic testing for BRCA1 and II gene abnormalities.
- If your risk of breast cancer is judged to be higher than normal, consider adding indole 3 carbinol (I3C) to your supplements.
- If you are having any hormonal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, trouble sleeping, brain fog, vaginal dryness, lack of muscle tone, low libido, etc., see a physician who understands natural bio-identical hormones.
- Regular exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer, by about 25%, as well as the risk of most other diseases.
- Focus on the cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower). They contain I3C which changes estrogen in to 2-hydroxyestrone, the ‘good’ estrogen.
- Think fiber (fruits, veggies, whole grain products). Fiber will bind toxins and estrogen as they drip into the intestine, and remove them from your body.
- Keep alcohol intake to a minimum. Red wine is a better choice, because it is full of anti-oxidants, it is an aromatase inhibitor and it has reserveratrol, which has anti-cancer activity.
- Scientific evidence suggests breast and nipple stimulation increases the secretion of oxytocin, which not only helps remove pent-up secretions from the breast ducts, but also fights breast cancer in several ways.
- Regularly examine your breasts, self exams can be an important way to find a breast cancer early, when it’s more likely to be treated successfully. The Five Steps of a Breast Self-Exam
- Fibrocystic breast disease is often associated with relatively low progesterone in relation to estrogen. The best way to manage this would be to administer natural progesterone in natural ways. This could also decrease the risk of breast cancer.
- Exposure to toxins should be minimized by all means. Start little by purchasing non-bleached coffee filters, paper, napkins, toilet tissue, tampons, etc. Daily exposure from can result in a lifetime exposure to dioxin that exceeds acceptable risks.
- Most Minnesotans are deficient in vitamin D because of long winters and sun avoidance in the summer. This may protect them against skin cancers, but increases the risk of many cancers including breast, prostate and colon, the risk of MS and other immune diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and death from cardio-vascular problems. Make sure you know your vitamin D status and your physician knows how to replace it adequately.
- Omega 6 fats (most vegetable oils) stimulate breast cancer if ingested with carbohydrates (inflammatory action) and inhibit it if taken in with proteins (anti-inflammatory action). If these oils are oxidized (rancid), which they become after prolonged heating or exposure to sun, they generate free radicals which promote cancer.
- Exercise is the best medicine. Post menopausal women make their estrogen mostly in the fat cells of the body, such as those in the breast. Exercise may lower the risk by decreasing circulating levels of estrogen in the body.
- High fiber intake not only lowers insulin, but it also has been shown to lower serum estrogen levels, a definite benefit in breast cancer prevention.
- Every effort should be made to consume only organically grown fruits and vegetables to avoid pesticide.
- Smoking is a cause of excessive free radical formation in the body. Smokers’ milk duct fluid often turns dark in color. A recent study in Japan found that women who smoked had a higher than normal incidence of breast cancer.
- Intake of anti-oxidants from supplements, fruits and vegetables should be increased to decrease free radical induced initiation and promotion of cancer.
- Eat as much fruits and vegetables as possible; but avoid some of the high-glycemic fruits (those that raise the blood sugar the highest) such as ripe bananas and pineapple.
- Keep your hormones in balance but use ONLY natural forms “bio-Identical hormones”, given in natural ways to replenish the body’s hormones as naturally as possible; i.e. avoid pellets, estrogen by mouth, etc. Seek a health care professional who focuses on prevention and bio-identical hormone therapy.
- If you have infertility problems, have your progesterone levels checked. If your progesterone level is consistently low, you are at a future risk for breast cancer. It should be watched and controlled by someone who understands natural bio-identical hormones. Progesterone should never be replaced by ‘progestin’ or ‘progestagen’, the artificial-synthetic and harmful ‘hormones’.
- Keep red meat (saturated) fats to a minimum and cut out processed meat such as bacon, pastrami, salami, sausage, hot dogs, pepperoni, etc. Choose fish, poultry, or beans instead. When you eat meat, choose lean cuts and eat smaller portions. Prepare meat by baking, broiling, or poaching at lower temperatures, rather than by frying in fat or broiling/grilling at excessively high temperatures.
- Avoid toxins. While working with household cleansers, protective gloves should be worn.
- Keep your body in motion! Excess body fat has been found to increase the risk for breast cancer by 30% to 50% . More body fat stores more toxins, and generates more free radicals to initiate breast cancer.
We feel a much greater emphasis should be placed on breast cancer prevention.
Read more tips and prevention strategies in the book, Keeping aBreast, Ways to PREVENT Breast Cancer, written by our founding physician, Dr. Khalid Mahmud.
This book can benefit women at any age to help protect against breast cancer.
If you are interested in preventing diseases and implementing Anti-Aging strategies in to your lifestyle, we can help! Schedule your consultation.