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Top 10 to prevent Breast Cancer
 October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
or the pink month, Women Fitness (WF) offer the following tips for those
who are interested in knowing something on how to really prevent breast cancer.
The unalterable risk factors that boost the
risk of breast cancer, according to American Cancer Society, include gender
(females get more breast cancer); aging; genetic risk factors (BRCA1 and BRCA2);
genetic variants (ATM, p53, CHEK2, PTEN, CDH1); family history of breast cancer;
personal history of breast cancer; race and ethnicity; dense breast tissue, and
certain benign breast conditions; lobular carcinoma in situ; more menstrual
periods or early puberty; previous chest conditions and diethylstilbestrol
exposure.
Genetic variants can be controlled to some extent by adjusting a person's diet
and lifestyle. Just because you have a relative who has breast cancer or you
carry certain genetic mutations does not mean you have suffer with cancer. It is
clear that lifestyle and diet can influence risk from faulty genetics.
According to the ACS, modifiable factors that boost the risk of breast cancer,
include having children late in or having no children; using oral contraceptives
or hormone therapy; not breast feeding; drinking alcohol; being overweight or
obese and physical inactivity.
  Exercise regularly -
Women with low levels of physical activity and higher
body mass index levels are at more than twice the risk of developing
breast cancer than women who undertake approximately three metabolic
equivalent hours (MET) per day, per year, of exercise, and have lower BMI
levels, the researchers (at Meharry Medical College and the Vanderbilt-Ingram
Cancer Center)
found. A 25 kg/m2 body mass index among Western women is considered to be
normal weight, while a BMI of 25 kg/m2 among Asian women is considered to be
in the overweight category and was associated with an increased breast cancer
risk in this study. Women who exercise have a 35 percent lower risk of
developing breast carcinoma in situ than did inactive women.
Level of
exercise
recommended is equivalent to about 45 minutes of brisk
walking or 20
minutes of vigorous exercise per day.
Some studies have reported that athletes who exercised vigorously and
participated in competitive sports had a lower risk of breast cancer than did
non-athletes. However, others have reported that women who do not participate
in competitive sports but who exercised regularly, such as three hours per
week throughout their reproductive years, had a lower risk of breast cancer as
compared to women who never exercised.
  Eat more unrefined seed foods. They
all contain phytoestrogens. If you eat foods rich in these elements, you are 4
times less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer. You should consume whole
grains, beans, nuts, edible seeds, fruits and
vegetables with their seeds.
The superstars for breast cancer protection include all cruciferous vegetables
(broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower); dark leafy greens
(collards, kale, spinach); carrots and tomatoes. The superstar fruits include
citrus, berries and cherries. Minimize consumption of the high glycemic index,
"Great White Hazards" - white flour, white rice, white potatoes, sugar and
products containing them. These foods trigger hormonal changes that promote
cellular growth in breast tissue. Replace these "wrong" carbs with whole
grains and beans/legumes. Beans/legumes because of their high
fiber and lignan content
are especially special.
  Get your fats right! The type of
fat in your diet can
affect your breast cancer risk. Minimize consumption of omega-6 fats
(sunflower, safflower, corn and cottonseed oils),
saturated fats and trans
fats. Maximize your intake of omega-3 fats, especially from oily fish (salmon,
tuna, mackerel, sardines, lake trout and herring). Consume
monounsaturated
oils (canola, olive oil, nuts/seeds, avocados) as your primary
fat source, as these
foods have potential anticancer properties. Specifically, canola oil is a good
source of omega-3 fats; extra virgin olive oil is a potent source of
antioxidant polyphenols, including squalene; and nuts and seeds provide you
with the cancer protective mineral, selenium. Consume yogurt, cheese, milk,
butter, and olive oil on a daily basis, and eat meat from time to time.
  Minimize exposure to pharmacologic
estrogens and xeno-estrogens. Lifetime exposure to estrogen plays a
fundamental role in the development of breast cancer. Avoid intake of
prescribed estrogen until indicated. Also avoid estrogen-like compounds found
in environmental pollutants, such as pesticides and industrial chemicals. Buy
organic produce if you can afford it; otherwise, thoroughly wash all
non-organic produce. Minimize exposure to residual hormones found in
non-organic dairy products, meat and poultry.
  Sleep well.
Sometimes we find it hard to sleep well. Shift work, street lights, travel
across time zones, the demands and conveniences of life in the space age - all
claim to make life better, more flexible, more diverse. But can our body's
natural rhythms adjust to an almost constant exposure to light, without some
consequences? A
Finnish study found that women who consistently slept 6 hours or less
every night had a slightly higher rate of breast cancer than those who slept 7
to 8 hours; and women who consistently slept 9 hours or more had the lowest
risk. However, a study done at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found
that that women's death rates in general increase in those sleeping
more than 7 hours a night. The answer may be a mix of factors: time spent
sleeping, and quality of
sleep, which can
vary with each person. Medical and psychological conditions can affect
sleep quality, as can environment and lifestyle.
  Learn to handle Stress. Ongoing
stress can threaten
breast-health, in large part, because it disrupts the natural daily natural
rhythm of circulating hormones. For instance, one hormone that rises with
stress is cortisol, which has been directly linked to breast cancer. Cortisol
has a daily rhythm that reaches its lowest level during sleep, it climbs to
its highest level by late morning, and then subsides in the afternoon. But
when you experience ongoing stress—especially high-pitched, trauma-based
stress—the natural ebb and flow of circulating cortisol loses its rhythm and
instead, remains elevated. In turn, chronic levels of elevated cortisol weaken
the ability of your immune system to fight disease, including not only breast
cancer, but also high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose (linked with
increased risk of
weight
gain and
diabetes), and
osteoarthritis.
Young women who experience more than one stressful life event are at greater
risk of developing breast cancer, but a general feeling of happiness and
optimism may help guard against the disease, Israeli researchers report.
Women who had experienced two or more severe or mild-to-moderate life
event were 62 percent more likely to have breast cancer, the researchers
found. However, they also found that women with a "general feeling of
happiness and optimism" had a 25 percent lower risk of having been diagnosed
with breast cancer.
  Minimize or avoid alcohol.
Alcohol use is the most
well established dietary risk factor for breast cancer. The Harvard Nurses'
Health study, along with several others, has shown consuming more than one
alcoholic beverage a day can increase breast cancer risk by as much as 20-25
percent. Women drinking just seven
units of alcohol a week - half the recommended safe level - have a much
increased chance of developing lobular cancer, compared to those who don't
drink at all, reports express.co.uk. The report suggests that alcohol
consumption is implicated in 2,000 cases of breast cancer in each year as well
as causing other cancer, liver damage and
fertility problems in
women. With one 250ml glass containing up to 3.5 units, just one each evening
would put a woman well over her weekly allowance. Official guidelines say
women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week.
  Go easy on
fried foods Fried potatoes were
found in one study to be associated with increased risk of ER- breast cancer.
Various "meat and potatoes" dietary patterns have been found to be associated
with increased risks of many cancer types, including breast cancer. However,
it is possible that these heightened risks may be due primarily to red meat
and fried potato consumption. Consuming whole cooked potatoes with the peel
are a good dietary source of
vitamin C,
potassium,
magnesium and
zinc.
Compounds with known cancer-fighting properties found in potatoes include glycoalkaloids such as á-chaconine and á-solanine, as well as gallic acid.
Potato extracts have been shown to suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis
of human lymphoma, liver, stomach,
cervical, colon, and prostate cancer cells. At the end of the day its the
choice of food you opt for that makes the difference. We would suggest buying
red-skinned organic potatoes and eating them (along with their skins) after
steaming or boiling them.
  Consume whole food soy products
regularly, such as tofu, tempeh, edamame, roasted soy nuts, soy milk and miso.
Only consume organic, non-GMO (genetically modified) soy. Epidemiologic
studies have shown a positive association between
soy consumption and reduced
breast cancer risk. High soy intake during adolescence reduces the risk of
breast cancer in the pre-menopausal years by about 25 to 50 percent, suggests
a recent study. Larissa Korde, principal researcher at the Clinical Genetics
Branch Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer
Institute, US, in her
report found that soy intake from childhood was significantly associated
with reduced breast cancer risk.
  Take your supplements daily. A
multivitamin, 500-1,000 mg of
vitamin C in divided doses, 200-400 IUs of
vitamin E as mixed tocopherols, and pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Also take
200 mcg of the mineral
selenium or eat one to two Brazil nuts as an
alternative. If you have a chronic medical condition or take prescription
drugs, consult your physician first. Recently, new study has found that women
who take fish oil supplements may have one-third lower risk of a breast cancer
than those who don’t take these supplements. Women who had a low DNA repair
capacity, a family history of breast cancer, and no history of breast feeding
were all more likely to suffer from breast cancer. When the researchers
adjusted for calcium's effect on DNA repair capacity, they found little
remaining effect on breast cancer risk. This suggests that calcium helps
prevent cancers by boosting DNA's ability to regenerate from damage. The
mechanisms by which vitamin supplements protect the body from cancer were not
determined.
The above factors can help women fight breast
cancer to some extent, try to incorporate these in your lifestyle. Women should
focus on keeping breast health through good lifestyle and dietary choices.
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