I think it’s great that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. As it says on the official “National Breast Cancer Awareness Month” site, we’re celebrating 25 years of awareness, education and empowerment. I’ll be sure also to wear my pink and do whatever I can for the cause because so many of us have been affected by this horrible disease either directly or indirectly. However, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’ve really become a society that’s become focused on fighting things. We’ve got so many wars going on, it’s become hard to keep track. War on Drugs, War on Cancer, War on Obesity and Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq just to name a few.
I’m not suggesting that we ignore these terrible situations and stick our heads in the sand, but I’d like to suggest another way of looking at things that I believe can be more productive and beneficial to us all.
So in honor of "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" I’d like to offer up looking at the holistic preventative side, instead of focusing on fighting this awful disease.
Just think about physics for a moment. If we look at Newton’s 3rd law of motion:"To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." You’re probably thinking…what the heck does Newton have to do with breast cancer? Well, my take on this is that… the more we fight against breast cancer and any other disease, the more they’re going to hang around. If however, we focus more on prevention and the positive things we can all do to develop healthy lifestyle habits, I believe we can see the breast cancer death rate drop even more than 2% per year.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not bashing western medicine. I believe it serves great value and purpose and has saved so many lives. I just think we can do a little better and take a more integrative and preventative approach. Here’s proof recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Check out this article: “Prudent Diet Linked to Lower Breast Cancer Risk”. In the article they state that: “A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and low in sweets and processed meats, may help lower the risk of breast cancer”.
Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now and change the tune to:
3 simple lifestyle tips from The Mayo Clinic that can help you reduce your chances of breast cancer.
1.)Limit alcohol. There’s a link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. How strong a link hasn’t been determined and neither has the type of alcohol consumed. Beer, wine or mixed drinks don’t seem to make a difference. That’s enough proof for me. So protect yourself and consider limiting alcohol to less than one drink a day or avoid alcohol completely.
2.)Maintain a healthy weight. There’s a clear correlation between being overweight or obese and breast cancer. This is especially true if you put on the lbs later in life and especially after menopause. Experts speculate that estrogen production in fatty tissue may be the link between obesity and breast cancer.
3.)Stay active. Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight and in turn, may help prevent breast cancer. Shoot for at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week. If you’ve been a couch potato, start your exercise program slowly and gradually work up to a greater intensity. Try to also include weight-bearing and resistance exercises like: walking, jogging and weight training. These types of activities will also keep your bones strong.
So let’s all wear pink, get moving, eat our fruits and veggies and try to focus on Healthy “Cancer Free” living.