The Role of Micronutrients in Health 

The prevention of breast cancer is not simply earlier diagnosis. In our medical culture we call mammography prevention when in fact it is screening for already present disease. True prevention starts with your body's foundation - micronutrients. This is true for any disease process; hypothyroidism, Alzheimer's disease, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and so on.

The roles of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in disease prevention are many - repairing cellular damage in breast tissue, preventing genetic mutations, killing pre-cancerous cells before they multiply and maintaining healthy hormonal balance. Evaluating micronutrient status on the cellular level is where true prevention occurs.

There are a couple of laboratories (we use SpectraCell and Genova) that run a micronutrient test that can tell you how well your cells resist attack from damaging free radicals. Unchecked, free radical damage is directly linked to cancer.

Unfortunately we tend to read about these vitamins and minerals and then start taking them on our own. This is not beneficial unless you KNOW how well your body is utilizing your micronutrients. I use the analogy of the refrigerator and the garbage can. What is available in your blood stream is analogous to what I might find if I came into your kitchen and saw what sorts of vegetables you had. If I assumed that those veggies were going to be eaten then I would believe what I find in a standard blood test. However, if I come back to your house in 4 days and find those very same veggies un-eaten and moldy in your trash can, I would have made incorrect assumptions. Doing a blood test AND a hair mineral analysis tells me what you have available (what is in the fridge) and what you are actually using (what is NOT in the garbage can in a week).

So what are the micronutrients that are important in disease prevention?

B VITAMINS AND BREAST TISSUE

B vitamins, especially folic acid, can prevent mutations in breast tissue which eventually become carcinogenic. They may also reduce tumors in women with existing breast cancer.

THE HORMONE - NUTRIENT CONNECTION

Minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and metabolites interact closely with hormones. Improving estrogen metabolism,

which is highly dependent on the availability of specific nutrients, reduces risk of many hormone related cancers, including breast cancer. Research shows that hormone replacement therapy affects minerals such as calcium, copper, chromium, magnesium, selenium and zinc, while reducing important antioxidants like coenzyme Q10 which is needed for heart health. Adequate vitamin D and calcium levels can lower breast cancer risk by more than 70%. Check out this link to a more complete chart and see for yourself how important micro-nutrition is for your health.  http://www.spectracell.com/media/document-303-nutrient-chart.pdf

Dr. Gillian's Corner 

It's Spring, Let's MOVE!

"All parts of the body if used in moderation and exercised in labors to which each it is accustomed, become thereby healthy and well developed, and age slowly; but if unused and left idle, they become liable to disease, defective in growth, and age quickly." ~ Hippocrates

Spring is a great awakening, a time to shed the heavy clothing layers and darkness of winter and rise up into the world. It's a fantastic time to remember our bodies and attend to our physical sheaths; it is a wonderful time to exercise.

Why should we exercise? Our consciousness flows best when our bodies are attuned. The goal of any movement is to connect the demand of our activity with the capacity of our cardiometabolic function with the presence of our minds.

Listed below are some concepts and tools I've found helpful in putting together an exercise program. The National Health Service in Great Britain actually calls this an exercise prescription because of the importance it plays in developing and maintaining health. Don't take this lightly. "It has been estimated that 250,000 deaths per year in the US, approximately 12% of the total mortality, are attributable to the lack of physical activity."

**Remember that exercise can be dangerous also. Please see your medical provider before embarking on a new exercise program to assess if pre-exercise testing is indicated and to establish a healthy and safe exercise plan.**

1. Figure out what moves you (outdoor activity, the routine of the gym, yoga, walking) and commit. Later, you can experiment with other activities. Have fun! One of the first lessons we are set to learn as children is that these arms & legs we have will do things in the world- don't forget it! Ultimately, exercise can be a wonderful form of play.

2. An exercise prescription is generally composed of the following items. As your putting your plan together, consider how to make sustainable choices for these different aspects of exercise.

a. Activity selection

b. Frequency- at least 3-4 sessions per week

c. Duration- 30 minutes of aerobic time + warm up & cool down

d. Intensity- know your target heart rate and self-monitor: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/target-heart-rate/SM00083

e. Muscle conditioning for endurance and strengthening

3. See the following links for some online tools to help get started:

a. My favorite 10-minute online exercise videos are with Coach Nicole on YouTube. Search Coach Nicole or the SparkPeople YouTube channel. Lots of options!

b. A warm and wonderful hour long Ashtanga Primary SeriesYoga practice online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAaHx5qsqhY

c. Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' campaign has lots of links & resources: http://www.letsmove.gov/

d.  There are many fitness tracker tools online or as apps for smartphones. Explore!