Sent to you by Jane Kennedy NP, MPH

Yes, how we live our lives can help reduce our risk for breast cancer - even if it is present in our family history!

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the early age of 41. She fully recovered after a radical mastectomy (the standard treatment at the time), which saved her life. She went on to live a full and meaningful 15 additional years before experiencing a recurrence, and died shortly thereafter.

It was a hard loss for me as a young adult. It also caused me to reflect on how her experience with breast cancer could affect my personal health outcomes. As a result, I put into place a number of lifestyle factors that were known to reduce the risk of breast cancer. As we have continued to learn more through the years since then, I have adjusted the list, and I'd like to share the highlights with you.

Genetics can have an impact on our disease risk, but fortunately it doesn't totally determine what will happen to us. There are many variables we can control-- such as lifestyle practices-- that can reduce our risk of a particular disease such as breast cancer.

So, find a fun way to put some of the following suggestions into practice (you're probably doing some of them already, so don't get stressed!):

Reduce stress by doing things you really want to do, take time for yourself, have daily quiet times, deep breathe, take one-minute stress free "vacations," develop a spiritual practice
Eat an anti-inflammatory diet - lots of fresh vegetables (organic if you can), low glycemic index fruits (focus on berries and apples), good quality proteins (free range, no hormones), monosaturated fats (salmon, sardines, olives, olive oil, nuts, avocado, eggs), cruciferous vegetables (broccoli family, cabbage), miatake mushrooms, and use turmeric
Eat small amounts of protein throughout your day
Drink green tea
Limit your exposure to xenoestrogens - these are chemicals that leach into food and water from plastics, fertilizers, pesticides; they are also found in cleaners, and some bath and body products (they tie up estrogen receptor sites so that estrogen can't do its job)
Limit alcohol consumption, or avoid it altogether
5 days per week, try "burst" exercise (push yourself for 2-5 minutes to get your heart rate up and then back off, repeat), but also be careful not to overdo exercise!
Quit trying to be the perfect mom, the perfect spouse, the perfect daughter, the perfect career woman, the perfect anything! None of us are perfect
Massage your breasts to improve lymph drainage (or get your partner to)
Throw out your underwire bras (or just take out the stays) - they interrupt good lymph drainage
Have your health provider test your estrogen and estrogen-metabolite levels to see what amounts of these substances are in your body, and take appropriate action as needed
Do a general detox once or twice a year to clean out your body's plumbing: liver, gallbladder, bowel, skin
Take supplements that help to protect your breasts:
Fish oil, B vitamins, Vitamins C, A, E, grape seed extract; Vitamin D (check your blood levels periodically); and Calcium D-glucarate, DIM or I3c, if indicated. Christine Horner, MD, created a breast supplement combining several of these into one "Protective Breast Formula." You can Google it
Do mammograms and thermography as recommended by your healthcare provider

Whether or not breast cancer has touched your family directly, you can create better breast health by putting some of these suggestions in place. The good news is that regardless of your family history, there are healthy practices you can use to reduce your risk of ever having breast cancer, and cut your risks of many other diseases while you're at it.

Join me in creating optimal breast health and maintaining healthy breasts!

Jane Kennedy
Nurse Practitioner

Gordon Medical Associates