(continued from page 21)


Bust Musts for Cancer Prevention


by Lisa Marshall A


ccording to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and nearly 40,000 will die annually of the disease. But at least 38 percent of those diag- noses could be prevented via diet and lifestyle changes, affirms the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). “For decades, the dominant public message about breast cancer has been about early detection,” says Medical Doctor Robert Pendergrast, an associ- ate professor at the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta, and author of Breast Cancer: Reduce Your Risk with Foods You Love. “Screening is important, but not nearly enough attention is being paid to prevention.” Here’s what we can do to keep cancer at bay or from recurring. Eat more veggies: Cruciferous


vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, are loaded with indole-3-carbinol, or I3C, a potent anticancer compound that helps break down excess estrogen and convert it into a more friendly, or benign form, says Steelsmith. One study in Alterna- tive Medicine Review found that wom- en that ate high amounts of cruciferous vegetables were 30 percent less likely to develop breast cancer over 30 years. I3C can also be taken as a supplement (300 milligrams [mg] per day). Eat more fiber, especially flax:


Fiber, via whole grains, fruits and veg- etables, helps flush out toxins includ- ing unfriendly estrogen. Flax contains cancer-fighting compounds called lig- nans, which block the effects of excess or unfriendly estrogen on cells. Drink less alcohol: Alcohol boosts


estrogen levels in women and is broken down in the liver to acetaldehyde, a known toxin that causes cancer in laboratory animals, notes Naturopath


22 Pocono, PA / Warren Co., NJ


Laurie Steelsmith. According to the AICR, a woman that has five drinks per week boosts her risk by 5 percent. Two or more drinks per day boosts such risk by more than 40 percent. Skip the barbecue: Charring meat


produces carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines. A study of 42,000 women, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that those that routinely ate well- done hamburger, beef or bacon had four times the risk of those that opted for medium or medium-rare. Keep weight in check: Excessive


estrogen, which lives in fat cells, fuels cancer risk. According to the AICR, a woman with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 (obese) has a 13 percent higher risk of cancer than a woman with a BMI of 25 (slightly overweight). Spice up life: Curcumin from the turmeric plant has been shown in many studies to have potent immune-boosting and anticancer properties, reactivating sleeping tumor-suppressor genes that can kill cancer cells. De-stress: Growing evidence that includes studies from Ohio State Univer- sity suggest that stress can boost the risk of breast cancer and recurrence, plus heighten its aggressiveness by altering hormones and impairing immunity. One study from Finland’s University of Helsinki followed 10,808 Finnish wom- en for 15 years and found as much as double the rate of breast cancer among those that had experienced a divorce or death of a spouse or family member. Drink green tea: It’s loaded with


epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a potent antioxidant believed to suppress new blood vessel growth in tumors and keep cancerous cells from invading healthy tissue.


www.healthylehighvalley.com


In one unpublished, yet highly publicized 2013 study, French Exer- cise Physiologist Jean-Denis Rouillon measured the busts of 330 women ages 18 to 35 over a period of 15 years and found those that regularly wore a bra had droopier breasts with lower nipples than those that didn’t. In another, small- er, Japanese study, researchers found that when women stopped wearing a bra for three months, their breasts perked up. Those worried about stretch marks


also have options. They can be a sign of inadequate copper, which promotes collagen integrity and helps skin stretch without injury, says Steelsmith. If rapid weight gain is occurring due to adolescence, pregnancy or for other reasons, try taking copper supplements or applying a topical copper spray on the breasts.


Remember to massage your breasts


daily, not only as a “search and destroy mission” for early detection of cancer- ous lumps, says Northrup, but as a way to get waste products flowing out and loving energy flowing in. “It concerns me that women feel pressured to think of their breasts as two potentially pre-malignant lesions sitting on their chests,” Northrup says. “These are organs of nourishment and pleasure for both ourselves and others. We need to remember that, too.”


Lisa Marshall is a freelance health writer in Boulder, CO. Connect at LisaAnnMarshall.com.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40