How to Prevent Breast Cancer
It’s a scary fact, but breast cancer is one of the leading types of cancer that victimizes women all over the world today. Even if you think you won’t get it easily, you still can’t be 100% sure. Keep yourself safe and remember these tips to prevent breast cancer.
Watch Your Weight
Slim and healthy women are less prone to getting breast cancer. According to some studies, gaining weight in your midlife can increase breast cancer risk significantly. Not only that, it also heightens the risk of getting post-menopausal breast cancer. To avoid this, maintain a healthy body weight, even while you’re still young. A BMI or Body Mass Index that’s less than 25 is ideal.
Exercise
Exercising can give you strong muscles and a more shapely figure, but it can also give you powerful protection against the deadly breast cancer. Have a 30-minute moderate aerobic activity daily, or at least five times a week. If possible, do yoga or simple dance classes. Even walking briskly for two hours everyday can lower breast cancer risk. Remember, the key to good exercise is duration and consistency, and not intensity.
Do A Self Breast Exam Monthly
This is probably the easiest method to detect and prevent breast cancer as soon as possible. Doctors advise women to check their breasts at least once a month, to see and feel irregularities and tumors. The good news is, you can do a self breast exam by yourself. It may not exactly prevent or diminish the cancer, but it helps detect the sickness, allowing less aggressive treatment and a higher chance of curing it.
For older women, getting a mammogram is also a good idea. It’s conducted in a clinic by a health care professional, and like a breast exam it doesn’t eliminate breast cancer, only detects it. Mammogram screening is very efficient, though, since it detects lumps that can’t be felt.
Eat Healthy
To keep your body healthy and cancer-free, you must always have nutritious and balanced meals. Here are some must-have food items in your diet.
Fruits and veggies - Eat seven or more servings of these everyday. The best fruits include cherries, berries and citrus. As for the vegetables, take in plenty of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, leafy greens, tomatoes and carrots. As much as possible, eat these lightly cooked or raw, so the phytochemicals will be preserved.
Soy products - Whole food soy products are believed to have a positive association with breast cancer reduction. Soy milk, soy nuts, edamame, tempeh, tofu and miso are great. Make sure you eat non-GMO (genetically modified), organic soy, though.
Whole grains and beans - White rice, potatoes, flour, sugar and other high-glycemic food items can trigger hormonal changes, promoting breast tissue cellular growth. Instead of these, consume whole grain foodstuff and legumes and beans.
Monounsaturated oils and Omega-3 fats - Olive oil, avocados and canola oil are believed to have anticancer properties. Along with these, eat plenty of nuts and seeds, because they give a cancer protective mineral called selenium. Omega-3 fats from oily fish )sardines, herring, salmon, mackerel, tuna and lake trout) are also good.
Avoid Alcohol And Smoking
Some studies say that women who drink at least one or two alcoholic beverages per day increases the risk of getting breast cancer at least 20% to 25%. So before you accept that second glass of booze, you might want to reconsider. Smoking also contributes to breast cancer, so you should avoid this vice, too.
A Few Reminders
If your family has a history of cancer, the more caution you must take. Have regular checkups, to make sure you’re healthy and cancer-free.
Hormone replacement therapy is linked to breast cancer because of the combined estrogen and progesterone. Avoid it if you can.
If possible, have kids earlier in life.
Breastfeed when you have babies. Not only is it healthier, but you also lessen the risk of getting breast cancer.
It’s hard to fall victim to breast cancer, but thankfully, there are ways to avoid it. Just keep these reminders in mind, and you’ll be able to live a long, happy and cancer-free life.