Tips on Ensuring the Best Breast Health

Prevention is always the key to avoiding certain health issues. For women, after heart disease, breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death. By knowing the risk factors and understanding what you can do to maintain your breast health, you can fight back against the causes of breast cancer.

1) The Body Feels Emotions: Emotions like anger, fear, guilt, anxiety, sadness, resentment, jealousy, depression, and stress can manifest within the body and contribute to imbalance and disease. Stuck or repressed emotions appear to be especially harmful to physical health. One study showed that people who repress their emotions are more likely to have disruptions in the normal balance of the stress hormone cortisol compared to people who freely express emotion

2) Being overweight is a trigger for many diseases, including cancer. This is because having more fat tissue can increase your chance of getting breast cancer by raising estrogen levels. Also, women who are overweight tend to have higher levels of insulin, another hormone.

3) Exercise and eat a healthy diet. Eat foods high in antioxidants such as: grapes, blueberries, dark green vegetables and red berries to name some. Also, consume plenty of fruits, vegetables, and foods with high levels of omega 3 acids. Walnuts and flaxseeds have a high level of omega 3.

4) Organic foods like tomatoes, broccoli, berries, garlic, red grapes, cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, and red apples lower the risk of cancer, as do high fiber foods. Having regular fresh fruit and veggie juices is great!

5) Be careful with how much alcohol you consume because some studies have shown a higher risk in women who drink a lot of alcohol.

6) Eat more organic whole foods and less processed foods (these usually have added sugar, sodium and preservatives). Examples of common processed foods include: breakfast cereals, cheese, canned vegetables and bread. Also, meat products such as bacon, sausage, ham, salami and paté. Microwave meals or ready meals, cakes and cookies. Drinks such as soft drinks.

7) If you have diabetes, keep your levels under control.

8) If you smoke, give it up for the sake of keeping your breasts healthy. If you intend on having children, you can cut down your risk of developing breast cancer by breastfeeding your children.

9) You should also learn your family medical history. Know what your genetic risks are for developing breast cancer and if possible, get tested to see if you have any of the higher risk markers. If you do have a family history, avoid hormone therapy replacement.

A common myth is that breast cancer doesn’t happen to young women. Even in their teen years, women are at risk of developing breast cancer. One of the best ways to have good breast health is to perform monthly breast self-exams or (BSEs).

By performing this regular self check, you can tell if there have been any changes in the feel of your breasts. After your monthly cycle every month, do a BSE. When you are familiar with how your breast feels, you will be able to tell when something does not feel right or there is a lump. If at any time, you notice a discharge from the nipple, contact your doctor right away.

Having a mammogram done on a regular basis also is a wise move. With the technology available today, mammograms are much better than what they used to be. The newer machines are digital and use less pressure. Because of this heightened sensitivity in the machines, they can more easily detect suspicious changes in the breast.