Breast health is something all women should pay attention to right throughout their lives. Blood sugar balance, proper immune function, reducing inflammation, and detoxification all play a key role in breast health.
Keep your blood sugar balanced
Blood sugar balance is important to reduce the risk of breast cancer. By avoiding sugar, we can deprive damaged cells of the energy they need to grow and divide. Eating low glycemic foods and protein with every meal can help to support blood sugar levels.
Support your immune system
We also need our immune system to be working optimally so that it can find and rid the body of any ‘irregular’ cells. Foods high in antioxidants and phytonutrients support the immune system to do this. Phytonutrients also prevent cell damage. Healthy food sources include blueberries, green tea, pomegranate, tomatoes. Try to include a rainbow of coloured fruits and vegetables in your diet.
Reduce inflammation
Inflammation can cause damage to cells and breast tissue. We can reduce inflammation by avoiding inflammatory foods like animal products and processed foods. We can also include anti-inflammatory foods in our diet like Omegas 3 fatty acids found in oily fish and flaxseeds. Turmeric, resveratrol, ginger, and green tea also have wonderful anti-inflammatory properties. Stress and obesity also cause inflammation in the body. Daily exercise is a wonderful way to help maintain healthy body weight and alleviate stress.
Detoxify
Environmental toxins and chemicals disrupt the hormone in our bodies. Plastics, pesticides, cigarette smoke, burnt meat, and alcohol all produce toxins. Alcohol affects the liver’s ability to detox estrogen and other toxins and therefore is detrimental to breast health. We can help our bodies detoxify by drinking 6-8 glasses of clean filtered water. Fiber also helps the body to detox and support the gut microbiome which is involved in estrogen metabolism and detoxification. Include fermented foods in your diet like kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut. Cruciferous vegetables also support the liver and detoxification of estrogen. Broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts are good sources of indole-3-carbinol that the body needs to detox. In addition, exercise and sweating also help the body to get rid of toxins.
«Health and healing are achieved when the whole person is well in body, mind, and spirit.»
Top 10 Breast Wellness Foods
- Broccoli
- Asian mushrooms
- Fatty fish
- Flaxseeds
- Green tea
- Pomegranate
- Beans and legumes
- Garlic and onions
- Blueberries
- Seaweed
What about soy?
Whole non-genetical modified soy is shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer. However, if you have had breast cancer, check with your physician first before consuming soy.
Supplements to support breast health
- Vitamin D
- Probiotics
- Dim and sulforaphane
- Calcium D gluconate
- Omega 3
- Evening Primrose Oil (EPO)
- Methylated Vitamin Bs
- Resveratrol
Emotional and spiritual health
The body can store stress, trauma, and loss which affects the health of our cells and our energy levels. Mediation and keeping a prayer journal can help to work through emotions instead of storing them in the body. Taking note of things in our lives that we are grateful for helps us to practice gratitude which brings peace and joy.
References:
- McGuire & Beerman (2018). Nutritional Sciences: From Fundamentals to Food. Enhanced Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
- Boham, E. (2015). Breast Wellness DVD.
- Shu. (2009). Shanghai breast cancer survival study. JAMA.
- Jimendez, A. (2019). Hope for Cancer. Self-published.