Prevention Trumps Awareness

During the month of October, the pink ribbons come out to promote breast cancer awareness and encouraged women to get their yearly mammograms.  It is also a time to honor friends and loved ones who have battled with breast cancer.

No underwire here.

Instead of focusing on awareness, what I am most interested in learning is how to prevent this dreaded disease.  Early detection seems to be the best I can hope for, but what I really want for my daughters, my friends, and myself is action steps that can reduce the risk of breast cancer.

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While reading about cancer in books by authors who take a lifestyle and nutritional approach to cancer prevention, I have found these suggestions for reducing the risk of cancer in general and breast cancer in particular;

Breast cancer

• Take off your bra and let your lymphatic system remove impurities from your breast tissue.  Bras that are tight can restrict lymphatic flow trapping toxins in the breasts.  Since the lymph system does not have a pump it relies on lack of constriction to function properly. While it is not practical for most women to be bra-less 24/7, we can take the opportunity when in the privacy of our homes.  We can also choose bras that aren't as constricting.

• Rebound on a mini-trampoline or take a brisk walk to promote the flow of the lymphatic system.

• Ditch antiperspirants and switch to deodorants without parabens and aluminum. Perspiration is one way our body rids itself of waste.  Preventing that elimination by using products that block perspiration can lead to toxic build up.  Check out my non-toxic deodorant recipe here.

Deodorant ingredients, most from the food pantry.

• Women who shave their arm pits and then immediately apply antiperspirants or deodorants increase the absorption (through the small nicks) of parabens, aluminum, and other chemicals thought to contribute to cancer.

Reduce your body's overall  toxin load by;

• eating food free of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

• drinking filtered water out of glass bottles to reduce your exposure to chlorine, fluoride, and BPAs (found in plastic bottles).  Check out the Berkey water filters.

Our Big Berkey supplies all our filtered water needs.

• using natural cleaning products in your home.

• carefully considering what you put on your skin.  Cosmetics, lotions, perfumes, shampoos, toothpaste, and even nail polish all contain chemicals that can be absorbed by your body.  You may be surprised at how many non-toxic products are available to purchase or are easy to make.  Check out this tooth powder recipe.

Chemical free tooth powder.

• discontinuing the use of pesticides and herbicides in your lawn and gardens.

• reducing your exposure to radiation whenever possible.  If you feel uncomfortable with the radiation in mammograms, explore thermography which can test for cancer without radiation or compression.  The ONCOblot blood test is also another alternative for early detection.

Nourish and Supplement

• Eat anti-cancer foods.    According to the book, Anti-Cancer, A New Way of Life, by David Servan-Schreiber vegetables that inhibited breast cancer cell growth are garlic, brussel sprouts, scallions, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, savoy cabbage, onion, cabbage, kale and beets.

Cabbage ready to be shredded for sauerkraut.

Red Russian kale has a long season and is great in smoothies.

• Supplements like curcumin, resveratrol, quercetin, and EGCG are often recommended for preventing cancer.  Curcumin is found in the spice turmeric, resveratrol is found in red grapes and other red and dark blue berries.  Capers, onions, and dark red and blue hued fruits contain quercetin and EGCG is found in green tea.

Reduce Inflammation

Inflammation is a factor in almost all chronic diseases including cancer.  Reduce inflammation by;

• limiting the amount of sugar consumed.  (This includes white flour, white rice, and white potatoes.)

• avoiding dairy products from cows treated with the bovine growth hormone, rGBH.

• choosing grass fed beef, pastured pork, free range chickens or wild game, if you eat meat.  Meat from animals/poultry raised in confined feed lots without eating grass or being out in the sunshine have meat with a higher omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. (The range of ideal omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids ratio is 1.1 to 5.1.  People eating a standard American diet consume a ratio of 20.1 to 50.1 which can cause inflammation.)

• choosing oils that are organic, non-GMO, high in omega 3 fatty acids or have a balanced omega 6 to 3 ratio,  and have not gone through a chemical extraction process. Some examples are; olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, butter from grass fed cows, and coconut oil.

Life Style Considerations

Emotional well being plays an important role in health.  Try to reduce the amount of stress and emotional upheaval in your life.  Here are a few ideas;

• Participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day.

• To keep your vitamin D levels in the normal range, get 20 minutes of sunlight exposure each day or supplement with fermented cod liver oil.

• Support mental stability by utilizing relaxation techniques.

• Have a network of friends who can support your need to talk freely about your emotions.

Although these ideas are no guarantee that cancer will not develop, by limiting our exposure to industrial chemicals, nourishing our bodies, reducing inflammation, and supporting our mental health we can at least have a fighting chance.


Please note: The objective of this blog is to raise awareness of alternative ways to achieve wellness and to empower you to take an active role in your health decisions.  To accomplish this, you will need to explore these subjects in greater depth and then determine what makes sense for your life.  My hope is that this information will inspire you to start your own search into ways to make your life happier, healthier and more fulfilling.