Self-Care for some people can be a challenge because they find so much joy in taking care of others. It can come at a cost but it’s never to late to start!
Since October is breast cancer awareness month we want to end the month on a positive note, with tips of how to take care of this special part of your body.
Here are 6 ways to help prevent breast cancer and take care of your body’s needs.
- Take care of yourself first; only then can you care for others well and without resentment. Be mindful of your body, your emotions, your spirit. Tend to them, listen to them. Seek to be creative in your own unique way as this brings life and hope. Pursue your dreams wherever possible. Be you.
2. Nourish your body with fresh, colourful, high fibre foods, raw whenever possible. The fibre from vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds assists in estrogens removal from your digestive tract. The lignans in flax seeds are especially good for this. Avoid excessive amounts of sugar, fat, alcohol and caffeine as these can lower your immune system function.
3. Exercise strenuously even if it is only for brief minutes in your day. Lean muscle mass does not generate estrogen like fatty tissue so aiming to exchange fat for muscle is a worthy goal. Studies show that 3-4 hours per week of exercise decrease your risk of breast cancer by 50%. Any and all exercise (and this includes walking) is helpful to balance hormones and detoxify your body. If you add 3-5 minutes of strenuous activity per day with your longer, slower exercise it can make a big difference to your fitness level. Google HIIT exercise for more information.
5. Limit your exposure to artificial estrogens (list below). This can include so many things because our world is saturated with them, so start off small and gradually clean up your personal world, don’t worry about doing it all at once.
- Synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT), replace it with Natural Bio Identical hormone therapy.
- Xenoestrogens: Pesticides and herbicides, Bleach and chlorine, Household cleaners like Lysol spray, Hair dyes, Birth control pills (check out alternatives like the Rhythm Method)
5. Evaluate your thyroid function with a Natural Health Practitioner like Grant, or check out the Barnes Thyroid test protocol online that you can do at home. Hypothyroidism precedes most breast disease so become aware of the symptoms and find someone to help you. Many people remain undiagnosed and untreated because many medical doctors rely solely on numerical values from blood tests which only reveal serious malfunction of the thyroid, often when it is too late to address it naturally.
6. Breast screening with thermography. Book your screening for Oct 30 or 31 by calling us or online from our website. Assessing your risk level also gives you a base report to compare with future screening.