Many women are aware of breast cancer; but many forget to take the steps to detect the disease in its early stages and encourage others to do the same. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease.
Nutrition, which is basically giving your body the nutrients it needs at all life stages, is important for everyone.
As you always hear, some foods provide valuable nutrients that are beneficial to a healthy body by boosting your immune system, and helps to keep your risk for breast cancer as low as possible. Another way to help reduce the risk of breast cancer is to maintain a healthy weight.
Studies have shown that women who gained weight after their breast cancer diagnosis had an increased risk of recurrence, so weight is an important factor.
A study conducted showed the fact that Japanese women (they eat healthy food) have a much lower rate of breast cancer than American women. But when Japanese women emigrate to live in the USA, their breast cancer risk goes up. So the difference in risk has to do with lifestyle or the environment rather than any inherited risk. And the most obvious change is their whole lifestyle is the ways of eating, level of activity, and pollution.
Regarding the food we eat, there is no strong evidence that one specific food or supplement will prevent the risk of getting breast cancer or reduce the risk of recurrence.
However, during the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology held in April, a new study was presented that provided intriguing evidence that women who follow a low-fat diet, similar to the kind doctors recommend for heart health, lower their risk of dying from breast cancer. The evidence in the study indicated that this was among the many health benefits of dietary moderation. The researchers associated with the study recommended enjoying smaller portions of meat with vegetables to the plate to balance things out. They expressed hope that cancer doctors would talk about diet with their patients who might be at higher risk of developing breast cancer.
Here are some nutritional health tips:
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit (more than 5 cups a day), as those contain a lot of antioxidants that prevent oxidation, which in turn prevents free radicals form producing in the body. Free Radicals formation is a risk factor of any cancer.
- Keep your body weight within a healthy range.
- Try to limit your fat intake to less than 30 percent of your total calories per day. So start eliminating some foods with the highest fat content and gradually lower the amount of unhealthy fat you eat, like fried food, butter, yellow cheese, croissants, donuts, and cakes.
- Eat food high in omega-3 fatty acids like fish, salmon, tuna, nuts, avocado, olive oil, canola oil
- Eat more Soy-based foods, like edemame, or drink soya milk. Soy contains isoflavones that act as weak estrogen in the body, and prevent cancer cells from developing.
- Avoid trans-fat, red meat, and any food that has been cooked on very high temperatures. Do not even eat burned food.
- Stay away from processed food and foods that contain Nitrates, like salami, hotdog, and mortadella.
- Stay away from any foods that contain colorant like candies, and soft drinks.
- Eat fresh and healthy food.
Last but not least, do not forget to perform yearly regular checkups, it is fundamental.
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