Natural Breast Cancer Prevention

Breast cancer is a leading killer of women. Like other cancers, it not only affects the patient, but also family members and friends. I have seen more than one family member diagnosed with breast cancer.

If there is any good news, it's that research shows that there are ways to help prevent and lower your chances of getting breast cancer. And if breast cancer is detected early, the odds are surviving are very good.

Most of the natural breast cancer prevention methods shown here to help reduce your risk of getting breast cancer involve diet and cancer prevention. Of course, the healthier your diet is in general, the more healthy you will be, which makes your immune system better able to fight off disease in general and prevent cancer, in particular. But especially for natural breast cancer prevention, add the following cancer fighting foods to your regular diet.

First up on the menu of foods that prevent cancer should be broccoli. As little as two cups of broccoli a week can drop your chances of ever getting breast cancer.

Snack on a handful of walnuts every day for cancer prevention. Walnuts contain compounds that help slow breast cancer growth significantly.

Fiber and antioxidants found in beans are natural breast cancer prevention weapons. The fiber will help sweep carcinogens out of your body before they have a chance to cause damage to your health. Try to eat at least 1/2 cup of beans daily.

As mentioned above, try to eat a high fiber diet to help prevent breast cancer. Eating at least 30 grams of fiber every day lowers your risk of getting breast cancer by 50%! Not only will fiber help excrete carcinogens present in the body, but it will also get rid of excess estrogen.

Try to eat dairy products and meat that are free from hormones. Some research seems to show a link between these foods and increased breast cancer rates.

Organic fruits and vegetables are also good choices to avoid eating chemicals found in pesticides. Try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables daily, much more than the recommended amount. The recommendation for natural breast cancer prevention is at least 8 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

Adding a serving of soy daily to your diet will also lower your risk for getting breast cancer. If you don't like tofu, try soy milk, soybeans, or delicious roasted soybean snacks called edamame.

Soy works by mimicking estrogen and preventing excess estrogen from being stored in tissues, Excess estrogen has been linked to many cancers.

However, there is some concern that adding soy to the diet may increase the risk of hormone receptor positive breast cancer. There is controversy over this theory, and there has been no solid proof offered. If this type of breast cancer runs in your family, be on the safe side and ask your physician before adding soy to your diet.

There are also certain foods to try to avoid for natural breast cancer prevention. Some of the most harmful diet elements that a woman can eat are trans fats. Eating lots of trans fats can double the risk of getting breast cancer than if you try to avoid eating them. Trans fats interrupt the body's natural process that helps destroy carcinogens.

To guarantee that you are meeting all of your nutritional needs, a quality multivitamn and mineral supplement is recommended. For natural breast cancer prevention, be sure to get enough vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to higher breast cancer risk.

One other very important component of a natural breast cancer prevention program is exercise. Not only is exercise good for your health in obvious reasons, but studies have shown that exercise helps reduce estrogen in the bloodstream. This estrogen can lead to tumor growth if left coursing through the body. It is thought to reduce estrogen by decreasing body fat as well.

Exercising about thirty minutes daily, or at least three hours a week, can protect you from a breast cancer diagnosis.

Implement these simple natural breast cancer prevention tips to give you the peace of mind that you are being proactive in the fight against breast cancer. And of course, after age 45, you should get yearly breast exams. Annual mammograms are recommended even earlier if you are at high risk for developing breast cancer.