As I am sure you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We see pink everywhere as a reminder. In 2012 there will be >226,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 39,500 women will die from this disease in the U.S. So perhaps this is a good time for lifestyle reminders to prevent breast cancer risk.
Breast Cancer Risk Factors that you cannot control:
- your gender (women are at greater risk)
- increasing age (>55 years is greater risk)
- a family history
Lifestyle Breast Cancer Risks:
- not having children
- obesity
- a high alcohol intake
Breast Cancer Protectors:
- maintaining a lifetime lean weight
- regular physical activity of at least 1.25-2.5 hours/week (this seems to be the answer to everything, doesn’t it?)
- limited alcohol
- lots of fruits and veggies
- frequent fish intake
Questions to ask yourself to offer protection from developing breast cancer:
- Do I include frequent vegetarian meals?
- Is fish served several times a week at my family meals?
- Do I get out just about every day for a 20-30 minute walk? It’s the small everyday habitual things that we do that have the biggest health impact.
