Though you, as a woman, cannot cure breast cancer, at least you must be aware of how to reduce having it. But before we discuss how to prevent breast cancer, let us tackle first what are the uncontrolled factors why you can have this.

Risk factors of having breast cancer that you cannot do something about

• Being a woman gives you a higher risk of having breast cancer, though it can occur on men sometimes.
• Hereditary factor is another issue you cannot handle. Breast cancer can run in families, but that does not mean that you will surely have this.
• Having menstruation at early stage- Doctors say that women that had their period below 12 years old will be more prone to breast cancer because of having early exposure with hormones.
• Late chill bearing – becoming pregnant at above 26 years old will be having more risk on getting breast cancer because of the hormonal changes on this stage of life.
• There are factors that you can do something about that will help you reduce having breast cancer.
• Smoking and drinking alcohol – studies shows that women who smoke and drink frequently have the higher risk of having breast cancer because of carcinogens. So limit your smoking and drinking. It is also better to stop smoking if you don’t want to die young because of breast cancer.
• Being obese or overweight – not just breast cancer, but you can also have more diseases to have if you are too fat because you might have an imbalanced hormone, which is a big factor in having breast cancer.
• Hormone replacement therapy – this is a dangerous activity, so you better ask your doctor first about this.

There are some additional tips that you can follow in order to prevent having breast cancer.

Maintain your weight. This is not just to look good physically, but to be healthy as well. You need to have your good diet and meal planning so that your body would not produce too much estrogen, which you can have if you are overweight.

Check out your breast. Perform breast self exam at least once a month. This will help you detect cancer on its early stage so that you can have its treatment at once.

Breast feed your child (for mothers). This will allow you to protect your hormones, based on studies. Both you and your baby will be benefited this way!

Eat more vegetables and fruits. Well, this is applicable for everybody. You need to have lots of vitamins to have strong immune system. Plant foods are also rich in cancer-fighting phytonutrients.

Skin Cancer Hotspots

Do just a little research and you will see there is less skin cancer in Asia and the Mediterranean. Many people simply attribute this to skin tone and genetics. If you think along those lines, then you won’t be surprised to learn that skin cancer is more prevalent in places like Australia and the United States. New findings suggest these correlations have less to do with skin tone and more to do with how and what the people in these regions eat.

Lycopene

So how can you fight skin cancer with food? Well according to notable sources, a few changes can make a big difference in how your skin responds to excess sun exposure. Lycopene is a supplement you can find at almost any drugstore. Studies show that taking a lycopene supplement can reduce damage to your skin from the sun. This nutrient is what makes tomatoes red. You can get the same benefits by eating fruits and vegetables high in lycopene, like tomatoes, ketchup or watermelon. Olive oil is another excellent natural sunblock, when ingested of course, not applied to the skin!

Beta-carotene

This nutrient is in almost any orange or yellow vegetable and makes an excellent UV fighter. Eating more carrots, squash and similar foods can boost your skin’s protection.

Lutein

By protecting our skins elasticity and reducing damage from sun exposure, Lutein helps us fight the aging effects of the sun. You can find it in dark green vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli, zucchini and Brussels sprouts.

Flavonoids and Polyphenols

Remember all the things we see in the media about green tea and weight loss? Well, those same compounds help stop and slow down cell mutation. They are called EGCGs. Green tea also contains polyphenols, which among their many health benefits, also fight against UV-radiation-caused cancers. Other good sources of these protecting nutrients include citrus peel, cocoa, rosemary, oregano and garlic.

Other Vitamins

Many other nutrients have shown some benefit in protecting the skin. Only the B Vitamins seem to lack this protection.

So what does this mean for us Westerners? It means that sunscreen doesn’t have to come in a bottle. Eating healthier, taking a multi vitamin, and just plain taking care of ourselves does more then make us look fit and trim. Transforming our diets from SAD to something we can be proud to call the American standard can protect our bodies and boost our pride.

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Find more reliable diet information, based on research and studies, at LowFatDietPlan.com. 

Eat a Healthy, Well-Balanced Diet

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A high fibre diet, rich in nutrients is a good way to reduce your risk of cancer. Ensure you include a lot of fruit and vegetables into your diet and reduce the amount of red and processed meats that you eat. Try to cut back on salt as much as possible.

You may have heard of so-called “super foods” when it comes to reducing cancer risk. Pomegranates, watercress and Goji berries are all claimed to have powerful cancer-preventing properties.

Keeping a healthy diet will ensure a good immune system, which in turn ensures a higher change you can reduce your cancer risk.

Keep Active

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Physical activity has been proven to reduce the risk of breast, womb and bowel cancers. You only need to do thirty minutes of moderate exercise five days a week to reduce your cancer risk. Moderate exercise includes brisk walks, cycling, swimming and aerobics.

Spending an afternoon running and playing games in the park with the children is better than sitting indoors watching television and can be considered as exercise.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

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People who are considered overweight or obese are more likely to suffer from cancer than people who have a healthy weight. The cancers found in overweight people include breast cancer in women past menopause, womb cancer, bowel cancer, oesophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer and gall bladder cancer.

The fat tissues in overweight people produce more hormones than people with a healthy weight and these hormones include high levels of insulin and oestrogen, and both of these increase your risk of cancer.

Limit Your Alcohol Intake

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Alcohol and smoking are the two main causes for mouth and oesophageal cancer in the UK. Alcohol is responsible for seven different types of cancer from mouth and upper throat cancer to oesophageal and laryngeal (voice box) cancer. It is also a factor in breast, liver and bowel cancers.

Alcohol is actually the cause of four per cent of all cancer cases in the UK. As little as three units per day can increase your risk.

Enjoy the Sun in Moderation

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It’s not the sun itself, but rather the UV (ultra violet) radiation caused by sunlight that is the cause of skin cancer. Skin cancer can be a result of extended periods in the sun or extensive use of tanning beds.

While skin cancer is often easily cured by removing the cancer under local anaesthetic, the most dangerous of all skin cancers is melanoma. This cancer can spread throughout the body through the lymph glands causing serious damage and risk to the patient.

Everyone worries about cancer at some time, and while there’s nothing you can do to be certain you won’t be affected, if you take the time to make subtle changes to your daily lifestyle in terms of diet, activity levels and ensuring you maintain a healthy body weight, you can immediately start reducing your risk of cancer right now!

For more help and answers to all your questions about breast cancer, visit Cancer Research UK.