Chances are that you know someone who has faced a breast cancer diagnosis. Many of us have lost loved ones to breast cancer. There are so many factors on the plate when it comes to preventing and healing breast cancer. In particular, diet is an extraordinarily powerful anti-cancer treatment, but that is a whole separate post in itself. Here, I focus on three lifestyle changes every woman should know for better breast health. 

1. Take an underwire haitus

Breast tissue houses a big part of our lymphatic tissue. Our lymph system is like the garbage disposal for the body and it flushes out toxins. Unlike our cardiovascular system, however, the lymph system does not have a pump to move the fluid. Instead, the movement of our body is fully responsible for flushing toxins through lymph. Yes, that means breasts are supposed to bounce!

According to breast health expert Cheri-lynn Burk, underwire bras impede the movement of breast tissue and cause the lymph tissue to gather toxins. And she isn’t alone in spreading this news… many, many alternative health practitioners warn against wearing underwires. Additionally, a highly respected energy worker and holistic health practitioner once explained to me that, since we are energetic beings, the metal in underwire bras impede the flow of several important meridians that flow across our torso. 

But are underwire bras really such a big deal? Some convincing but circumstantial evidence says yes. In the book Dressed to Kill, authors Sydney Singer and Soma Grismaijer conducted a study of over 4,000 women and discovered some shocking results:

•  women who wore bras 24 hours per day had a 3 out of 4 chance of developing breast cancer
• women who wore bras less than 12 hours per day had a 1 out of 52 risk of breast cancer
• women who never or rarely wore bras had a 1 out of 168 chance of breast cancer

Further, one controlled study found that bra wearers had twice the risk of breast cancer compared with non bra users (although this could also reflect the point that the non bra users generally had smaller breasts and that correlated to the reduced cancer risk)  And a Japanese study found that a bra can lower your melatonin (a extremely beneficial hormone) levels by 60%.

“Don’t underwire bras keep the girls perky?” you may be asking. Actually, according to a bra study from France (where else?), going braless actually keeps the girls perkier.

…women who did not use bras benefited in the long term, developing more muscle tissue to provide natural support. As France’s The Local notes, Rouillon also noticed that nipples gained a higher lift, in relation to the shoulders, on women who went braless. When bras are worn, the restrictive material prevents such tissue from growing, which may actually accelerate sagging, the study concluded. Source

I get it if going braless isn’t a lifestyle change you want to make. Fortunately, there are safer bra alternatives that allow better lymph flow.

First, you can remove the underwire from your bras. It does remove some support though, as would be expected.

Second, purchase non-underwire bras. Some options include non-underwire bralettes from your favorite lingerie brand, or the organic bras from Blue Canoe.

If you can’t see yourself making the changes listed above, there are still steps you can take if you won’t give up your underwire: 

• Massage and bounce your breasts before bed to aid lymph flow
• Wear you bra as little as possible
• Never ever sleep in a bra, as night is when the detox processes of the body rev up. We need to support that natural detox by keeping the breast tissue unconstricted.

2. Skip the Mammogram

I ruffled a lot of feathers when I gave you the other side of the colonoscopy story and urged you to think hard before getting a routine colonoscopy. Now I’m going to tell you to think twice about mammograms as well!

Mammograms have long been controversial and, as time passes, we have more and more evidence to avoid the harmful affects of this type of cancer screening.

According to health expert Dr. Mercola,

The Institute of Medicine is finally acknowledging the toxic effects of mammogram radiation as a significant factor in the development of breast cancer; just one mammogram can expose you to the radiation equivalent of 1,000 chest x-rays…

In September 2010, the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most prestigious medical journals, published the first study in years⁷ to examine the effectiveness of mammograms. Their findings are a far cry from what most public health officials would have you believe.The bottom line is that mammograms seem to have reduced cancer death rates by only 0.4 deaths per 1,000 women—an amount so small it might as well be zero. Put another way, 2,500 women would have to be screened over 10 years for a single breast cancer death to be avoided. (Source)

The radiation and lack of effectiveness is not the only problem with mammograms. A big problem is the staggering numbers of false positives from mammograms. One study looked at three decades of U.S. data and found that 1 million women may have been mistakenly diagnosed with breast cancer due to mammogram screenings. Additionally, there is concern among alternative medical practitioners and even some Western medicine doctors that the intense compression of breast tissue during mammograms may spread the growth of any cancerous cells. 

Interestingly, the body has a strong defense system against breast tumors and the immune system allows 30 of breast tumors to go away on their own (source).

Screening Alternatives

Growing in popularity, thermograms provide a safer method for breast cancer detection. There are pitfalls, however, as Sarah explains in her post Thermography: Not a Perfect Alternative to Mammograms. The problem is that women are often pressured to get a mammogram before or after a thermogram. She explains:

Be sure to have a discussion with your chosen thermographer before the appointment to be sure that he/she has a way for you to get only a breast ultrasound and not a mammogram if a suspicious area is detected.

3. Stop the toxic personal care products

In our modern world, we are inundated with chemicals. There are chemicals that we cannot always avoid, like air pollution.There are chemicals that we can minimize, like the toxic furniture and carpeting that we bring into our house. And then there are the chemicals that we can completely avoid, like the chemicals in cosmetics and body care items.

Whatever we put on our skin is absorbed into the blood stream. Those unpronounceable chemicals from your shampoo and hairspray and body wash all end up inside your body, where they increase the risk of cancer, warp your endocrine system and may even increase the risk of heart disease. In particular, natural health experts condemn perspirants and deodorants, since the aluminum from these products are found in cancerous breast tissue (source). I suggest DIY deodorant or this option.

Additionally, the estrogen-like chemical additives found in many cosmetics may increase the risk of breast cancer. Parabens are a primary offender, found in countless body care products. The molecular structure of parabens resembles estrogen, and may cause excessive estrogen activity in the body. Estrogen dominance is a contributor to breast cancer.

Formaldehyde, another cancerous additive in body care, is disguised under various names. Scan your hair care products for these 8 ingredient names indicating formaldehyde.

Fortunately, you don’t have to give up your primping for better breast health. There are so many online resources for safe cosmetics and body care recipes. Here are a few of my favorites:

• 100% raw hair care
• DIY skincare recipes
• Non-toxic cosmetics

Switching to safe personal care items is only part of the picture when it comes to reducing the carcinogenic burden on our bodies… but it is an important step and the first place to start if you are a newbie to toxin-reduction.

Do you practice any of these tips for breast health?

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