BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: A LOOK AT PREVENTION

The National Cancer Institute states that one in eight women have a risk of developing breast cancer and as much as 80 percent of cancer cases are preventable. Risk factors for breast cancer are family history, genetics and diet.

Since the 1950’s breast cancer has been on the rise and so has obesity. The food industry which consists of publicly traded corporations has only one thing in mind, it is to make money and increase their profits. In order to do this they have made their product (food) cheaper by genetically engineering, spraying chemicals poisons over crops, loading the soil with chemicals to help plants grow faster, and pumping animals with growth hormones. They started adding chemical additives to food that increases your appetite and makes it physically addicting.

The problem is most chemical additives are toxic to the body, when the body is overloaded with these toxins it is unable to fight disease. Studies have shown eating a diet high in preservatives, animal products, saturated fat and dairy is linked to breast cancer.

A Harvard Medical School study of more than 90,000 women revealed that women who ate the most meat were nearly twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those who did not eat much meat.

The number one thing that you can do to prevent breast cancer is maintain a healthy diet.

Deleting packaged foods, lowering your consumption of sugars, dairy, and hormone filled meats can help prevent you from getting breast cancer. Stay away diet drinks  and all artificial sweeteners including saccharin, Nutrasweet, Splenda, and sucralose to name a few.  Artificial sweeteners are just that- artificial chemicals- and are considered carcinogenic in humans. If you must have something sweet, consider Stevia which is a natural sweetener.

Important supplements in the fight against breast and other forms of cancer are vitamin D, lycopene and quercetin.

Adding Vitamin D in the form of dark green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, fish oil, and soymilk and rice milk can also assist in boosting the immune system which makes it more effective in destroying tumors. Another way to get vitamin D is through sunlight.  Sun exposure stimulates vitamin D production in the skin, fair skinned individuals should get at least 15 minutes of sunlight per day and dark skinned at least one hour. However, in the winter months it is imperative to take a vitamin D supplement.

Lycopene is also an important in the prevention of cancer. Lycopene which comes from the red in tomatoes helps counter-act the effects of cell-damaging free radicals. Adding olive oil to fresh diced tomatoes during cooking gives the body the most readily absorbable form of lycopene.

Quercetin is a proven antioxidant that can protect cell structures from cell- and tissue- damaging free radicals. Small amounts of quercetin can be found in vegetables, beans, cabbage, garlic, grapefruit, grapes, green tea, onions, pears, red wine, and spinach.

Turn over a new leaf today. Start by eating whole not processed foods; avoid high sugar and high fat meals including dairy and red meats. Go organic as much as possible. Stay away from artificial sweeteners.

Get educated… while helping to find a cure is a great idea, the world needs to start with prevention. It is the key to living a life without breast cancer.

At a Glance:
Increased risk of breast cancer for teen girls and how to prevent it: http://www.webmd.com/video/teens-sex-hormones-cancer-study
Dangers of artificial sweeteners:
http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx
Taking Vitamin D for breast cancer:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4873786&page=1

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL AND ALREADY FATIGUED? Help Is Here!

Last week you were motivated, energetic, and excited to be back in school. However, this morning it was rough getting out of bed.

By the time you got to school you had already spend 15 minutes choosing and outfit, sent out seven texts to friends, sat in front of your computer, checked your Email, Twitter and Facebook, made the kids lunches then stopped and grabbed breakfast from one of the eight menu items at the closest fast food restaurant.

You run to your class and sit down, already feeling fatigued. The day has just started. You think, "How on earth am I going to do this all over again tomorrow?"

There are some basic scientific fixes to help keep your strength and stamina elevated all day.

The University of Minnesota conducted a study on stamina. They found that people who were asked to choose from an assortment of things to buy had less stamina and did worse on math problems than those who just looked at the options. It is better to give yourself less choices. Say out loud, I will wear my orange sweatshirt and light blue jeans today instead of looking in your closet, then trying to decide amongst the sea of clothes.

Try to space out using electronics, or power it off completely for an hour a day. Technology is great, but a British experiment showed an IQ dip of 10 points in those people who juggle several technology tasks at one time (like emailing, texting and talking on the phone.)

Throughout the day take a leap of joy. Literally jump up and down like you won the lottery. "This not only helps to get our heart rate up, but allowing yourself to be silly releases feel good endorphins and helps to get us in a better state of mind," says Elizabeth Lombardo PhD, author of "A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness."

Bring the color orange into your wardrobe. You can wear orange socks, accessorize with orange jewelry, carry and orange notebook or sticky notes, even set and orange on your desk for an afternoon snack. Colors such as red, yellow and orange are energizing because they activate our brain circuitry and gives us feelings of liveliness.

The smell of mint helps people to exercise longer and complete tasks faster and more accurately. Use a mint lotion, chew mint gum, drink mint tea, or keep an ounce of fresh mint on hand to put in drinks and salads. Even grow a spearmint plant indoors year round (brushing your fingers through the leaves releases the scent) suggests Pamela Dolton, PhD, a senior research scientist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

When using social networking sites, field your negative messages and embrace the warm ones, when we receive nice messages from loved ones it releases a chemical called oxytocin which gives us feelings of well-being.

Make a list of  accomplishments,even if they are small, at the end of each day. Look at them every morning.  Studies have found that people who record performed tasks feel a sense of accomplishment which induces a positive mood which is associated with more energy.

So tomorrow show up to class smelling like mint, wearing bright orange, jump up and down laughing, and have a list of accomplishments pasted on the front of your school binder.

One suggestion, make sure to hand your instructor a copy of this article before he or fellow classmates suggest you seek physchiatric help.

At A Glance:
Addition Help for Fatigue, Supplements:
Astragalus:
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupplementguide/a/Astragalus.htm
Rhodiola:
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-rhodiola.html
Vitamin B Complex:
http://www.answers.com/topic/vitamin-b-complex
Vitamin C:
http://www.adrenalfatiguerecovery.com/vitamin-c.html