Breast Health: Radical Ways To Care For & Love Your Breast
It's Breast Cancer Awareness month. And, per usual during this month of October I rarely see empowering post about some of the preventative causes of breast cancer and how women can actually care for our breast.
I've been set on fire to sit down and write this article. I want to take this opportunity to merge the conversation about our breasts with "how to avoid breast cancer" and "how to have healthy breasts and enjoy them."
I'd actually prefer a national breast health month, when women can make a point of expressing love to our breast every day? Or practicing radical breast care throughout the month!
Preventative causes of breast cancer
Before I dive into some ways for you to care for your breast, I want to share some preventative causes of breast tissue growth and cancer. Why? Because conventional medicine does a pretty good job of making women feel hopeless, scared and ultimately handicapped. It's why invasive therapies and surgical procedures are offered to women out of place of fear before they are educated about ways to lower their risk.
So here we go...
- Articifial hormone therapy
- Birth control
- Endocrine disruptors
- Estrogen dominance
- Stagnant lymph
- Liver toxicity
- Gut imbalances
- Nutrient deficiences
- Radiation
- Alcohol overconsumption
- Breast implants
- Metobolic dysfunction
- Oxidative stress
- Disrupted circadian rhythm
- High levels of stress
These are all preventative causes of breast tissue growth and cancer.
Now, let's talk about ways you can radically care for your breast!
1. Pay attention to any breast symptoms.
First and foremost, you should pay close attention to any breast symptoms that suggest the need for hormonal balancing. You are the one that knows your body best, it's your home. Pay attention to it. A new lump, thickening, redness, swelling or sore breast are often a sign of subotimal levels of iodine and omega-3 fats, or estrogen levels that are too high.
Be proactive, and if you do find an issue with your breasts there are natural ways you can address it. I advise you to avoid articifial hormone therapies, as these types of therapies actually increase your risk of developing breast cancer.
2. Lovingly touch your breast regularly.
When we touch our breast, we're sending heart energy to them. In fact, back when you were an embryo, the tissue in your hands was connected to the tissue that went to form your heart. Breast massage will increase the flow of lymph fluids and blood to your breast tissue and bring them oxygen and vital nutrients. You can do this in the shower. Or when you wake up in the morning, before putting on clothes.
However, don't do this massage if you currently have breast cancer. Send love by placing your hands over your breasts and letting them rest there as you affirm the beauty and health of your breast.
3. Opt for thermograms over mammograms.
There's a better way to screen for breast health. Unlike mammography, which involves exposing your chest and breasts to radiation, thermography detects heat in the breast tissue that may be due to cellular inflammation. It is a functional test, and the results change as blood flow to your tissue changes. When blood vessels are being formed to support a cluster of abnormal cells with DNA mutations, the process releases heat that can be picked up on an infrared imaging camera.
In essense, you're able to see problems long before the y become an actual diagnosable disease. If you have dense breast, a mammogram may show there's a problem where there is none simply becasue it's harder to get a clear mammogram picture of dense breast tissue, which is not the case with thermography. Thermographs are also more comfortable since they do not involve breast compression of any kind.
4. Go braless as much as possible.
Go braless as much as possible so your lymph fluids can flow freely. I understand that if you have large breast it may be painful to go braless for too long. Just be sure that you're not in your bra all day long and you're letting them be free when you can. If you have daughters teach them that freedom and less constriction is good for breasts.
Also I think it's important for me to say here, because I know some of you are thinking it, that there is NO real evidence that going braless causes your breast to sag earlier than they would otherwise. If your breast are sagging and loosing elastiticty that's more of a nutrition (lack of efficient protein, collegen etc) and hormone (low estrogen) probem than a bra.
5. Eliminate negative self-talk about your breast.
Not only should you eliminate negative self-talk about your breast, but you should avoid bonding with other women over how you don't like your breast. Group of friends and family members affect each others' perception and behaviors about their bodies. Be the first one in your family or group of girlfriends to reject the habit of complaining about breast size and shape. Instead, say "I love the breast that God and my ancestors have given me".
6. Eat a high-fiber diet with plenty of healthy fats and low-glycemic fruit.
High-viber vegetables include broccoli and cabbage, onions, tumeric, garlic, greens, carrots and sweet potatoes. Enjoy nuts and fax, hemp or chia seeds. Eat fish or take a quality fish oil supplement so that you get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids, because these antioxidants lower the risk of breast cancer.
A high-glycemic diet causes insulin resistance over time and insulin resistance is a risk factor for breast cancer, so cut down on sugars and grains while including healthy meats, fish, cheese and eggs. Add healthy fats such as ghee, lard, butter, coconut oil and advocado oil. Don't worry about fats from healthy sources.
7. If you're going to drink, drink in moderation and in joy.
Drinking one or more alcoholic beverages a day puts you at a 60 percent higher risk of developing cancer. The risks may be greater for women taking HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Alcohol consumption inhibits the ability of folate, a B vitamin, to repair DNA. If you drink, take a B-complex supplement, and remember that health is about enjoyment, not addiction.
Reaching for a glass of wine or your favorite mixed alcohol beverage to add pleasure to your meal produces and entirely different result than reaching for a glass of wine or alcohol drink to silence anxiety or sadness.
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Love and health,
Shavonne Richardson