Lower your breast cancer risk 68%
Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in American women, especially after menopause. So it’s great to know that a few easy tips can help you prevent the disease naturally!
Eat tomatoes and sweet potatoes!
Doing nothing more than having one or both of these veggies every day drops your breast cancer risk 19%, recent Harvard research suggests. The reason: Both foods are packed with antioxidants that support immune function, “including killing cancer cells,” says Michelle Ashworth, M.D., a hematologist and medical oncologist in Round Rock, Texas. Tip: Pair them with extravirgin olive oil (EVOO). In a six-year Spanish study, older women who ate a healthy diet that included about four tablespoons of EVOO each day had a 62% lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to women on a lowfat diet.
Take an aspirin a day!
Wish there was a pill that could reduce your risk of breast cancer? There is— aspirin! The Journal of Women’s Health reports that taking a low-dose 75-mg. aspirin daily lowered the risk of breast cancer in diabetic women (who are at higher risk) 18% within one year— and 47% after eight years! Researchers are still investigating aspirin’s cancer-fighting connection, but if your doctor already recommends that you take baby aspirin (81 mg.) to prevent heart disease and stroke, you’ll be getting breast cancerprotective benefits, too!
Go for a brisk walk!
“Study after study proves the benefits of staying active, since exercise protects the body against chronic inflammation— one of the main factors in cancer growth,” says certified health coach Christine Egan, author of The Healthy Girl’s Guide to Breast Cancer. In fact, the effects of exercise are so powerful that women who walk briskly for as little as 90 minutes a week— or just 13 minutes each day—lower their risk of breast cancer 18%, according to the Women’s Health Initiative.
Try a little melatonin!
Melatonin—the hormone best known for helping you sleep soundly— also suppresses breast cancer growth, reports the journal Genes and Cancer. “Melatonin boosts the production of immunity-stimulating substances that attack the mutated cells that lead to cancer,” explains Egan (RedefiningHealthy.com). Unfortunately, something as simple as looking at your smartphone screen before bed can cause a melatonin shortfall since your pineal gland needs long periods of total darkness in order to produce the hormone. Egan’s advice: Avoid screen-time at least an hour before bed and block out all light with a sleep mask to ensure your natural melatonin production stays steady.