The Breast Health Program: Becoming Aware to Protect & Prevent

by Jeanne Lurie, healthy breast educator at Tournesol

Good health is not a lottery, while some risk factors can´t be changed or avoided, there are many more factors that we can control, allowing us to tip the scale in our favor and employing powerful tips for prevention.

Breast cancer is one of the number one causes of cancer in women and statistics are rising, it is imperative that women are adequately informed on prime risk factors, prevention, protection, and recuperation. Knowledge empowers and enables us to make the healthiest lifestyle choices to ensure that our personal breast cancer risk factors are reduced to the lowest possible equation!

The World Health Organization has predicted that by the year 2020, the number of breast cancer cases will jump to the alarming figure of one in every eight women being diagnosed with breast cancer. The numbers will be far worse in the coming generation if we do not act now. Too many women are sadly outliving their daughters. Unfortunately the USA is among the countries with the highest number of breast cancer cases being diagnosed. We can and must change that!

Factors out of our control:

• Born a woman with breasts
• Genetics
• Family history
• Personal history
• Age

Factors within our control:

Lifestyle habits such as nutrition, exercise, breathing exercises, stress control, weight control, mind control, positive spirit, control of chemical consumption in cosmetics, foods, and environmental pollution, and effective screening methods assisting in early detection as one of the major components in prevention.

No one cancer is exactly the same and likewise there is no one cure for every cancer. Cancer is a multifaceted disease with many contributing causes and although we might not always know the cause, we do know with certainty that there are specific steps a woman can take to ensure her breast health and lower her risk factors by improving life style habits.

Thirty years ago the World Health Organization declared that up to 90 percent of all cancers are caused by pesticides, radiation, and other toxic chemicals in our environment. Not only have these numbers not decreased over time, today there are even more contaminants and estrogen disruptors in our environment, endangering our health and that of our planet. Our bodies are a mirror of what is happening to our planet earth. The planet is our collective body feeding us and nurturing us and if she is sick, so are we. Any time a species is having difficulties with conceiving, it is at a risk of extinction. Any time a species is unable to feed it´s offspring naturally with breast milk it is at risk of extinction. Unfortunately that species is us.

When we learn to heal our bodies, we heal others and we heal the earth and as we eliminate the contaminants to our planet we cleanse our bodies. We can and must learn to adapt a conscious and harmonious attitude towards life where we are empowered to live in harmony with self, with family, with community, with nature, and with the planet.

The Healthy Breast Program is an on going program of 12 modules using naturopathic measures for preventing breast cancer and treating women with the disease, used in combination with allopathic diagnosis, and treatment options.

 Short To-Do List:

• Consume a healthy diet based on ecological or organic plant foods and vegetable proteins.
• Regularly include cancer fighting phyto-chemicals in diet.
• Include antioxidant-rich foods and spices in diet.
• Periodically detox with a one day fast and or weekly sauna.
• Breathe deeply and oxygenate cells.
• Take short relaxation breaks throughout the day.
• Practice natural techniques for coping with stress.

Short Not To-Do List:

• Avoid or limit consumption of animal produce and animal fat, dairy fat, sugar, alcohol, and tobacco.
• Avoid pesticide contamination in food and environment.
• Avoid plastic food and water containers.
• Avoid food additives.
• Avoid genetically manipulated and processed foods.
• Avoid chemicals in food, cosmetics, and cleansing products