Prevention of breast cancer is not getting your annual mammogram.  Sure, that’s part of being proactive, vigilant and smart. But, mammograms are diagnostic tools not breast cancer risk reduction.

As a women’s health advocate and healthcare practitioner specializing in women, I know breast cancer.  It’s the number one thing that my patient’s worry about, especially if they have family history.

But an annual mammogram, self breast exam or genetic testing in my book, aren’t prevention.  Risk reduction and ultimately prevention of breast cancer is something that you can do everyday.

If you are a breast cancer survivor you understand that through treatment you may have already been thrust into unnatural menopause.  Many forms of estrogen sucking chemotherapy eliminate estrogen from the body in a violent and immediate way.

Breast cancer survivors don’t get the benefit of a slow natural progression and loss of estrogen as in typical menopause. Estrogen is responsible for so many things; our skin, nails, brain/heart function, so losing it quickly in addition to the diagnosis of breast cancer, is overwhelming for most women.

Obviously, lifestyle plays a huge role in this equation.  But, do you really stop to think about the pieces of the puzzle here?  Lifestyle management offers both risk reduction and prevention of re-occurrence benefits in study after study. Being more intentional about this piece of the equation is one of your most effective breast cancer risk reduction strategies.

Diet, specifically, the management of insulin and how you metabolize estrogen are big deals.  Two big strategies here, I tell my patients, are eating your greens (at least 1 pound a day), and avoiding sugar, especially fructose.

There are many risk reduction strategies during menopause. Inside the podcast we dive into these natural strategies in more detail:

https://youtu.be/eR2QJDSzTyk

Natural, Organic and Amazing Skincare 
One of  Dr. Rhonda’s favorite resources for natural skincare

Toxins Backoff!
Check your skincare products for their level of toxicity or source nontoxic options at the Environmental Working Group’s awesome product data base.  They have information on almost 70,000 items.  Check it out here.

Research Proves it 
The benefits of exercise for breast cancer survivors is proven.  See the data here.  So, exercise for breast cancer risk reduction is one of your key strategies.  Get moving!