5 Surefire Ways to Support Breast Health + Breast Cancer Prevention
Breasts – we all have them!
Discussing breast health can be a somewhat taboo subject in some spaces. But it's critical to consider how you’re either hurting or helping the health of your breasts.
Breast Cancer Awareness (+prevention) Month is about to wrap up. So we want to leave you with some tangible, direct ways you can support your breasts.
As a woman (and even as a man!), supporting breast health is one of the most beneficial – and natural – forms of breast cancer prevention.
1. Using Non-Toxic Skincare Products Benefits Breast Health
If you’re unsure where to start with breast cancer prevention practices, you're not alone. To support your breast health, start swapping for non-toxic skincare products. Your skin is your largest + most exposed organ.
While your body has natural detox pathways to eliminate toxins, it still absorbs what we put on it. Choosing clean + toxin-free products decreases your chances of developing breast cancer.
How do you determine which products are truly non-toxic?
Learn How to Spot Greenwashing
There are no regulations in the personal care industry (unless you count the self-regulated committee). So, unfortunately, many brands use greenwashing – aka misleading claims and sketchy marketing. Sometimes they even straight up lie to you.
So it’s much safer to choose products you can confirm as non-toxic. A clean ingredient list is the most telling factor. Learning to identify and look past greenwashing tactics will go a long way in general cancer prevention. And your health will improve – even in your breasts.
Avoid Fragrance in Deodorant (And All Your Personal Care Products)
“Fragrance/Parfum” is a sneaky loophole cleared by the FDA. This term lets companies put sketchy chemicals (aka known carcinogens) in your products. All without your knowledge. This is dangerous with deodorant because the tissues in your armpit link directly to your breasts.
Always avoid the term fragrance in the ingredient list of your products to support optimal breast health.
Refuse Hormone-Disrupting Ingredients
Many personal care products on the market today contain known hormone-disrupting toxins. Besides cancerous and reproductive harm, hormonal imbalances are tiring to address and solve. They can also significantly affect your quality of life.
Tip: Check out BCPP’s glossary to learn which ingredients to avoid for breast cancer prevention.
Go Non-toxic With Your Makeup Choices
While makeup may not seem like a big deal, it’s something that sits on your face day in and day out. You bet your skin is absorbing whatever’s in your makeup. Studies have shown that many makeup products have carcinogenic ingredients or contaminants.1
You can support your whole body and breast health all at once with clean products. Being mindful of everything that goes on and in your body is a big job, but it’s one you can choose to start today.
2. A Balanced Diet Can Support Breast Health
Your diet affects your whole body, but especially your gut. Since your gut is the foundation of your immune system, it plays an undeniable role. A diet can either hurt or help in fighting cancer cells throughout your body.Incorporate Healthy Fats to Build Healthy Cells
Simply put, cancerous cells are unhealthy cells. Healthy fats can work with your body on a cellular level. They rebuild and support healthy, functioning cells. And by association, these fats support breast health + breast cancer prevention.
Limit your omega-6 fats (seed oils) and choose more omega-3 fats like:
- Fatty fish (mackerel or salmon)
- Coconut oil, ghee, tallow, and avocado oil for cooking
- Grass-fed meats as often as your budget allows
- Seeds like flax and chia
- Avocados
Up your nutrient-dense foods like:
- Bone Broth
- Superfoods
- Beef Liver (Check out this reel)
It’s also worth noting the importance of organic produce and whole foods to avoid toxins and synthetic fillers.
Hydrate Like You Mean It
Hydration is essential for health. Hydration keeps your body functioning as it should. It keeps your fluids moving and flushes out toxins/impurities. Since your breasts contain part of your lymphatic system, hydration has a direct impact on your breast health. You can increase your hydration levels with a special fourth phase of water, gel water.
Food either helps us or hurts us. Let’s choose foods that fuel healthy lives and support breast health + breast cancer prevention!
3. Non-Restrictive Bras to Support Breast Health
It might seem weird at first to throw out our push-up bras and wire-supported bras. But take a page from ancestral wisdom:
→ Our ancestors didn’t wear bras
→ Some of them didn’t even cover their breasts at all
So let’s consider why bras could be harmful to your breasts.
Lymph nodes in your breasts can become clogged when you’re constantly wearing tight-fitted and restrictive bras. Without proper lymphatic drainage and flow in this area, your breast health suffers.
A rule of thumb: Anything that leaves a mark on the skin impacts your lymphatic flow. It prevents your immune system from doing its best breast cancer preventative work.
Some call this concept a myth, but studies don’t lie about the consequences for your breast health. One study shows that women wearing restrictive bras are more than twice as likely to develop breast cancer.2
Our body wasn’t meant to be squished and stuffed into restrictive clothes. Plus, non-restrictive bras are MUCH more comfortable! Embrace the freedom.
4. Ongoing + Routine Detoxification Practices for Your Health
Breast cancer prevention would be incomplete without routine detoxing for optimal breast health. Though your body is a powerful detoxer, you still need to assist it. We all have to clear out the toxic buildup we encounter in our modern-day world.
Sweat More for a Powerful Detox
If sweat is your go-to detox method, be sure you’re using a non-toxic, natural deodorant to get the toxins out via sweat. (If you swap to a natural deodorant, try detoxing your pits first for an extra detox benefit).
Antiperspirants actively block your body from releasing toxins (or sweat). So it’s no wonder your deodorant can impact your breast health.
Sweat clears your body of heavy metals, toxins, BPA, and much more. Take advantage of this easy detox method for breast health. Let it sweat.
Eliminate Environmental Home Toxins
Think about how much time you spend in your home each night, weekend, etc.
It’s probably quite a bit.
You sleep at home for 8hrs (give or take). This is a lot of exposure added up over a lifetime. It’s crucial to eliminate the toxic load in your house + household products.
Detox Your Body With Holistic Detox Practices and Breast Health Will Follow
We love these natural detox methods for a dose of cleansing throughout the body. There are plenty of holistic detox methods, but these are a few of our favorites:- Autophagy – a form of fasting that boosts your body’s healing + detox pathways
- Dry brushing – a relaxing practice that stimulates circulation and lymph fluid
- Gua Sha – an anti-aging and detoxing practice to support your lymphatic system
No matter how you choose to detox, you’ll bring health benefits and healing to your whole body. Better yet, you'll actively promote breast cancer prevention.
5. Lymphatic Drainage/Support as Breast Cancer Prevention
Lymphatic flow is something we’re big about at PP. Lymphatic drainage is crucial for breast health and breast cancer prevention because many of your lymph nodes live in the tissue in and around your breasts.
Your lymphatic system is the foundation of your immune system. It’s critical for cancer prevention. You need to support it if you want to have a balanced immune system for breast cancer prevention.
Even though it might not get much press, lymph nodes in the breast need the same support as the rest of your lymph nodes.
As our friend Jacquelyn Long, a medical massage & bodywork specialist, puts it,
“Lymph affects everything – it’s everywhere in the body. Think of your body like an aquarium – it’s mostly water, right? The lymphatic nodes are like aquarium filters, and lymph is the water. If the filters get clogged, the water becomes stagnant and becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, viruses, parasites, and rogue cells to thrive.”
Here are the best practices we encourage for your lymphatic system health:
- Hydration – keeps all your fluids moving and the detox pathways active
- Movement – a powerful jumpstart for your body's natural detox pathways
- Stimulation – this can be done through gua sha or roller directly on your breast
The lymphatic system is a vital detox pathway in our body, but it needs a little extra help to fight diseases like cancer. You can start today.
Give Your Breast Health the Attention It Deserves
Making lifestyle changes can sometimes feel overwhelming, but we promise you won’t regret taking care of your breast health. The best part about all these practices? They’re sort of a two-in-one. You’re benefiting your whole body – not just your breasts.
So you’re actively preventing cancer + disease throughout your entire body.
You have everything to gain and nothing to lose! XO
Sources:
- Campaign for Safe Cosmetics | Carcinogens in Cosmetics
- Journal of Oncology Research and Treatment | Wearing a Tight Bra for Many Hours a Day Is Associated With Increased Risk of Breast Cancer
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