Reducing Your Risk of Breast Cancer

this is part of my Beast Cancer Series.

1. Maintain a healthy weight
2. Consume as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Eat seven or more servings daily. The superstars for breast cancer protection include all cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) ; dark leafy greens (collards, kale, spinach) ; carrots and tomatoes. The superstar fruits include citrus, berries and cherries
3. Eat organic foods if at all possible
4. Breast feed. A study published in the July 20, 2002 issue of The Lancet showed that the more babies a woman has and the longer she nurses them, the lower her breast cancer risk. Yale University researchers showed that women who breastfed for two years or longer reduced their risk of breast cancer by 50 percent.
5. Minimize consumption of omega-6 fats (sunflower, safflower, corn and cottonseed oils), saturated fats and trans fats. Omega 6 fats are pro-inflammatory
6. Maximize your intake of omega-3 fats, especially from oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, lake trout and herring). These are anti-inflammatory
7. Soak up some Vitamin D I(but not too much) According to William B. Grant's analysis, breast cancer risk could be cut in half by sufficient vitamin D levels. Most fair skinned people only need 15 minutes a day of sun exposure. Darker complexions need closer to 30 minutes. But most people will benefit from a supplement.
8. Don’t take birth control pills. Women using birth control pills possibly have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.
9. Take your Vitamin E. Some studies have found vitamin E to have any protective effect against breast cancer, and many have not, but more recent studies are now finding that it is the form of vitamin E that makes the difference.   It appears that the common form of vitamin E that you find in supplements and in most food sources, alpha tocopherol, is not protective against breast cancer (though it certainly is a very powerful antioxidant and needed nutrient).  But women consuming other forms of vitamin E called tocotrienols have been found to have dramatically lower risk of contracting breast cancer - 50% less risk for women without family history of breast cancer, and as much as 90% for premenopausal women with family history.The food sources of tocotrienols are rice bran, barley, and wheat germ
10. Minimize your exposure to xenoestrogens. Estrogenic compounds found as pollutants in the environment, and try to minimize exposure to them.

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