Breast health tip - Flaxseeds for breast health
The National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Villejuif, France, evaluated the relationship between the amount of plant lignans in a woman’s diet and breast cancer. The follow up study over seven years showed that the women with the highest amount of lignans in their diet had a 17 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer compared with women having the lowest dietary lignan levels.
The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on March, 2007.
Fruits, vegetables and whole-grain cereals are products rich in lignans.
Flaxseeds are a rich and easily available source of plant lignans. The phytoestrogens in plant lignans are secoisolariciresinol (SECO) and matairesinol. These phytoestrogens are converted in the intestine to weak estrogens. These weak estrogens stimulate the production of progesterone receptors, which helps in the protection from breast cancer. The lignans in flaxseed also influence estrogen metabolism helping to decrease the harmful estrogens while increasing the protective estrogen. The plant lignans are primarily in the seeds.
Flaxseeds are readily available at your local health food store. Buy organic flaxseeds if possible. Grind them daily in a small coffee grinder just prior to consumption so that the oil in the seeds does not become rancid. The ground flax can then be used in baked goods, cereal, sprinkled on salads or added to shakes. Try and eat 2 tablespoons daily for an inexpensive and easy proactive health solution.
What’s the difference between a mammogram and a breast thermography?
Women often ask me what the difference is between a mammogram and a breast thermography. Many believe that a thermogram is just a more natural or holistic mammogram. Actually they are quite different. Mammograms are x-rays of the breasts that show structure or anatomy. X-rays use radiation to penetrate the body and create of picture of what is already there.
Mammograms can show calcifications in their precise location. Mammograms are less effective on younger women and women with dense breasts. MRI’s also show the anatomy. Ultrasound uses sound waves to create an image of the breast tissue.
Thermography uses an infrared camera to pick up heat that comes off the body. Thermography doesn’t put anything into the body. That’s why it is safe for everyone. The infrared thermal images can show what is happening in the body (pre-structural or physiology) many times before there is actually a structural change in the tissue. This is why breast thermography is such a desirable screening tool for early detection. Thermography can alert you that something is changing in your body. It can’t show a precise location.
We can use this information to make lifestyle changes to improve and balance our health. Not leaving our wellness to chance, we can follow up with thermography as an objective way to see if our new lifestyle or nutritional protocols are working to improve our health.
Each woman should educate herself and work with trusted health practitioners to decide what combination of screening tools best suits her.
Welcome to Fearless Breast Health
Thank you for visiting my blog about Fearless Breast Health.
In this blog, I am going to explore all the newest advances in preventative breast health. I am hoping to help women in the Western world from the subconscious fear that lives in our hearts and minds about developing breast cancer. We are inundated with messages about detection, which is so important, but what about PREVENTION?
I am going to start this blog with my personal story, and then we will get to business about prevention, nutrition, lifestyle, expert advice and anything else that will empower us to take control of our health.
My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988 with a lump that was 1 ½ inches. Although she received mammograms (which were the early balloon style) she found the lump herself. This was the same year she was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer’s disease. She received a mastectomy but because of her other condition was never able to really grasp or communicate the sadness that she experienced every time she looked down at her chest. That deep fear and sadness affected the way I felt about my own future.