Monday, October 8, 2012

Eat to Beat Cancer (part 2)

I planned to get started on this post several days ago but I was sidetracked by the recent Meningitis Outbreak due to contaminated steroid injections.  So, on to Breast Cancer Awareness!
(part 1 here)

I like food!  I also like my body and fitting into my jeans. We make choices every day the will potentially effect us for the rest of our lives.

Did you know that by avoiding certain foods you may be able to reduce your risk for cancer? Do you know that even men are at risk for breast cancer?

According to Breastcancer.org, (click the link for all of the stats)
  • bout 1 in 8 U.S. women (just under 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
  • In 2011, an estimated 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 57,650 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
  • About 2,140 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2011. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.
  • For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.
  • Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women. Just under 30% of cancers in women are breast cancers.
  • In 2011, there were more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the US.
  • A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. About 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it.
  • About 5-10% of breast cancers can be linked to gene mutations (abnormal changes) inherited from one’s mother or father. Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. Women with these mutations have up to an 80% risk of developing breast cancer during their lifetime, and they are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age (before menopause). An increased ovarian cancer risk is also associated with these genetic mutations.
  • In men, about 1 in 10 breast cancers are believed to be due to BRCA2 mutations, and even fewer cases to BRCA1 mutations.
  • About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.
Breast Anatomy
Care2 (while I never don't always agree with their politics) has a great article about foods to avoid to reduce your risk.
1. All charred food, which create heterocyclic aromatic amines, known carcinogens. Even dark toast is suspect.
2. Well-done red meat. Medium or rare is better, little or no red meat is best.
3. Sugar, both white and brown–which is simply white sugar with molasses added. (See Care2′s Directory of Natural Sweeteners for great, healthy alternatives.)
4. Heavily salted, smoked and pickled foods, which lead to higher rates of stomach cancer.
5. Sodas/soft drinks, which pose health risks, both for what they contain–sugar and various additives–and for what they replace in the diet–beverages and foods that provide vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
6. French fries, chips and snack foods that contain trans fats.
7. Food and drink additives such as aspartame.
8. Excess alcohol.
9. Baked goods, for the acrylamide.
10. Farmed fish, which contains higher levels of toxins such as PCBs.

I cut out most of these items when I decided to live healthier and lose weight.  

-We don't grill anything because it creates carcinogens (like smoking a cigarette).  
-We recently switched to Agave or honey instead of sugar.
-Soda?  I had a diet coke habit and for the hubby it was Monster.  Not only is it expensive but it ruins your teeth, stomach, liver and health.  Save your money and drink water!
-Trans fats = Yuck!
-Asparatame = POOP!  Literally!  There is evidence that not only does Asparatame make you FAT by making you crave more sugar but also that it is from GMO E.Coli Excrement.  Yep, POOP!
-Alcohol, sorry folks but I'm not giving up my glass of wine here and there.  Moderation is key!
-Baked Goods?  OUCH!  If you make your goods from scratch they should not have the same chemicals as store-bought.  Remember my post 6 Ingredients you May Not want in Your Food! 

I hope you have enjoyed this informative post.  I learn something new every day!  Stay tuned for Food for Breast Health!

***Enter Mary's Salsa Garden Giveaway!***

18 comments:

Mary said...

I like your helpful posts. I am going to use some soda and vinegar for shampoo, too.

Unknown said...

So informative! Thanks for linking up To Whimsy Wednesday!

Kelly
Smart! School {House}
http://www.facebook.com/SmartSchoolHouse

KristaM said...

Found and followed you through Adorned from Above's link party, and I'm so glad I did! I lost one of my boss's to breast cancer earlier this year. She was able to prolong her life by changing her diet, so I highly suggest people keep reading your posts!

Hope you stop by my blog sometime!

http://www.the-not-so-desperate-chef-wife.com/

Krista

The Domesticated Princess said...

Thanks for sharing! I never thought about grilled food being dangerous. Good to know.

Unknown said...

These are good tips, but agave nectar is not the health food it's touted as. It has as much fructose or more of high fructose corn syrup. Fructose is what feeds cancer cells in our bodies.

Becca said...

Thanks for sharing the information on my Healthy Tuesday post. :)

Mary Smith said...

Thank you all for stopping by and leaving such positive comments!
If you have not already, enter the Mary's Salsa Pack Giveaway so you can Grow Your Own!
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/2012/10/marys-salsa-garden-pack-giveaway.html

Unknown said...

Great information! Thank you! It's amazing how we are literally poisoning ourselves all day long!

Becky Elmuccio said...

Important tips to share! Thanks for posting them on Tuesday Greens. I had never thought about the baked goods. Another things to make from scratch at home!! :)

Unknown said...

What an awesome informative post! Thanks for sharing this! I am a new follower and I am looking forward to staying connected. Would love for you to visit me and join my site as well. :)

riversrecipereview.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Thank you for linking up at Super Sweet Saturday. Very informative post. I think aspartame is about the worst stuff out there. We eat way too many baked goods around here but at least they are all homemade!
Stephanie
swtboutique.blogspot.com

Jessi @ Practically Functional said...

Thanks so much for sharing this at The Fun In Functional! These are great tips and definitely worth remembering.

momto8 said...

great information here! I agree eating better makes us feel better! I

Jessica said...

Thanks for another important and informative post. Thanks for sharing at Sweet Saturday!

Paula said...

This is all great information. Lately I've cut out diet soda, artificial sweeteners, and I almost always bake from scratch.

Thanks for sharing with my NO RULES Weekend Blog Party :)

Paula
lifeasweknowitbypaula.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Really informative post. I would love to hear more about using natural sweeteners in recipes. We have backyard bees and get a lot of honey from them, but I am not sure how to substitute it for regular sugar in my recipes. I did not know that brown sugar was just white sugar! I thought it was better for you. Thanks so much for sharing at Mom's Library!

Adorned From Above said...

Mari,
This is great information. Thanks so much for linking at Adorned From Above's Link Party last week. This weeks party is opened.
Debi @ Adorned From Above
www.adornedfromabove.com

Cheerios and Lattes said...

Thanks for linking up on Saturday Show and Tell. I hope you'll be back again this week with more great stuff.
-Macknezie
http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com