Breast Cancer: Let’s Review The Basic Rules For Prevention

Here in about two weeks, many of us will be walking in our own homes and neighborhoods, but still working together, to raise funds that will help find a cure that will end breast cancer. I'm sure, like me, you either know someone dear to you or you yourself have been affected breast cancer. It's a heartbreaking situation, whether it's you or someone you love.

Obviously we can't know with certainty whether or not we will someday receive this diagnosis, but there are definitely some important steps we can take to do our best to increase our chances of protection. We've heard many of these before, but they are certainly worth repeating.

According to the Mayo Clinic, some of the best things we can do to lower are risk are to limit the amount of alcohol we drink, quit smoking, keep our weight at a healthy level, exercise regularly, limit and/or minimize the doses and duration of hormone therapy, and do our best to avoid exposure to radiation and environmental pollutants.

There is also a growing opinion that our diets may have an important protective effect, as well. Making sure we are eating the foods that are full of the powerful vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants is a huge deal. Bottom line? Eat a ton of fruits and veggies.

Ready to learn more? Here's a follow up article from the Mayo Clinic on prevention. Want to delve more into some thoughts on the effect of diet on our risk? Healthline.com has one you can check out here.