Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a time to improve your health and reduce your risk

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is more than just wearing a pink ribbon to show your awareness of this campaign, it is a time to focus on improving your health and learning ways to reduce your risk of breast cancer. Natural Medicine and Rehabilitation encourages people to review the following suggestions and make lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of breast cancer and all types of other cancers.

• Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains contain vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, which may play a role in cancer prevention. Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables so that you get an array of vitamins and nutrients. Nutrition impacts every aspect of our health.  Food is not merely fuel for our bodies; it becomes our body as the nutrients are utilized to create structures that make up our muscles, bones, hormones, organs and brain!  Therefore all the systems in our body are influenced greatly by what we eat.  The quality of our food has far reaching impact on just about any chronic health condition, so everything we eat can bring us either closer to health and wellness or closer to illness and disease.
• Exercise most days of the week. Try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days. If you’ve been inactive, start slowly and build up gradually to 30 minutes.  Also, talk to your doctor before starting any exercise program. A conditioned body is key to long term health. Over time, however, it is natural to become “de-conditioned” when good health and fitness habits are neglected. This can lower the body’s resistance, which can lead to almost all known diseases. Ordinary symptoms such as pain, aches, sickness, weight problems, poor posture, fatigue and simply not feeling well are commonly the result of long-term de-conditioning. Through re-conditioning, an individual can restore and maintain true long term good health by obtaining the proper balance of fitness, nutrition, stress management and rest.

• Maintain a healthy weight.  If you have a healthy weight, work to maintain your weight by combining a healthy diet with daily exercise. If you need to lose weight, aim to lose weight slowly by increasing the amount of exercise you get and reducing the number of calories you eat.Our passion is creating a healthier, stronger person from the inside and our concern is that many fall prey to weight loss gimmicks and games that purport weight loss without one’s health and body balance in mind.
• If you choose to drink alcohol, limit the amount of alcohol you drink to no more than one drink a day for women and two for men.
• Stop smoking. The World Health Organization recognizes the use of acupuncture in the treatment of a wide range of medical conditions, one of which is smoking cessation treatment.
• Eliminate sources of toxic exposure and learn how to detox your body and home to help restore your immune system and optimize your body’s natural defenses.

Whether you are trying to reduce your risk factors of breast cancer, have recently been diagnosed or have been a survivor for several years, our holistic wellness programs can help you succeed with your long-term health and wellness.