Healthy Breast Support (for men, too!)
Happy day to all of you lovely people out in the world! I hope you are enjoying this amazing weather…. my absolute favorite time of the year!
I am so excited to share this information with you this week, because I think that it will be so impactful for you and the way you view your health!
I want to share something with you that I know impacts every one of your lives out there. I know that you know at least one person in your life, who has been impacted by Breast Cancer in some way. I know several people who have lived with it, beat it, and sometimes have died with it. I believe that it’s one of those things that is on everyone’s mind. And what I would like to believe, is that we have some kind of impact on our physical, emotional and spiritual selves that can empower us to feel like we can create our own destinies.
Here in America, our health care system highlights the importance of breast health during the month of October. While I appreciate the information being offered to the public and knowing that it’s given with the best of intentions, I find a couple of very important tips missing from the common dissemination of information. Traditional, western medicine does not teach that there is much one can do to maintain healthy breast tissue. Whether this is an oversight or lack of information, I feel that it’s really important that we are all armed with knowledge and information to take charge of our own health.
Most of the information I see out in the mainstream media and at doctor’s offices is focused on what you do, once a lump has been found. For example: Breast Self-Exam, getting a regular Mammogram, having your doctor check you regularly. This is all great, but, the challenge with this, is that the growth has already started. I wouldn’t call this ‘prevention’ but rather, ‘detection’. In the traditional medical model, once something is found, there are attempts made to remove the offending lump/mass. I feel that this is a ‘victim’ mentality, with women feeling helpless and just sort of ‘waiting around’ to see if they are ‘one of the ones’.
I would like to present you with some regular self-care choices that can empower you (and, if you are a man, you can share these with the special women in your lives). And to be quite honest, the rate of Breast Cancer in men is also on the rise. It is most common among men who are 60 – 70 years of age. About one percent of all breast cancers occur in men, with about 2,000 men diagnosed with breast cancer annually.
- Basically, like any other tissue in the body, the breast requires a good blood supply (oxygen and nutrients) to the tissue and then a good venous and lymph supply to take waste products and de-oxygenated blood back to the lymphatic system and heart.
I’ve read several different theories on the origination of cancer in the breast tissue.
In a nutshell, the best way to keep the breast healthy is:
- to keep a good blood supply going to the breast.
- ensure proper elimination of waste products from the breast.
- keep inflammatory levels low in the entire body.
Of course, that’s an oversimplification of the process, but that gives you the ‘big idea’. We all have cancer cells floating around in our body. Whether they are expressed or not has quite a bit to do with our lifestyle and what we are exposed to on a regular basis.
I have a short list here of action items for you to proactively support breast health:
- Wear wireless bras …….the wires constrict the bloodflow and puts pressure on the lymphatic drainage points for the stomach and liver, which are located right beneath each of the breasts.
- Breast massage…. helps to keep the tissue from getting tight and fibrotic and increases blood flow. I love this breast massage video! I’m switching to this massage, now that I’ve seen this and ditching the one I’ve been doing for several years.
- Cold showers in the mornings to increase lymph flow from the breasts. See my post for more information on this.
- Exercise! Women should sweat everyday to get the toxins out of the body.
- Rather than using an anti-perspirant (this stops up the sweat glands in the arm pits, thereby preventing the toxins from getting out of the breast area), use a deoderant. ‘Tom’s of Maine’ is a good one and there are others available at the health food store. Try different ones until you find one that is right for you.
- De-stress! Stress is the #1 cause of inflammation in the body. You can de-stress by: lying flat on your back 1-2 times per day for 11 minutes and long deep breathe, taking a walk, listening to relaxing music, laughing.
- Diet Maintain a diet low in saturated fats by avoiding fried foods and red meats. Increase your intake of whole grains like millet, quinoa, brown rice, dark leafy greens. Breast cells respond to dietary changes faster than any other cells in the body.
- Avoid chocolate, dairy and caffeine Chocolate and caffeine lead to inflammation and swelling and pain in the breast tissue. If you have fibrocystic breasts, notice if you have more pain after consuming any of these foods.
- Eat organically grown foods, whenever possible (the chemicals used on foods mimic estrogen and this increases the risk of cancers)
- Drink water…. shoot for a gallon a day of clean, filtered water. Do NOT drink out of plastic!! The water leeches the plastic and, again, it acts as a chemical estrogen. Plus, plastic is so bad for the environment. Use old glass juice or pasta jars, if you don’t want to buy glass.
- Increase your intake of good oils such as, olive oil, flax (1 Tablespoon per day recommended), walnut, coconut, hemp, sunflower.
- Thermography is available in different clinics around the world. This is a great test available to detect heat and increased inflammation in the body. It can detect heat in the breast area up to a year before a Mammogram can detect anything. If you can see the heat, you know something is going on and you can make lots of lifestyle changes to reduce the heat and swelling. Dr. Northrup also has a lot to say about the traditional Mammograms as a detection. I recommend that you take a look at her interview with Dr. Mercola.
- And lastly, Lymphatic Reflex massage technique. I am an Applied Kinesiologist, and one of the techniques that we use is lymph drainage points to help move the lymphatic system. I do this, personally every morning before I get dressed. I’m adding in a link here of the specific points that are good for moving the lymph around the armpit and breast areas. It is a hand drawn schematic but it gets across what I would like to show you. Lymph drainage you can do on your own by rubbing these areas vigorously with moderate pressure. Use the points for the Liver, Stomach and Central meridians. Of course, you can do any and all of the other points.
Healthy breasts are do-able and not out of our reach.
I support you in being pro-active with your health. We do have tools available to us that can support our health and well-being. I hope this very long (but hopefully informative) post is something that you will use. PLEASE, please share this post with people!! I really want this information out to everyone.
With blessings for continued health and vitality to you and your families,
Dr. Arjan
Disclaimer: None of the above information is intended to cure any disease or ailment. Please check with your healthcare provider before starting any new healthcare regimen.