Unfortunately, I see younger and younger women being diagnosed with breast cancer. The youngest woman who consulted with me was 19 years old! What would cause this avalanche of increased breast cancer risk for women of such a young age?
About 7% of newly diagnosed breast cancer cases occur in women under 40 years of age. This means that more than 13,000 young women, many of them mothers or pregnant women, find that their lives are about to change dramatically. The terrifying news, according to a 2013 study by the WADA, the incidence of metastatic breast cancer nearly doubled between 1976 and 2009. Survival rates are worse compared to older women who are pre- or postmenopausal.
Eighty-five percent of women who develop breast cancer do NOT have a family history of the disease.
So what does that tell us? That these cancers are developing due to environmental toxicity and poor food choices.
According to Columbia University, 95% of cancers are due to diet and the accumulation of toxins.
Let’s briefly look at Essential # 1, Let Food Be Your Medicine. The SAD diet (standard American diet) has poisoned the masses for decades. Food processing and the thousands of chemicals used in the food industry have created a toxic load that the body has to try to eliminate.
Cancer loves acidic food. Your body loves alkaline food. Either you feed the cancer or you feed the body when you have that fork.
I often hear: “But it’s in my genes.” Sorry, but your DNA is NOT your destiny. With the science of epigenetics, you have the ability to change your gene expression with the food you put in your mouth. Your genes can be turned on or off by stress, sleep, food, and chemicals.
“Would you rather have a sticky bun or a broccoli talking to your genes?” ~ Dr. Robert Roundtree.
To eat clean, focus on these types of foods:
1.) Green Cruciferous Vegetable Drink
2.) Green leafy vegetables
3.) Healthy organic oils like olive, grape seed, flax, walnut and avocado.
4.) Matcha green tea
5.) Raw Organic Soaked Nuts and Seeds
6.) Fermented foods like Kombucha, Kefir, and Sauerkraut
7.) Garlic
8.) Mushrooms like Reishi and Chaga
9.) Very few fruits except green apples, lemon and occasional berries.
10.) Crude whey protein
11.) Clean protein from free range animals, 100% grass fed, hormone free, antibiotic free
Ideally, your goal is to eat 80% raw and 80% alkaline. This can be easily accomplished by juicing in the morning, mixing the veggies into a smoothie for lunch, and eating a small amount of fish or protein with a salad or lightly sautéed veggies.
If you’re on a breast cancer healing journey, this 7-day sample menu will show you just how easy and delicious it can be. Feed your body, NOT cancer, by choosing your foods wisely. Next week I will talk about the problem of toxicity that may be at the root of the increase in younger women developing breast cancer.