Breast cancer prevention strategies

When you hear health messages about cancer or any disease do you find yourself filtering it out?  If you do, this next sentence might cause you to stop reading, but please continue because there's a point I'm hoping to make. At the time of writing this, statistics say that one out of eight women will get breast cancer in their lifetime (American Cancer Society). Are you still reading? That's good, because the purpose of sharing that statistic was to illustrate that even though we frequently hear these kinds of health messages, we don't always feel connected to them. 

Perhaps you might be thinking as I did when hearing those numbers, wow, that sounds like a lot, but I'm not going to be the one.  Unfortunately, this kind of thinking often translates into inaction. Statistical health data, although sometimes shocking and troubling, may not be meaningful enough to inspire change for some of us.

If you find that you aren't motivated by statistics, you're not alone. Evidence suggests that health messages which highlight health consequences and the numbers of people who get disease aren't as effective as was once thought.

What can be more successful in motivating change in health behaviors are messages that focus on causes and solutions for disease (McKenzie).

Obviously there is no clear solution to breast cancer at this point in time. However, there is a great deal of data available that is linking lifestyle factors with increased risk.

There may be no sure way to prevent breast cancer yet. However, this doesn't mean we're powerless. Our best prevention strategy is to take steps to reduce our risk factors as much as possible. So, let's take a closer look at the modifiable risk factors.  In other words, the things we can do to lower the probability of  becoming one out of eight women who will get breast cancer.


A few Prevention Strategies

• Excercise- Enough said.
• Avoid weight gain and obesity - Exercise and healthy nutrition are the keys. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a gain in body mass index (BMI) may substantially increase a women's risk for breast cancer, especially after menopause.The NCI states, " In a recent analysis, women who reported a gain in BMI of five points  or more between age 20 and postmenopausal age (ages 55-74) had nearly twice the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer compared to women who maintained their BMI during the same time period." You can read more about BMI in this post here.
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables - Preferably organic.  Organically grown produce lowers exposure to pesticides which can effect hormone levels, particularly estrogen dominance.
• Have your vitamin D levels checked -  A low level of Vitamin D is linked to increased risk for breast cancer. 
• Reduce chronic inflammation - I've blogged about this very important element of cancer prevention here, but simply put, if our immune system is preoccupied and overwhelmed responding to environmental and food stressors, it's possible that it can miss the angiogenesis of a sneaky cancer cell. 

Here's some additional information about eating "nutritarian" from Dr. Fuhrman's informative website which explains how to support our wellness with healthy nutrition. The foods we eat can either support or oppose our bodies. Experts now agree that there are even so-called power foods that do an especially good job of restoring our bodies. 

  

So, rather than tuning out messages about disease, consider the strategies that you can incorporate into your lifestyle that will help prevent illness from starting in the first place - because "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Sources
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@nho/documents/document/f861009final90809pdf.pdf
McKenzie, J. An Introduction to Community Health, 5th ed.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/
NCI - http://benchmarks.cancer.gov/2010/04/gain-in-body-mass-index-increases-postmenopausal-breast-cancer-risk/
Breast Cancer.org http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics
Breast Cancer.org http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/low_vit_d

Try a new f-word while exercising - FUN!

How's that New Year's resolution you made to exercise coming along? Maybe you've doubled down on your efforts, but are wondering if it's really worth it. Why does something that we know is good for us and that seemed so exciting just a few weeks ago, turn into a lackluster chore we begin to avoid? Rather than dreading it, slugging it out half-heartedly or abandoning your goal altogether, how about considering a different strategy? Try putting a little fun in your exercise program!

Yes, you read that right. FUN! Okay, so, maybe for you another F-word comes to mind when thinking about exercising, but, before you discount the idea as absurd, think about it for a minute... Can exercise really be fun and if so, what could make it fun? I think our response to this question might be influenced by our past experiences with physical activities.  Reflect back to when you were a kid. Did you ride a bike, a skateboard, or a scooter? Did you play tag, hide and seek, jump rope, and run races? What about shooting hoops, roller-blading or hula-hooping? You get the idea. These are all physical activities that for most of us are associated with fun. Now, what comes to mind when you think about your next workout on the treadmill, elliptical trainer or recumbent bike? If you said fun, good for you, but you're definitely in the minority.

The bottom line is for many of us is that physical activity has lost this element of fun. So, if your wondering why you're struggling with waning motivation, or you've moved past that stage to just giving up altogether, take a look at your workout and ask yourself - is this fitness routine boring and uninspiring? Case in point, faced with taking the stairs or the escalator, which would you choose? Well, not surprisingly, an experiment conducted by Volkswagen found that the majority of people would use the escalator - that is until they made the stairs fun.  Check it out:

 

The Fun Theory

 If you're wondering, how do I make my workouts fun?  Here are a few suggestions:

1. Revisit some of the childhood activities you once liked to do, although you may have to scale them back to accommodate your current fitness level
2. Know what you like and reward yourself for doing it. If you find being outside exhilarating, than choosing a form of indoor exercise isn't going to work for you.  Consider hiking through a local park, planting a garden or walking the dog.  Commit to it and reward yourself when you reach a predetermined goal. See SMART goals post here on how to set specific, measured, attainable, realistic and time-targeted goals, another key to being successful.
3. Progress g r a d u a l l y. This prevents pain and injuries. Remember, we had to learn to crawl before we walked. This applies to everyone. Even if you were a super athlete in college. If you've not exercised in a few years - you need to take it slowly. A few words about exercise and pain. Now, don't get me wrong, there will be a measure of discomfort, but this isn't pain and it will decrease over time. Exercise shouldn't be torture.  The old "No pain no gain" thinking has been replaced with the much wiser - "Train, don't strain."
4. Mix up your activities.  Variety is the spice of life, so they say and in this case it helps to prevent overuse injuries, as well as boredom and monotony.
5. Enlist the help of a buddy. Exercise is more fun if you have the support of a like minded friend. Mutual encouragement is a wonderful motivator.
6. Make exercise less like a "routine" and more like a game - a mental game that is.  Set a little "contest" for yourself for each physical activity you undertake.  For example, today when I perform the plank I'm going to hold this position for 10 extra seconds.  Make this  mini-challenge attainable, but not too easy, and then make sure you congratulate yourself when you win. 

Of course, always check with your physician before beginning any exercise program.

So, are you ready to stop cursing those dreaded workouts and put some fun back into fitness? Just give these ideas a try and perhaps you'll find a new attitude about your exercise resolution. You've got nothing to lose, right? Well, except maybe the few pounds you've resolved to lose already.   I look forward to hearing all your success stories. Happy new year!

References
Association for Applied Sports Psychology - Exercise Adherence - http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/Resource-Center/health-and-fitness/articles/exercise-adherence
The Fun Theory - http://thefuntheory.com/

More skinny on fats - the good, the bad, the ugly

While we're on the topic of fat...Yesterday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released statistics on obesity. First, what defines obesity?  In determining overweight or obesity for adults, a tool called the Body Mass Index (BMI) is used.  According to the CDC:

• an adult that has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight
• an adult that has a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese

Check out the CDC's BMI tool in the right hand column of this blog. As you can see, it uses height and weight, and for most people this correlates with their amount of body fat. If the tool isn't working for you (it requires Flash Player 9) you can go directly to the CDC's website here and use their interactive BMI calculator. Children and teens have their own BMI calculator that also uses height and weight, but this data is then plotted on a BMI-for-age growth chart in order to obtain a BMI percentile. You can find that tool here.

So, back to the obesity statistics.  This may not be all that surprising to some, but it's a sad fact that recent data released by the Weight Control Information Network (WIN) shows that over one third (33.8%) of American adults (age > 20) are obese and over two thirds (68%) are overweight. After checking your BMI, you might even be realizing that you're among these statistics.

Okay, enough of the depressing news. Let's talk about what can be done to make a positive change in these obesity trends.   The last post mentioned the 1990's low-fat/no-fat diet craze. Then the pendulum swung the other way and low carbohydrate eating became the next fad. Regardless of how or what you're eating, the most important information to keep in mind when you're trying to lose weight is calorie consumption. If the calories being consumed are greater than the calories being burned, weight gain occurs. It's as simple as that.

Most experts agree that 20-35% of our daily calories should come from fat  This amounts to about 44 to 78 grams of total fat a day, based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet (Mayo Clinic). Even though all fats contain the same number of calories (9 calories per gram), it's the foods we eat and the types of fat they provide that is vitally important. In addition, the ratio of certain fats in our diet is being recognized as significant for good health as well.

Plant Oils

Perhaps you've seen the classic spaghetti western starring Clint Eastwood called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The title of this film might be a helpful way to remember the reputation, so to speak, of the different dietary fats. They are:

Unsaturated fats - the good
These fats are called unsaturated because of their chemical structure, where most of the fatty acids are not saturated with hydrogens. You may recall that unsaturated fats can be mono- or polyunsaturated fatty acids (also known as MUFA's and PUFA's respectively).  Major sources of MUFA's are:

• plants oils ( olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil)
• avocados, nuts and seeds 

Major sources of PUFA's are:

• plant oils (safflower, sesame, soy, corn and sunflower) 
• nuts and seeds
• high in omega 3 - Fatty, cold-water fish (such as salmon, mackerel and herring), flax seeds, flax oil and walnuts

Saturated fats - the bad
In addition to fats that are unsaturated, there are also fats that are saturated.  They are called saturated fatty acids because their chemical structure has all the hydrogens it can hold, so it is said to be saturated. Later in the post the significance of the hydrogen saturation/unsaturation will become clearer, but for now it's important to note that saturated fats should be limited in the diet.  Consuming saturated fat is one of the main dietary factors linked to increased blood (serum) cholesterol levels.  Major sources of saturated fats are:

• whole milk, cream, butter, cheese,
• fatty cuts of beef and pork, sausage
• coconut, palm and palm kernel oils and products containing them like prepackaged cakes, cookies, pies, doughnuts and pastries

Trans fats - the ugly
The fact that a fat is saturated, or mono/polyunsaturated influences its firmness at room temperature and also its stability. Generally speaking, an example would be that polyunsaturated vegetable oils are liquid, whereas saturated fats like that found in beef or butter are more solid. All fats eventually become spoiled (rancid) when exposed to oxygen (oxidation), but polyunsaturated fats are the most unstable, so they're the most susceptible.

Back in the early 1900's a chemist figured out a way to alter the chemical structure of fats through a process called hydrogenation. This is the chemical process of taking a mono- or polyunsaturated fat and partially saturating it with more hydrogen atoms. Why bother? Well, one reason behind hydrogenation is that it makes a liquid fat more solid.  It also increases the stability of the fat. This helps to prevent spoilage and extends the shelf life of prepackaged foods containing partially hydrogenated oils. Unfortunately, the downside of this process results in what are called trans-fatty acids, which are also known as trans-fats. Major sources of trans-fats are:

• Commercial baked goods — such as crackers, cookies and cakes 
• Fried foods, such as doughnuts and french fries
• Shortenings and some margarine can be high in trans fat (Mayo Clinic)

What's so "ugly" about trans-fats? Well, it turns out that when it comes to cholesterol, these fats pack a deadly one, two punch. Not only does consuming trans-fat lower the "good" cholesterol called high density lipoprotein (HDL), it raises the bad cholesterol called low density lipoprotein (LDL). In brief, lipoproteins are clusters of lipids and proteins and they transport fat through the bloodstream. LDL is loaded with cholesterol whereas HDL has the job of carrying cholesterol to the liver for recycling or disposal. A high HDL level represents better elimination of cholesterol.  As a result it is considered the good cholesterol. This is why high LDL and low HDL levels are risk factors for heart disease and stroke. You can find much more detailed information on cholesterol levels at the American Heart Association's website here.

So, now that we're familiar with the types of fat, and a few of the food sources, how can we apply this knowledge? How can we consume more of the good fats and in the proper ratios? The next and final post on fats will cover these questions. In the meantime, one suggestion is to avoid or eliminate processed, prepackaged (short for prepared and packaged) and fast foods which contain the bad and ugly fats. Replace these with whole foods, which are in their natural state, or have been processed or refined as little as possible. Start by trying to make small dietary changes, like substituting a serving of omega 3 rich fish for meat once a week. Taking small steps does make a difference and can eventually lead to lifestyle changes and healthier nutrition. 

Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16287956?dopt=Citation
http://www.aafp.org/afp/980315ap/masley.html
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/#intro
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RhW3v6x9n44C&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=can+eating+the+right+kind+of+fat+make+you+skinny%3F&ots=EmrvqR_voX&sig=gpTV4AAhMwT3bMcsqwt5I6in7u0#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/defining.html
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hbc/HBC_WhatIs.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4582
Image source: Merriam Webster