With current statistics showing 75 Canadian women each day will be diagnosed with breast cancer, creating awareness around this disease is crucial. It is also important for men, because in 2020, they estimated 240 men would be diagnosed with breast cancer. It does affect everyone, either directly or indirectly. There are many risk factors that can contribute to breast cancer, though these risk factors don’t necessarily directly cause it.

A risk factor is something that may increase a person’s chance of developing cancer. Some people will have several risk factors but never get breast cancer, while some with no risk factors end up getting it. Knowing what your risk factors are and what they could be, then talking about them with your healthcare practitioner, may help you make more informed decisions when it comes to your lifestyle habits.

Some risk factors you can’t change are:

  1. Age: a woman’s chance of getting breast cancer increases as they age, especially for women over 50 years old.
  2. Reproductive history: early menstruation — before the age of 12 — and starting menopause after age 55 expose women to hormones longer that can increase risk of breast cancer.
  3.  A family history of breast or ovarian cancer: a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer is higher if she has a first-degree relative or multiple family members who have had breast or ovarian cancer.
  4. Previous treatment using radiation therapy: women who have received radiation therapy to the chest or breast before 30 years old have a higher chance of getting breast cancer.
  5. Timing of pregnancy: women who become pregnant after the age of 35 as well as women who have not carried a pregnancy to term or ever been pregnant have a higher risk of breast cancer. However, pregnancy may help protect women against breast cancer because it takes breast cells into their final phase of maturation.
  6. Dense breast tissue: dense breasts have more connective tissue and milk ducts than fatty tissue, which can make it hard to see tumours on mammograms. Breast density could be from higher levels of estrogen, but it usually decreases with age.

Some factors you can control:

  1. Being physically active: women who aren’t consistently physically active can increase their risk of getting breast cancer.
  2. High body fat: higher body fat in women over 50 years increases estrogen levels, which can increase chances of getting breast cancer.
  3. Stress and sleep: these are some of the biggest endocrine and nervous system disruptors. Healthy hormone balance is important to help reduce the risk of breast cancer. Being able to manage stress and getting quality sleep helps maintain a stronger immune system.
  4. Taking hormones: some types of hormone replacement therapy (HRT; those that include both estrogen and progesterone) when taken for more than five years. Certain oral contraceptives (birth control pills) have also been found to increase the risk of breast cancer.
  5. Drinking alcohol: research suggests that having more than one to two glasses of alcohol per day may raise a woman’s chance of breast cancer, as well as the risk of having the cancer come back even after treatment. It is beneficial to limit your alcohol intake to three to four servings per week or cut it out completely.
  6. Nutrition: there is no food or diet that can prevent you from getting breast cancer. However, eating healthily can improve your immune system, and possibly help keep your risk for breast cancer lower. There is no solid evidence to claim food or diet can cure cancer. However, healthy eating may help control treatment side effects or help your body recover well after treatment.

Let’s dive deeper into things we can change, like nutrition and exercise. Living well and practicing wellness is always important. not just to reduce the risk factors associated with illnesses like breast cancer, but also to help us recover well from illness.

When it comes to being active, if you are currently sedentary, starting any activity should be progressive and enjoyable. Do something that makes you feel good so you want to keep doing it. Working on your mobility is also important because it allows you to move better, which creates more enjoyment in exercise.

Start by moving more throughout your day. Walk and take the stairs when you can. Get up from your desk and move around every couple of hours. Take part in activities with your kids or grandchildren. Work on your mobility by doing yoga or work with a trainer who can help you with movement and joint integrity. Start adding in other forms of exercise that challenge you. Resistance training is a great way to strengthen the body as well as help with hormone levels, but make sure you work with someone qualified who can help you with proper form and exercise selection.

As I mentioned previously, food and diets can’t cure cancer or necessarily prevent it, but eating healthily can help lower the risk factors as well as help in recovery after treatment. Restrictive diets over time can make hormone levels worse, so healthy, balanced eating is the best approach. Obtaining a healthy body fat percentage to lower visceral fat (fat that is wrapped around your abdominal organs) can significantly help manage risk factors. Some suggestions for a more healthy approach to eating are:

  • Reduce the consumption of processed and packaged foods.
  • Cut down on sugar intake. Go for high quality and lower quantity.
  • Eat more dark-coloured fruits and vegetables (dark green, purple, and red).
  • Increase your fibre intake (25–35 g per day).
  • Stay hydrated.
  • Reduce or eliminate alcohol and caffeine.
  • Get sufficient amounts of protein each day; this is even more important for vegetarians and vegans.
  • Eat more omega-3 fats (flax, salmon, walnuts, hemp seed, chia seeds).

Improving your digestion is also important to healthy hormone levels and a good immune system. Practice better meal time habits like chewing your food 20–30 times, eating slower, and turning off any distractions (TV, phones, and laptops). For more information on improving your digestion, check out my previous article, “To Improve Your Digestion, Just Use Your Head.”)

We should all be doing regular self-checks of our breasts and women at the age of 50 or over should be getting mammograms every two years. For the best way to do self-checks, click here.

If you ever feel an irregularity or feel like something isn’t normal for your breasts, make sure you talk to your doctor and get a clinical breast exam (CBE). Being on top of this is what can save lives. Reducing or eliminating any risk factors allows us to lower the chances of breast cancer as well as improve our healing power.

Make sure you are proactive with breast cancer awareness with your children. More men are getting this type of cancer due to higher estrogen levels and other risk factors. We all need to be more aware of how to lower any chances of illness and help with prevention.

Some great resources are:

www.cancer.ca

www.breastcancer.org

www.cbcn.ca

Sources:

Chen, X., Wang, Q., Zhang, Y., Xie, Q., and Tan, X. 2019.  Physical Activity and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of 38 Cohort Studies in 45 Study Reports. Value in Health, 22(1):104–128. Url: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30661625/ (accessed Oct. 14, 2021).

Alkabban, F. M., and Ferguson,T. 2021. Breast Cancer. Url: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482286/ (accessed Oct. 14, 2021).

Fuhrman, B. J., Schairer, C., Gail, M. H., Boyd-Morin, J., Xu, X., Sue, L. Y., Buys, S. S., Isaacs, C., Keefer, L. K., Veenstra, T. D., Berg, C. D., Hoover, R. N., and Ziegler, R. G. 2012. Estrogen Metabolism and Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 104(4): 326–339. Url:  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22232133/ (accessed Oct. 16, 2021).