Breast Health Awareness has four main components, Knowing
your Risk, Getting Screened, Knowing What ‘Normal’ is for You, and Making
Healthy Lifestyle Choices. While each
area is important, Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices is the one element
completely under your own control!
Diet and
Nutrition play a major role in living a healthy life and research is showing
that what we put into our bodies can have a direct impact on our risk of developing
breast cancer. While there is no one magical
food remedy, there is compelling science that confirms that certain foods can
be considered preventative medicine! Taking
time to become ‘nutritionally aware’ will help you make healthy decisions
everyday that will reduce your overall risk of breast cancer, as well as other
illnesses.
Here are
some ideas (and recipes!) to get you started:
Eat your Veggies…
And your fruits! In fact aim for 5 servings a day. In addition to being loaded with fiber and antioxidants
such as vitamin C and E, a diet rich in vegetables and fruit helps cut fat from
your diet to promote a leaner you and puts less estrogen into your body – all
important factors in lowering your risk of breast cancer.
Plant foods also contain a wide variety
of cancer fighting substances.
For example:
Suforaphane,
a protective compound found in dark cruciferous vegetables like arugula and red
cabbage, targets and kills cancer cells while leaving normal cells in
tact! Brocolli Sprouts are loaded with
Suforaphane!
The beta
carotene found in carrots, sweet potato, spinach and kale improve your
white blood cell’s ability to patrol for aberrant cells including cancer
cells.
Folic
Acid aids the repair of damaged DNA that could cause cancer and is easily
accessed in foods such as asparagus, spinach, black beans, and lentils to name
a few.
Try adding a harvest of vegetables and
fruits into your daily routine. Besides
those mentioned above develop a fondness for dark leafy greens, pumpkin, tomatoes,
peas, legumes, winter squash, plums, grapes, berries, oranges, and cantaloupe.
Pasta
With Roasted Veggies and Greens
serves 4
- 2 pints
grape tomatoes
- 4 large
garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1/2 large
red onion sliced large
- 1 tsp. dried
thyme
- 2 T olive
oil
- 1 lb whole
wheat or brown rice penne pasta
- 1/3 C pitted
Kalamata olives coarsely chopped
- 2 large
handfuls arugula or spinach
Directions:
Preheat oven to
425 degrees. Start a large pot of boiling water for the pasta. Line a rimmed
baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Combine tomatoes, garlic cloves, red
onion, thyme and olive oil in a bowl. Toss or stir to coat veggies with oil.
Place the mixture onto the baking sheet making sure nothing is overlapping too
much. Give the mix a little shake of salt and pep. Put into preheated oven and
roast until the tomatoes have leached their liquid and are looking lightly
browned. The garlic cloves should feel softened. This takes about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, as the
veggies are in the oven roasting, add your pasta when the water is boiling.
Cook pasta as directed on packaging. Drain the pasta when done, reserving ¼ C
of the liquid. Return pasta to pot.
When the veggies
are done, collect the garlic cloves. Peel them with a knife, the inside should
be soft and easily part with the skin. Smash the garlic down a bit.
To the pasta pot,
add the roasted veggies, garlic, olives, and reserved pasta water. Cook on
medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, until everything is warmed together. Turn
off the heat and stir in the greens you are using.
A bit of shaved
hard cheese is a nice finishing touch.
Love the Whole Grain!
Fiber, fiber, fiber! A digestive tract with a healthy amount of
fiber is essential for eliminating cancer causing toxins from your body. For example, while estrogens are a normal
part of our bodies high estrogen levels put you at an increased risk of breast
cancer. Your body naturally tries to
usher estrogens out through the
digestive tract. Fiber in the digestive
tract
‘sticks’ to the free estrogens in the gut and
carries them away. If your digestive
tract is high in
meats or other non-fiber foods, estrogen can
escape and be reabsorbed into your body.
To up your fiber intake reduce or
eliminate processed white flours and rice from your diet and replace them with
whole grains like brown rice, oats, and quinoa to name a few.
Whole
Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon
active, dry yeast
- 3/4 cup plus
2 Tablespoons luke warm water
- teaspoon
agave nectar
- 2 cups 100%
whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon
salt
- 2 teaspoons
olive oil
Directions:
Combine yeast, water, and agave nectar in your
mixer bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes until bubbly or slightly foamy looking. Add
flour, and salt to the bowl and begin mixing on low speed until combined. When
combined, turn the mixer speed up to medium and continue mixing until the mix
forms a cohesive ball. This takes about 5 to 10 minutes. Once your ball is formed,
touch it. If it feels too sticky, add a few more tablespoons of flour. If it
looks dry and crumbly, you may need to add a few more tablespoons of water. The
dough is just right when you press into it and it doesn’t leave any traces on
your hand.
When you dough is
ready, brush the ball lightly with olive oil, cover with a kitchen cloth and
let sit in the bowl on your countertop for 2 hours. It should almost double in
size.
Lightly flour
your counter top and press the dough into shape with your hand or use a wooden
dough roller. Voila! Homemade pizza dough!
Top with veggies, low fat meats and
cheeses, and your favorite pizza sauce!
Be Full of Beans!
In an arm wrestling match between beans
and meats, beans will win everytime! The
lower fat content, great fiber, and bunch of cancer fighting nutrients found in
Legumes make this an easy contest. Use
beans whole in soups, on salads, or as a side dish. Combine them with brown or wild rice or whole
grain pastas for an excellent source of protein. Blend them into a spread or dip to dress up
a sandwich or veggie platter. Indeed a
magical fruit!
Hearty Lentil and Veggie
Soup
Ingredients
1 onion 3 tbsp of olive oil
2 carrots 2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic 1 bay leaf
2 large fresh tomatoes 2 cups dry lentils
8 cups low-sodium vegetable
broth 1/2 cup spinach
1/4 tsp ground turmeric 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Directions
Place large pot with olive oil over
medium heat. Chop onions, carrots and celery and add to pot.
Cook and stir until onion is
tender. Mince garlic and pour into soup. Add bay leaf, and cook for 2 minutes.
Stir in lentils, water and
diced tomatoes, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, and simmer for at
least 1 hour. Then, rinse and thinly slice spinach and stir into pot until cooked.
Season soup with turmeric and black pepper for flavor, and serve!
Channel Your Inner Squirrel!
Nuts and seeds are a wonderful addition
to a healthy diet and an excellent non-meat protein source. Eaten in moderation, nuts and seeds provide
unsaturated fats, a variety of vitamins
and minerals, and cancer fighting Omega 3 fatty acids.
Oatmeal Nut Waffles
1 ½ c whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups skim milk
¼ c. butter melted
2 Tbsp honey
1 c. quick cooking oats
1 c. chopped nuts
Sliced peaches or strawberries, optional
Directions
In a
large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Combine eggs, milk, butter and honey; stir
into dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in oats and nuts.
Bake in a preheated waffle iron according
to manufacturer’s directions until golden brown. Garnish with fruit if desired.
Yields 8 to 10 waffle (about 6-3/4
inches)
Go for an Oil Change
While it is ideal to limit your fat
intake and use oils sparingly, make the switch to oils that are high in
unsaturated fats for cooking and
dressings. For high Omega 3’s try
delicate flax oil on cold dishes or Walnut oil in a salad or for baking. Olive
oil and sunflower oil are both high in antioxidants and excellent for many uses. Both rich in monounsaturated fats, Peanut oil
has a distinctive taste and high smoke point while Canola oil is a great all-purpose
mild flavored oil for baking and sautéing.
Kale Chips
1 pound kale
Olive oil spray
Salt (to taste)
Cayenne pepper and other seasonings
such as garlic (to taste)
Directions
Wash and dry the kale. Tear into
bite-size pieces. Lay on a cookie sheet and spray with olive oil.
Lightly sprinkle salt and other
seasonings over leaves. Use sparingly. Flavor will be strong.
Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 10
minutes. When it comes out of the oven, kale should be light and crispy like a
potato chip.
Yield: 4 servings
Behold the power of Omega 3’s
Omegas 3’s are especially important for
your health because they reduce inflammation that can damage tissue and
encourage cells –including cancer cells - to grow. You’ll find Omega 3’s in many nuts, seeds,
and legumes, but an especially good source is fatty fish including deep sea
fish including salmon, sea bass, halibut, mackerel and sardines. Aim for 3 to 4 servings of Omega 3’s daily.
Salmon
Cake Recipe
makes 4 good
sized salmon cakes
takes 5 minutes
to prepare, 6 minutes to cook
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbs olive
oil
- 6 oz canned
wild, Alaskan salmon (boneless, skinless)
- 1/4 of a
small onion chopped finely (about 2-3 Tbs)
- 1 tsp Dijon
mustard
- 1/2 tsp
dried tarragon (don’t skip this, soo good!)
- pinch of
dried dill
- pinch of
dried parsley
- small
squeeze of lemon if you have it
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbs bread
crumbs or whole wheat flour
Directions:
Put olive oil in
large skillet over medium heat. Combine all proceeding ingredients in a medium
mixing bowl. Stir until all ingredients are well combined. The mixture will
feel very wet but not soupy.
Reach into bowl
and grab a small handful of the mixture (1/4 cup should give you a good
amount). Form into a patty with your hands and place directly into warmed
skillet. Continue until all salmon mixture is used up.
Cook patties 2-3
minutes on each side. They should be lightly browned on each side.
Keep it Lean, Keep it Healthy
While it may be easier said than done,
striving for a healthy body weight is a proactive goal that will reduce your
risk of breast cancer. Excess weight
post menopause is a proven breast cancer risk, but adding healthy foods into
your diet in the form of tasty and satisfying dishes will help you maintain an
ideal weight for a lifetime. Fat impairs
immunity and the body’s ability to defend against cells that turn
cancerous. High fat diets also increase
estrogen levels that increase the risk of breast cancer. Try to lower your fat
intake overall, aiming for 20 to 30% fat in your diet comprised mainly of
unsaturated fats and low fat dairy products.
Use the
ideas above to shift your diet in a healthier direction. Seek out those recipes that help you become a
veggie lover, add in the whole grains, go crazy over fruits, beans, and
nuts.
You have the
power to lower your breast cancer risk by simply being aware of what you are
putting in your body. Take a proactive
role in your own breast health by choosing to incorporate better diet choices
into each day. Every little bit helps…a
few nutritional changes here and there will result in a healthier diet and a
healthier you for a lifetime.
