 |
Non-Dietary Factors
Alcohol
Alcohol increases cancer risk. Even one drink per day can increase
breast cancer risk by more than 50 percent, compared to non-drinkers.43
That does not mean that your cancer risk is 50 percent. It means
that it is half again higher than it was before. The effect of alcohol
is mainly seen in younger women.
Breast Cancer Factors
Aside from diet, there are many factors increasing risk
of breast cancer including hormones,
overweight, radiation, genetics, and time between puberty and first
pregnancy.
Exercise
Along with a healthy diet, exercise is important for cancer prevention
and survival. Exercise helps trim excess weight and may strengthen
the immune defenses. Establishing a regular exercise program, along
with a healthy diet, is extremely beneficial for everyone but is
especially important in tackling cancer. Talk to your doctor about
setting up an effective exercise plan.
Sunlight
While a moderate amount of sunlight offers a beneficial source of
vitamin D, long periods of exposure without protection can cause
problems. The ultraviolet radiation the sun gives off can raise
the risk of skin cancers. Sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and clothing
can be used to prevent damage caused by ultraviolet radiation.
Tobacco
Tobacco has been found to be directly responsible for many lung
and oral cancers and is also linked to weaker immune systems. If
you do use tobacco products, make a plan to quit. If you don’t
use tobacco products, don’t start!
Toxic Chemicals
Locations near toxic waste sites tend to have higher than average
rates of breast cancer.49 That is true for other forms
of cancer, too. And you don't have to live near a chemical waste
site to be concerned about toxic exposures. Toxic chemicals are
available at any grocery store in the form of pesticides. Fortunately,
organic produce is now more widely available. Chemical contaminants
also end up in meats, because pesticides are sprayed on grains that
are fed to cows, chickens, pigs, and other livestock. In storage
bins, feed grains are sprayed again. Animals concentrate these chemicals
in their tissues.
Women who avoid eating animal products have much smaller concentrations
of pesticides in their breast milk. Levels of the pesticides DDT,
chlordane, hepatochlor, dieldrin, and PCBs have been measured at
markedly lower levels in vegetarians than those of omnivores.50
In a 1981 study, vegetarians had only 1 to 2 percent of the national
average levels of certain pesticides and industrial chemicals compared
to that of average Americans.51 The exception was polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), for which the vegetarians had levels that were
comparable to meat-eaters. PCBs in the body often reflect past fish
consumption, and levels drop slowly after people adopt a vegetarian
diet. Once PCBs are in the body tissues, avoiding contaminated fish
will reduce PCB levels only very slowly.
References
|
|
