The Channel 46
Underwire bras are not only uncomfortable but also surrounded by the myth that it increases your risk of breast cancer. The idea became a discussion during the 90’s and was fueled by books like Dressed To Kill by Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer, where it was claimed that women who wear underwired bras have a much higher risk of breast cancer as these bras can affect the normal functioning of the lymph system, which results in building up the toxins in breasts. So relevant is the subject that there is a separate day designated to the cause to spread awareness about it. As a result, 7th November of every year is commemorated as the National Cancer Awareness Day.
Nobody ever found enough evidence to back this claim. It is not proven that compression of lymph nodes by bras can cause breast cancer. At the same time, there is also not enough evidence that says going braless can decrease one’s risk of developing breast cancer. But if breast cancer is your concern, there are many other factors that are to be kept in mind to decrease your chances. Bras may not have much to do with increasing your risk, but you need to know everything else that can. To reduce the risk of breast cancer, you need in-depth knowledge of this condition and what causes it.
Unhealthy Habits To Avoid The Risk Of Developing Breast Cancer
1. Maintain A Healthy Weight As an adult, being overweight comes up with a lot of consequences and the increased risk of breast cancer is one of them. It is because of the fat cells that will be responsible for the extra estrogen production in your body and more estrogen levels are more likely to increase the risk of breast cancer.
2. Be Physically Active Women who physically have a relatively lower risk of breast cancer. You don’t have to indulge in a heavy exercise routine, you can always start with a 30 minute walk or jogging.
3. Eat Healthy It has been proven that eating fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of some types of breast cancers. Adding stuff that is high in carotenoids would be beneficial. You can try adding melons, carrots, sweet potatoes and squash in your daily diet. Carotenoid levels have shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer.
4. Quit Smoking Don’t get us started with all the harm it causes to your health. The smoke of tobacco has almost 250 harmful chemicals in it out of which 69 chemicals have been proven to cause cancer.
5. Limit Your Alcohol Consumption Women who drink 2-3 alcoholic drinks a day have 20% increased risk of breast cancer than women who don’t drink.
6. Breastfeeding Try to breastfeed if you can as it has many positive impacts on a woman’s body throughout their life which also includes decreasing the risk of breast cancer, Type 2 diabetes and ovarian cancer. If you are considering going for treatments like Menopausal hormone therapy to relive the symptoms of menopause or are taking estrogen plus progestin to do it, you may increase the risk of breast cancer.
The Channel 46