Holistic Breast Health: Self Care Tips

As I open up my current issue of AARP (I've had my card for several years now), I see a great article from Dr Oz, "24 hours to a longer life". He's known as America's favorite doctor. What I like about him is that he embraces a holistic natural lifestyle. He lists eight things you can do in a 24 hour period of time to add not just years but a quality to our lives. These are easy doable steps that are relatively inexpensive* and not hard to accomplish.

6 AM) Do Yoga, Reduce Stress. He goes on to explain that yoga can repair some of the damage our heart has encountered through the years by lowering our heart rate. This form of exercise can relax the blood vessels and reduce stress.

7 AM) Eat Breakfast, Look Younger~Start the day with oatmeal, not sugary cereals or donuts. Sugar has a way of attacting the collagen and elastin in our skin and it can AGE us. I've heard this before but it really made an impact on me today for some reason. I need all of the collagen and elastin I can get! Oatmeal is still super cheap and it raises blood sugar slowly. He says to add eggs in for the protein benefit. I'm cutting out eggs so I"ll skip that.

10 AM) Snack on Berries Help Stave Off Cancer~There are certain foods that starve cancer and berries are one of those foods. They contain antioxidants which reduce inflammation and oxidation. What gives them their red or purple or blue color is anthocyanins. In laboratory studies, anthocyanins inhibit growth of lung, colon and leukemia cancer cells without affecting growth of healthy cells. Decreased cancer development is also seen in animals given anthocyanins. That sounds like natures chemo to me.

12 PM) Take a Walk, Build Muscle~ 15 min in the sun is what we need to get our daily dose of vitamin d. We may get it from a pill, but getting it from good ole' Mister Sun is natures intention. The simple act of walking helps build muscle mass.

3:30 PM) Take A Break, Supercharge Your Cells~The title says it all. He also suggests the Chinese herb astragalus as well.

6:00 PM) Eat Fish for Dinner, Boost Your Brain Health~Twice a week we should eat a 4-5 oz serving of an oily fish like salmon, tuna, sardines. The Omega 3 fatty acids in the fish help boost your memory. He also states that for memory, we should add 400mg of alpha-lipoic acid daily, 500mg of acetlyl L-cartinine twice daily and 500mg gingko daily with your meals. The supplements may keep your brain young and your memory sharp. Reduce your intake of processed meats, yes, bacon, sausage, and hot dogs. They contain nitrates which is linked to Alzheimer's disease and Cancer. In fact I would go so far as to say eliminate them entirely from your diet. It's actually lethal to the human body and we can do without them!

8:00 PM) Have Sex, Live Longer~Preliminary studies suggest that frequent sex might add years to your life. I'm just going to refer you to this site that gives us a great list of why sex is a life extender. It's not just for making babies (anymore).

10:00 PM) Hit the Sack Early, Reset Your Internal Clock~Simply put, get your 7-8 hours a night. When you don't get enough sleep your body goes into a state of stress.He sites new research that the aspirin some are prescribed to take for their heart health has more impact if taken at bedtime. And yes, we need to get to bed around 10 (or 11ish). Whatever time you go, it needs to add up to 7-8 hours of sleep on the other end.

*Wild Caught Fish is a bit pricey, but well worth the extra $$. Read here for the difference between farm raised and wild. If you're a vegan, then this obviouly isn't a part of what you would do.

Here is a seven-minute exercise routine from Dr. Oz. Simple enough for most, if not we can keep doing it until it becomes easy. I'm going to do it every day for the next week and see how I like it. I can take 7 min away from the computer and spend stretching it out.