Our breasts are key parts of our overall health when they are properly supported and nourished. Taking the time to implement these 3 simple suggestions will support the health of your breasts and be an empowering practice in self care.
With diseases like breast cancer on the rise, it's important to become informed and support your body in the best way possible.
Here are 3 important ways you can support the health of your breasts~
Number one: Go braless or reduce the number of hours each day that you wear a bra
So many of us have been so misled in our lives to believe that going braless will give us saggy breasts later in life. In reality, the exact opposite is true. By constraining your breasts in a bra, your breasts overtime will lose their perkiness, as described in this study published by Medical New Today. Far worse than sagging breasts, however is the danger of constrained lymph flow and the heightened risk of breast cancer.
Over 85% of the lymph fluid draining from the breasts drain to the armpit lymph nodes. When wearing a bra, our lymph is often restricted and therefore, health problems like breast cancer may manifest. Dr. Michael Schachter has a good explanation of this and more here.
Have you ever taken off your bra and felt the need to shake out your chest? This is a natural desire for many of us who have worn tight fitting, push up bras most of our lives. Your lymph flow is constricted and so after removing your bra, you may feel the need to move the lymph around.
In the book "Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras" the author found the following staggering statistics:
Women who wore a bra 24 hours a day had a 3 out of 4 chance of developing breast cancer
Women who wore a bra more than 12 hours a day but not to bed had a 1 out of 7 chance or developing breast cancer
Women who wore a bra less than 12 hours a day had a 1 out of 52 chance of developing breast cancer
Women who wore bras rarely or never had a 1 out of 168 chance of developing breast cancer
Pretty huge difference, right? So if you cannot go braless all the time, it's okay! Try to wear your bra less than 12 hours a day at the very least. If you can go braless most of the time, allow your breasts to move.
Number two: Give yourself regular breast massages Especially if you do still wear a bra fairly often or if you used to, giving yourself a breast massage will be a really lovely addition to your self care routine. Most physicians recommend checking your breasts for lumps or irregularities regularly and this takes that routine to the next level.
The next time you get out of the shower, have some organic coconut oil nearby and slowly begin massaging your breasts. Moving around the breast in a circular motion is effective and you can also try lifting one arm on the same side as the breast you are massaging to feel deeper into the tissue. This is effective because you are checking your breasts for any irregularities and you are also stimulating lymph flow to drain into the armpit. I like to spend 5 minutes or so total on both breasts.
Number three: Throw away the anti-perspirant deodorant
There is a lot of research out there that shows the danger of using anti-perspirant deodorant and how it negatively affects breast health. Anti-perspirant deodorant often includes aluminum, a metal that can be stored by the breast and cause health problems. The lymph ducts in our armpits and our breasts are closely related.
Another huge problem with anti-perspirant deodorant is its purpose is making us not sweat. Why would this be a recipe for disaster? When you are exercising or moving, your body naturally detoxes from the sweat glands in the body. When we use deodorant that make us not sweat, we are removing one key way for us to detox. So if we cannot detox from the armpits, where do you think those toxins may be stored? Yep, in the breast tissue.
Throw away your anti-perspirant deodorant and switch to the many natural options available. My two favorite brands are HBC Organics Deodorant and Nourish Organic Deodorant.
Your breast health is important and these simple steps are great ways to begin supporting your breast health.
Want to learn more? Listen to our podcast here about empowered breast health.
How do you support your breast health? Comment below!