Dr Weil on breast cancer

In the United States, an estimated 182,000 cases of breast cancer occurred among women in the year 2000, according to the American Cancer Society. Breast cancer accounts for 18.5 percent of cancer deaths in women. Fortunately, it is one of the most curable types of cancer when detected at an early stage. Survival rates are continuing to climb as technology advances for early breast cancer detection and intervention. The five-year relative rate of survival for localized breast cancer has increased from 72 percent to 96 percent over the past 60 years. Early detection with a mammogram - which should be performed annually for women over 40 – has been key to successful early detection and treatment.

Diet plays a role in prevention. American women have five times the risk of developing breast cancer as Japanese women who consume a traditional Japanese diet. Second- and third-generation Japanese-American women who adopt a typical American diet have almost the same incidence of breast cancer as other American women. And a Westernized diet in Japan is now causing an increase in breast cancer among women there.

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Here are some lifestyle measures for prevention:

• Get active. Regular physical activity, at least 30 minutes on most days, has been shown to be protective against breast cancer. This may be because it results in weight loss and decrease in body fat; therefore, it lowers circulating estrogen levels.
• Reduce exposure to xenoestrogens. We are exposed to a large number of synthetic chemical compounds that have estrogen-like activity. These include common pesticides, industrial pollutants and hormone residues in meat, poultry and dairy products. While the research on their link with breast cancer is conflicting, we recommend limiting exposure as much as you can. Choosing hormone-free dairy and animal products and organic produce is a good start.
• Early detection is key. Women ages 20-39 should have a clinical breast exam performed by a health care professional every three years in addition to conducting a self-examination every month. If you are 40 years of age or older, annual breast exams and mammograms are recommended. Your physician may request one at an earlier age if you display other risk factors.

Nutrition and Supplements

• Pay close attention to your diet. The original thought that breast cancer risk increased with a high-fat diet may have been too simple. There are several factors that we now believe are more closely associated with risk.
• Choose fats wisely. Studies have shown that women with a higher intake of olive oil have less breast cancer. Omega-3 fats, found in cold-water fish (especially wild salmon and sardines), freshly ground flaxseed and walnuts have also been associated with inhibiting the growth of breast tumors.
• Eat generous amounts of vegetables and fruit, which are loaded with cancer-protective phytochemicals. Our recommendation is 8 to 10 servings a day.
• Use freshly ground flaxseed or other sources of fiber every day. Diets that are high in fiber - lignins specifically – seem to increase the excretion of estrogen or modify the metabolism of estrogen and reduce the risk of breast cancer.
• Eat more soy. There has been some recent discussion on the possible negative effect of soy on risk of breast cancer, especially hormone receptor positive forms of the disease. Although the isoflavones in soy do have a mild estrogenic effect (they are able to bind to estrogen receptor sites in human tissue), soy foods also contain many cancer-protective substances. For this reason, and also because population studies have failed to show a relationship between soy consumption and increased risk of breast cancer, we recommend one serving of whole soy foods a day.
• Make green tea your beverage of choice. Green tea consumption is linked with lower incidence of many kinds of cancer.
• Drink very little, if any, alcohol. Alcohol consumption, even in modest amounts, is associated with increased risk of breast cancer.
• Take a multivitamin with folic acid, vitamin D and antioxidants. All these nutrients have been shown to be related to a reduced risk of breast cancer. Although the diet should be the primary source of most of these, a good daily supplement can help provide insurance that your intake is adequate.

Also, I highly recommend the book Breast Cancer: Reduce Your Risk with Foods You Love (Penstokes Press, 2011), by Robert Pendergrast, M.D., who teaches at the Medical College of Georgia and is a graduate of the Fellowship at the University of Arizona's Center for Integrative Medicine, which I founded in 1994. It's a clear, scientifically validated compendium of what to eat, and what to avoid, to lower your risk of breast cancer.  

This blog is written by DrWeil.com. Go directly to original blog.

Meditation Q&A | Chopra Blog

Question: I know that everyone’s experience of meditation can be different, but I just have this need to know what is really going on. I have been meditating for a year or so, on and off, usually clearing my mind and being silent for an hour, but  recent, I have started to meditate regularly, and feel a physical sensation, of my body vibrating and I seem to be free from my body and my head feels like its swirling around, its almost as if I am drunk! Though, I have to agree this is an amazing sensation like I am intoxicated, I feel fresh and awake after that.

Can you explain what is actually happening on the spirit level as my physical level goes through this? How is it possible that my mind, when it is silenced to such a deeper level, is able to cause this freeing of my body, when I know that I am not my mind or my body? How does it influence my body . . . or is it that my mind has been taken over by my spiritual self and it is indeed the spirit self that’s causing this? I would really appreciate it if you could relieve me from this curiosity.

Answer: Even though meditation is in one sense a mental process, because the mind and body are intimately connected, when the mind experiences silence, it affects the body and provides a corresponding degree of restfulness in its physiological functioning. It is this depth of rest that allows the body to normalize any imbalances that inhibit its full expression of health. What you experienced was a somewhat entertaining version of the very mundane process of the body’s release of stored stress and conditioning, and the consequent sense of rejuvenation and freedom afterward. It’s  a matter of understanding the interrelationship of the mind and body and how the two function symbiotically during meditation.


It’s important to keep in mind that what happens during a meditation session isn’t actually all that important. Where you really begin to experience the benefits of meditation is in all your daily activities. As you meditate regularly, you carry some of the stillness and silence with you into everything you do. Instead of being reactive and reflexive, you are more responsive and reflective.  You release constriction and become more creative, relaxed, and expansive. 


Blog written by Chopra Center. Go directly to blog.

Big hug for Gerard Kemkers

I am Dutch. And we Dutchies saw our fantastic Sven Kramer riding the ride of his life yesterday. And I don't think we need to go over it again and again. His coach, Gerard Kemkers made a mistake and now Sven is disqualified. A tragedy. For Sven and Kemkers.

I am positive that Sven Kramer will be there again the next olympics. He is still young and a very powerful young man. I'm sure these days are difficult days for Sven, but I don't doubt he will be a stronger person because of this.

And I truly hope the same for Gerard Kemkers. Boy, can't be easy to be in his shoes. So Gerard Kemkers, I just want to let you know that I think you should be fully forgiven. Everybody can and is allowed to make mistakes. You just picked a lousy time to make yours. But you have done so many beautiful things and helped our skaters becoming champions and beautiful individuals. I pray for you and hope you will find the support and strength to carry this karmatic event and grow from it.

So Gerard Kemkers, this one is for you! Keep it up! I and sooo many other people fully support and trust you. You are still a champion coach and we love you!

Bye Gerard.

I've done it! I have set myself free!

I am telling you! working on a uturus goes much deeper (uhm... emotionally I mean!! ha ha!) than you would think. I mean, I really didn't know that by going to the osteo would have all of this as a result. But it really is the greatest gift of all.

As you can read in my latest post me getting back in 'touch' with my uturus shows me many life changing insights. And today, I honestly think I have done it. I think I have freed myself of burdens of the past.

I think today is the first day of the rest of my life! (big sigh and what a relief to experience this feeling! I feel light and free. I feel like I am shining and very much alive.)

So, what is the difference between me now and me 3 hours ago?

I wrote a letter. Yep aha. That's it.

I felt as if I am carrying with me a burden. This burden 'burdens' me a lot, but I couldn't get my finger on it. I didn't know where and how I got this burden and how to unburden myself. Well today I did it!

The time was right so I decided to sit down with pen and paper and I just started writing. It was a letter about the things that had hurt me when I was younger and about major things I had never before really expressed. The letter was writen to my parents, but I will not have them read it. What I did do though, I shared it with my man. I read the letter to him, all the while I was crying all over the place (I didn't cry during writing the letter, at that point I was more upset. But while reading it outloud and sharing my life story with him, the sadness came and found a way out. Finally!)

Man, do I feel great now!

I can truly recommend you to do the same one day - when it is your time.

The sun is shining inside me!

two years! two whole years. My son was born 2 years ago!

I don't think I need to add any extra words. Just look at this clip and listen to Ben Harpers song. I'll be silent now.

The beauty and benefit of a uturus collapse (prolapse)

It has taken me months to finaly reach this point where I can actually feel, with all that I am, that there is something beautiful about my uturus prolapse. All though it might seem strange to some, and even weird to others, I am actually very happy that I now see this light.

 

(picture from Isha Lerner's website)

The prolapse (and time and a very very professional and experienced osteopath and intense meridian chi kung practise) has 'given' me the gift to get back in touch with my uturus. And my uturus actually means, my deeper self. My real self, the self I was while being a child. Untouched, undammaged, unshamed, unspoiled. My very me in the purest form.

Before I go further, it is probably best to explain that most women store emotional dammage in their uturus area. This is a built up from childhood. Some can better deal with their problems than others of course, and because of that the outcome is different for every body. (I am not a specialist, but this is how I experience it and the information I have gathered a long the years from several specialists in holistic healing. Your MD might think your crazy if you'd tell the above... so I don't even bother).

Like so many other people I have been through some difficult times, starting half way through my childhood years. At this moment in time, I am still not sure what exactly triggered my body problems (or better said: My body no longer able to deal with the emotions or stress and giving out loud signals. Every time the signals were ignored, my body started sending of louder and louder signals. You'll be amazed how long one can and will ignore these signals... until you will come to a point of no return. And sadly enough, for many people this is also the point where there isn't much of a future either...). And while I usually want to know exactly what caused a problem, this time I am not so sure whetter or not it is really relevant. What is much more important: How can I make myself better again. Or/and: What can I do to feel truly free again? Where and how do I carry this burden and let's learn a way to not carry this with me.

So this is basicly a beautiful time. Amazing life questions (for me that is. People in Haiti have much larger problems and questions. But each soul has its own path) seeding in my body and I am sure the paths and answers will grow inside me, as long as I give it light, attention and love.

My osteo told me I will not be able to improve the prolapse by visualizing, but I strongly feel different. I so strongly feel that my uturus needs attention. My attention, and mine only. I need to reconnect with her, we need to become 1 again. Inside her resides my soul and spiritual me. Everything I have longed for for so long, because I could feel I was missing something!

So, I will be focussing on my uturus and trying to undo the prolapse. Visualizing it free and flying. Strong and flexible. Happy, healthy and beautiful.

Happy Valentines day my sweet uturus! Ha ha!! lovely!

Tofu Burgers - Dr. Weil's Healthy Kitchen

Tofu Burgers - Dr. Weil's Healthy Kitchen

I am going to try these out tonight!!!! YUUUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Great burgers without dead animals. I'm lovin' it!!!