
October is breast cancer awareness month, but I think we could approach it as breast health awareness month! There is a lot of promotion around for regular breast screening at the moment. I’m not dissing the usefulness of this technology, but I think it’s also important to recognise our own digital technology – as in our own fingers! Ha! Getting to know your own breasts and how they feel gives you the power to detect early changes or irregularities which can then be checked out if needs be. The common argument is that many women feel that they don’t know what their breasts ‘should’ feel like, what is right or wrong. There is no exact answer to this as everyone is different. The point of breast self examination is becoming familiar with your normal, and being able to notice if something has changed or is not quite right. Sure it is not an exact science, you don’t come away with a piece of paper telling you that you are within ‘normal’ limits, but the information and knowledge that you receive about your own body is invaluable! Breast self examination should be performed after menstruation, or at the same time each month if you are not currently menstruating. It involves physical examination as well as visual inspection of your breasts. Check out here, here and here for a guide on how to do it yourself.
So what can we eat to help our beautiful bountifuls stay beautiful? Vitamin D is huge in breast health and breast cancer prevention. A recent study on Australian women has shown that those that live south of Coffs Harbour are twice as likely to get breast cancer due to the lack of vitamin D. This is something that we should all be checking, not
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