5 pillars of my breast cancer prevention nutrition program

What’s up gorgeous thrivers!

Understanding what to eat to prevent recurrence is confusing, overwhelming, and stressful AF because there is so much conflicting information out there 

Should you be vegan? Keto? Paleo? It’s all so confusing because so much of the info conflicts! The reason all of these plans claim to be “the best” is because they all have merits and benefits for breast cancer prevention, so the challenge becomes how to determine what the best plan is for you.

I actually recorded an entire podcast episode on the pros and cons of the main different anti-cancer diets so that I could debunk a lot of the myths for you and I also teach you how to make an informed decision and find the right nutrition plan for you. You can listen to that episode HERE. 

Regardless of whatever nutrition plan you choose, any breast cancer prevention nutrition program should cover these 5 pillars

1. Lowering inflammation
2. Blood sugar balancing
3. Reduces acidity
4. High antioxidants
5. Boost immunity

Let’s get into each of these a bit here so that you can start to make informed decisions and easily incorporate these pillars into your regular nutrition. Having a framework like this is super helpful to make the changes effortless and habitual and easily a part of your/your family’s life.

One of my favourite expressions is knowledge is the precursor to experience. Since my goal for you is to have the easiest relationship with food after breast cancer and not worry or stress or have anxiety about your nutrition, in order for that to be possible I have to teach you the why behind it. 

So let’s get into it!

Lowering inflammation

 This is a priority because breast cancer is an inflammatory disease, not an infectious disease - so bringing systemic inflammation down is key. The easiest way to do that is through food. 

It doesn't matter how many supplements you take, if you’re not changing your nutrition and putting good, anti inflammatory foods in, you’ll never have the impact of bringing inflammation down with supplementation alone. 

 Think of your body like a barrel and when the barrel gets full of water, that’s when it overflows and you see signs of disease. Think of your job as ways to decrease the amount of water in your proverbial barrel and the fastest way to do that is by changing your nutrition to be anti-inflammatory. 

 Supplements will be just taking a drop out of the bucket if you don’t address the main thing, the food. So what to look for in an anti-inflammatory nutrition plan?

 Focus on eating whole, nutrient dense foods as close to nature as possible. Opt for local or organic as much as possible, so your food has the highest nutrient quality it can. Foods that are harvested way before they ripen don’t contain their highest nutrient content. 

 Of course focus on eating vegetables, fruit, and really good quality protein. All of these will have a powerful impact on lowering inflammation in your body.

 For some additional support on lowering inflammation, check out episode 2 and 3 of my podcast and also other blog posts HERE.

Blood sugar balancing 

I talk about this a lot on the podcast but this is the 100% the first thing I address with clients in my programs because breast cancer cells can develop 10x more insulin receptors than normal healthy breast cells. It’s one of the ways that they morph and differentiate from normal healthy cells.

 Because they can have 10x the insulin receptors, they can use the energy from the food you eat to fuel their growth vs fuelling the growth of healthy cells.

 The key to balancing blood sugar is to eat whole nutrient dense foods, and balance your carbohydrates with the PFF principle (Protein, Fat, Fiber). 

 Balancing your plate with protein, fat and fiber helps slow down the release of sugars from the food, thereby slowing down the release of insulin. 

 Reduce acidity

 We’re exposed to chemicals all day everyday simply from the air we breathe so we always have free radical cells in our bodies. What we dont want is for them to grow into a tumor. 

The process that this happens is called angiogenesis. Angiogenesis literally means “new blood supply line.” Now, cancer cells can start to grow and multiply because they have developed their own blood supply line and are able to use the nutrients from the food you eat to grow. 

And remember, they can have 10x more insulin receptors so they can get the energy from your food 10x faster. 

When it comes to bringing down acidity, I focus on a couple of things. 

 First, eating whole, nutrient dense foods as close to nature as possible because if you're eating an anti inflammatory diet, you are inherently keeping your internal cellular environment neutral. This is where eating organic comes into play as well - keeping toxicity down on your food supports a healthy internal cellular environment. 

I also like to focus on liver health here too to support lowering acidity. If your liver is optimized, it can do its job efficiently to keep a healthy internal cellular environment. Eating cruciferous vegetables and bitter foods like arugula help boost liver cleansing so that your body is constantly detoxifying and maintaining a healthy cellular environment. 

High antioxidants 

As I stated above, we have free radicals in our bodies just from living life in this century. These free radicals cause oxidative stress, so you need antioxidants to combat them. 

 Having high oxidative stress is one of the hallmarks of cancer growth so prioritizing antioxidants in nutrition is key. Berries, cherries, and citrus fruits are really high in antioxidants.  

 And of course - greens, veggies etc all have antioxidants as well. I hope you’re sensing a pattern here - whole nutrient dense foods as close to nature as possible is the foundation for all of these pillars!

 Before I jump into pillar 5, I want to talk about a supplement I take for anti oxidant support and why I take it. 

It’s a whole food supplement of 30 vegetables/fruits that have been dehydrated, ground into a powder and encapsulated. Because all of the nutrients are coming from whole foods, it contains all of the cofactors for absorption and enhances how much of the nutrients your body can take up.

 I personally have done a lot of testing to determine what my body needs more of, and I am sensitive to oxidative stress and require more antioxidants. I don’t want to risk getting them only through food, so I take Juice Plus (the supplement of 30 whole foods) to provide extra antioxidant support. But the bonus is that all of that antioxidant support comes from more whole foods! 

 I take Juice Plus because it helps me live with confidence that I’m giving my body more whole food nutrition, more antioxidants in a form that my body can readily absorb, and there are also published medical journals using juice plus to lower oxidative stress and repair damaged DNA (both are hallmarks of cancer cell growth).

 Including Juice plus into your already healthy routine after breast cancer is an amazing way give your body more of what she needs to thrive. And the best part is, if you buy the capsules for you, you get the kid’s gummy version for free (for one child only)!!

If you wanted to include juice plus as one simple easy step to include more whole food nutrition here are the links to do so:

 If you want to get the capsules for you and the gummies for your child:

Click here if you’re in the US

Click here if you’re in Canada

Send a message to @iambreastcancerthriver on instagram if you live in a different country or have questions about the product. 

If you just want the capsules for you:

Click here if you’re in the US

Click here if you’re in Canada

Send a message to @iambreastcancerthriver on instagram if you live in a different country or have questions about the product.

Boost immunity

Last but not least, the 5th pillar in my prevention nutrition plan is to boost immunity. The goal with nutrition essentially in all of these steps is to lower inflammation and do whatever you can to take stress off your liver and immune system - so that they can do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible.

 Your liver and immune system has over 500 jobs and a finite amount of resources to complete them. So making it as easy as possible for your liver and immune system to function by taking any pressure off of them by eating according to the principles previously listed is vital for prevention and thrivership.

 So by following these principles and eating whole, nutrient dense foods as close to nature as possible, adding in antioxidant foods and supplements, balancing blood sugar and doing all of these things, you are inherently supporting your immune system. 

 Some additional things I like to include for immune health are orange foods - squashes/carrots/sweet potatoes. They contain beta carotene which is an antioxidant but it also converts to vitamin A in your body and this is a vitamin that supports immune health. 

 So those are my 5 pillars of breast cancer prevention nutrition!

 For your reference again they are: 

1. Lowering inflammation
2. Blood sugar balancing
3. Reduces acidity
4. High anti oxidants
5. Boost immunity

For more helpful tips to support you holistically, click here to download my free mini course on the 3 vital steps to thrive after breast cancer!

If you’re reading this before January 6th 2021, Click HERE to register for my free 3 day workshop series to make 2021 the year to take your power back after breast cancer and THRIVE!

Connect with me on instagram - that’s where I have the most fun! Follow me @iambreastcancerthriver