“It is true that changing your life today means lowering your risk for tomorrow.” In her talk, “Think Pink, Live Green”, Dr. Marisa Weiss arms women with the knowledge and strategies to reduce the environmental risks that cause breast cancer. In her talk, she revealed the somewhat-staggering statistic that only 10% of breast cancers are caused by inherited genes. Attendees left her talk with a full understanding of why breast cancer rates are increasing and how to begin prevention immediately.
For women of all ages, this Speakeasy is a must-watch, as Weiss gives very concrete ways to improve your odds at avoiding Breast Cancer: we highly recommend sharing this video with all the women in your life so they can learn how best to defend against the chemicals and pollutants that are linked with the increase of high breast cancer rates.
Dr. Weiss addressed the root of most breast cancers: the environmental impacts on our bodies’ inside environment. “Modern life is different – the obesity epidemic, extra fat leads to extra hormones, which leads to abnormal gland growth and inflammation. Hormones and pesticisides in food actually dissolve in fat and your body can retain them that way. People who are heavy are also less likely to be physically active and more likely to eat foods that are unhealthy.”
She also addressed the modern-life fact that many women are postponing our first pregnancies, or maybe never breastfeeding, which can be a problem: “The length of time that the breast gland takes to fully develop makes it more vulnerable. It is immature until the first full-term pregnancy, when the breast gland finally is forced to grow up, mature, get a job getting milk. It is not until that time until the gland is more resistant from getting into trouble and fooling around with a lot chemicals, and modern life means lots of bad chemicals.”
Some things we can start doing today include:
- Being physically active
- Maintaining healthy weight
- A vegetable-heavy diet
- Buying organic products, especially dairy and meat
- Getting Vitamin D daily from either 15 minutes of sun daily, a supplement, or oily fish
- Limiting soy intake
- “What goes on you goes in you” = using organic personal care products
- Checking your products on safecosmetics.org to see if something has harmful chemicals – parabens or phthalates
- Fragrance-free products
- Carrying your own water bottle, and never reusing or refilling a plastic bottle with a number 1
- Making sure your number 7 plastics have a “PLA” or “BPA FREE” symbol
- Moderating alcohol intake
“It sounds like such a huge problem, but as it turns out, the body is very forgiving and we do have this tremendous capacity to heal and move forward, but it requires that we re-look at how we’re living our lives. We need to relook at what we’re eating, drinking, what supplements we’re taking, how we manage our stress, our weight, and the reactions between our inside and outside environments. It is important for ourselves and it is important for sparing the next generation because what we do as mothers and fathers impacts our daughters’ risk.”
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Dr. Weiss is the author of four critically acclaimed books on breast cancer and breast health, published by Random House:Living Beyond Breast Cancer and Living Well Beyond Breast Cancer, coauthored with her mother, Ellen Weiss (1998, 2010);Taking Care of Your “Girls:” A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens, coauthored with her daughter, Isabel Friedman (2008); and 7 Minutes!: How to Get the Most from Your Doctor Visit (2007). Her Think Pink, Live Green project, a global breast cancer prevention initiative, has been a key focus for Breastcancer.org for the past four years. As a renowned leader in the field of breast cancer, Dr. Weiss is frequently called on by both print and broadcast media and has been a repeat guest on ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s TODAY, CNN’s medical features, and The Dr. Oz Show, among others.