October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month October 8, 2009

As many as one in eight American women will develop breast cancer at some point in her lifetime. While we can’t change our genetics, we can do a great deal to reduce the risk of breast cancer with lifestyle changes. There are no foods, beverages or magic pills proven to prevent breast cancer, says Dr. Margaret Lewin, Medical Director of Cinergy Health, but we can reduce the risk. 

Data from multiple American and international studies show that simple lifestyle changes can make a significant impact on our health. Here are some important steps women can take:

• Get our weight down and keep it down to a Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 25. For example, a woman 5’2” tall should weigh less than 136 pounds, 5’7” less than 159. Obese women have higher body fat stores, a magnet for estrogen.
• Cut fats out of our diets, specifically Trans, saturated and omega-6 (sunflower, safflower, corn, cottonseed) fats. Aim for a diet with fewer than 30% fat calories. Graphs of breast cancer incidence in countries around the world are nearly identical to the fat intake in those countries: the higher the fat intake, the higher the incidence of breast cancer.
• Reduce dietary “white” carbs (potatoes, sugar, flour, rice) – which can induce hormone changes increasing cellular growth in breast tissue. Replace them with whole grains, beans and legumes. (Click here for delicious, elegant, gluten-free recipes.)
• Load up on fruits and vegetables, especially dark, leafy greens; cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage); berries, cherries and citrus fruits.
• Eliminate alcohol – or keep it down to one small drink daily (not the same as abstinence during the week and seven drinks over the weekend!).
• Exercise regularly – at least 30 minutes a day of moderate aerobics, such as brisk walking. The higher our body’s muscle mass, the lower the fat stores. (Read Get seriously fit–Outdoor bootcamp routine.)

 

Finally, should we be destined to develop breast cancer, finding and treating it early can be life-saving. Many authorities recommend routine yearly mammograms starting at age 40, adding an ultrasound for those women with ‘dense’ breasts, and even an MRI for women at super-high risk. Since cancers can develop before your next scheduled exam, use your fingertips to examine your breasts every time you shower or bathe. Don’t make this a scary exercise: trust that your fingers are very smart at recognizing changes. See your doctor as soon as possible should you note such changes, even though more than 80% of breast lumps are totally benign. We can’t prevent breast cancer, but we can markedly reduce our risks with lifestyle changes; and early detection and treatment can be life-saving.

Check your Body Mass Index.

Sheryl Crowe talks baby, cancer, and Michael Jackson, in October Health magazine

Nine time Grammy award winner Sheryl Crowe graces the cover of Health magazine’s October 2009 issue. Readers were invited to ask intimate questions… Keep Reading »

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Health mag cover: Sheryl Crowe talks baby, cancer, and Michael Jackson September 17, 2009

Nine time Grammy award winner Sheryl Crowe graces the cover of Health magazine’s October 2009 issue. Readers were invited to ask intimate questions about the 47-year-old singer, performer, cancer-survivor and new mother. Writer Jancee Dunn reveals how this “wildflower” is no shrinking violet; She talks openly about managing her remission from cancer, what she learned from Michael Jackson about fame, how she knew she was ready to adopt on her own, and offers tips for staying young.

When Sheryl was first diagnosed, she met with a nutritionist specializing in disease prevention and wellbeing, and still incorporates the tips she learned: 

• Omega-3 “I eat salmon or other fish at least three times a week. I eat a lot of walnuts, almonds, colorful vegetables.”
• Antioxidants “I drink pomegranate juice and keep a vat of tomato soup around or some kind of tomato sauce, because it has lycopene, and prunes, which get such a bad rap but are loaded with antioxidants.”
• Fiber “One big thing I learned was that so much of wellness depends on your body getting rid of waste. So I eat a lot of Fiber One, which has 14 grams of fiber per serving.

For Crowe, getting cancer “was a really personal blow, because I was newly out of a relationship and that made it more difficult to even fathom that I could be diagnosed with cancer. And this great friend told me one of the gateways to awakening is to allow yourself to experience your emotions. As Westerners, we’ve gotten adept at suppressing them. It’s always ‘Try not to think about it’ or ‘Keep yourself busy.’ You push all that stuff down, and it manifests itself in other ways—whether it’s stress or disease. So my attitude was to grieve when I felt like grieving, be afraid when I felt like being afraid, and be angry when I felt ike being angry. It also helped me to learn to say no to people. That’s been really liberating.”

When Minnesota reader Joan Steffend asked if there was one piece of wisdom Sheryl would like to make sure her son Wyatt, age two, has in his heart and could carry into the world, Crowe responded, “Respect is huge—respect for the planet and honoring and loving this organism that sustains all of us. And try to make every decision out of compassion, which encompasses how you treat the planet and every person.” Crowe goes on to explain how she “let go of this picture I’d always painted about my life, about how it was going to be set up with a husband, a house, and all that. At the time I was considering adopting, everything else had sort of not worked. When you let go of the story you tell, a lot of times it creates a whole world of expansion for other things to come in.”

Sheryl Crowe was a backup singer on tour with Michael Jackson in the late 1980s. She recalls her 18 months touring with him: “I learned so much from watching him, about professionalism, about uniqueness, about artistry—things that set him apart from the rest of us. And it was a gift that I got to be witness to his greatness. I got to see some of the crazier stuff, too—the fans, the kind of undoing of his identity and the re-doing of his identity, and how lonesome that must have felt.”

As a new mom and busy performer, Sheryl takes good care of her health and is truly an athlete. “I try to do something every day that’s sports-related, and I like to be outside,” she shares. ”I love riding my bike, and playing tennis, and paddle surfing. I don’t love going to the gym, but I’ll do it if it’s rainy.”

Sheryl’s tips for looking (and staying!) young:

• I try to purge myself of stress.
• I definitely am embracing aging. When you shoot your face with Botox and stuff, you rob yourself of your ability to have youthful expressions, and that’s why sometimes people look a lot older. 
• I also have never spent a lot of time in front of the mirror. So as far as I know, I look like I’m 24, which is how I feel.

  For more info: In October 2009, Sheryl will release a deluxe two-disc edition of her debut album Tuesday Night Music Club, stuffed with goodies like a bonus DVD, rarities, and B-sides.

ABC’s General Hospital stars record children’s books (gallery) Kelly Monaco, Rebecca Herbst and other cast members from ABC’s General Hospital taped a reading for a children’s book for Speakaboos on…Keep Reading » Meryl Streep’s own recipe for roast chicken in Glamour Glamour’s September issue (on newsstands now) has a fun food piece with the women from the new movie Julie & Julia. Meryl Streep wrote a…Keep Reading »
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Get Your Greens! Perfect Kale Salad March 17, 2009

I really wish I’d taken a picture–This colorful salad is certainly a dazzler. It just looked so wonderful, my fork seemed to dive in on its own, and just kept diving until the dish was devoured!

I say this low-glycemic and gluten-free salad is “perfect” because it is, unarguably, without fault. Steamed kale is a superfood among superfoods (one cup of kale contains just 36.4 calories, but provides 192.4% of the daily value for vitamin A, and 88.8% of the daily value for vitamin C). Kale is also currently in season.

Dried cranberries and cherry tomatoes offer sensual texture, Omegas 3 and 6 fatty acids, and other essential antioxidants, while the almonds offer protein, monounsaturated “good” fat, and can lower your chance for heart attack. In fact, just like the kale, the almonds in this ideal little salad guard against cancer, offer an impressive serving of antioxidants, calcium, folic acid and more magnesium than oatmeal or even spinach. The dressing is so simple and easy–everyone has the ingredients on hand. And, it is delicious, gorgeous, colorful and kid-friendly. You have no excuse–make this salad today!

1 bunch steamed kale, finely chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup almonds, slivered
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Separate kale stalks and steam briefly until wilted yet tender-crisp. Chop finely and place in a large bowl. Add tomatoes, dried cranberries and almonds. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over salad, toss gently, and serve. Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 as an entree.

Food Fact! Kale is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the Brassica family, a group of vegetables including cabbage, collards and Brussels sprouts. Kale offers more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food, and is in season from the middle of Winter through early Spring, although it can be found in the produce department year-round. The glucosinolates in kale have been found to decrease the risk of a wide variety of cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers, and activate detoxifying enzymes in the liver that help neutralize potentially carcinogenic substances, making it a wonderful choice for detoxification. One cup of kale also supplies 93.6 mg of calcium and is an impressive source of folic acid, making it an ideal staple for pregnant and lactating women.

For another satisfying and nutritious salad, check this out…

Or visit my other blog, www.UnassumingFoodie.blogspot.com!

Clorox Green Works to Boost Company Image and Sales? April 22, 2008

Early, early in the morning, my husband wakes to watch Squawk on the Street, a program dedicated to the ups and downs of the New York Stock Exchange. If our baby has roused me at some particularly drowsy hour, I’ll pad quietly downstairs for a cup of half-caf and watch with him. When Chairman and CEO Don Knauss rang the Opening Bell with Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope this morning in honor of “Green Week,” I sat up and took notice.

Let me say first and foremost, I am an alternative cleanser zealot. Whenever I see a Clorox commercial for Formula 409 or those new disinfecting wipes, it stirs up my inner activist. Images of smiling moms wiping down toys and high-chairs with non-biodegradable cloths infused with a variety of carcinogens widely known to cause cancer and/or respiratory problems as a narrator suggests that to be a good mother, you must buy this product. What “good mother” do you know that would expose her child (and herself, her husband and pets) to toxic substances? Repeatedly? This is called chronic exposure. While our first concern is typically to eliminate germs and bacteria within the home for the health of our family, as my friend Becky Wheelock, a mother of three, points out: “our bodies are accustomed to almost all of the bacteria we come into contact with everyday. These harsh chemicals people buy at their closest grocer and slather their homes (and bodies!) with are really toxic. But since they ‘kill germs’, we believe our homes and children can be safe.” While it’s certainly true that the human body is accustomed to most common home bacteria, our bodies are not equipped to fight cancer-causing toxins. Consider the following:

• The EPA recommends “choosing less hazardous products that have positive environmental attributes (e.g., biodegradability, low toxicity and low volatile organic compound (VOC) content) and taking steps to reduce exposure can minimize harmful impacts to building occupants, improve indoor air quality, and reduce water and ambient air pollution.”
• The Cancer Prevention Coalition has named commonly used household products such as Professional Windex Concentrate Glass Cleaner ( S.C. Johnson Wax) and Ajax Oxygen Bleach Cleanser (Colgate-Palmolive Company) as cancer-causing products. According to an Australian study, exposure at a young age to certain chemicals in household cleaning products may increase the risk of developing asthma.
• The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that 80% of all cancer is attributable to environmental influences. These include lifestyle influences such as smoking, as well as exposure to carcinogenic chemicals found in everyday household cleaners.
• In a 15-year study in Oregon , women who didn’t work outside the home were determined to have a 54% higher death-rate from cancer as opposed to those who did. The study suggested that chronic exposure to cleaning products played a role. While most household cleansers have relatively small amounts of toxic ingredients, repeated exposure to these small amounts over several years of cleaning, scrubbing, dusting and polishing can accumulate to produce cancerous tumors, aggravate asthma symptoms and may prove dangerous to pets and small children who spend greater amounts of time in the home.
• According to the National Institutes of Health, many common household disinfectants contain phenols-caustic and dangerous compounds that have been shown to cause damage to respiratory and circulatory systems. The EPA lists disinfectants that contain phenols as “corrosive and toxic.” (Phenols are found in household detergents such as Lysol, Pine-Sol, Spic-n-Span, Baking Powder, Mouthwash and Sugar substitutes.)

While sales have been down for Clorox (CLX), the Fall 2007 acquisition of Burt’s Bees followed shortly thereafter by the introduction of Green Works keep the company’s fingers crossed; Clorox will post their earnings on May 1. But what about Green Works? (which include a general purpose cleaner, window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, dilutable cleaner and bathroom cleaner.) Is this the beginning of nationwide awareness of healthy house-cleaning? Let’s look at the pros and cons.

1.) Pro: Clorox has both the advertising dollar and nationwide market penetration to educate the public on alternatives to carcinogenic cleaning products, and offer product in markets without access to the smaller brands that suffer from limited distribution. The non-profit Sierra Club has given Green Works its stamp of approval; Carl Pope commented, ”"We hope we are transforming the marketplace by doing this.”
2.) Con: None of us want to live with mold and muck (or Staphylococcus, Salmonella, and E.coli or viruses that cause colds and flu: Rhinovirus and Influenza A2), but Green Works isn’t a disinfectant, so it won’t get rid of those. To be a disinfectant, a product must be capable of removing 100% of bacteria, viruses and fungi, and this product isn’t quite there.
3.) Pro/Con: Price. Clorox Chairman and CEO Don Knauss said this morning that while Green Works doesn’t cost more to manufacture, it will be priced at a premium—a pro if your intention is to purchase the stock. However, considering that dozens of 100% natural cleaning brands are available (in limited markets) at the same cost as Formula 409, for many consumers, this is a con. 
4.) Pro: Clorox claims that each one of the five cleaners is at least 99% natural. However, Collin Dunn at TreeHugger.com notes, ”natural” is “the ubiquitous, unregulated ‘n’ word.”
5.) Con: The other 1%, however, is not “natural”. That 1% allows for ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate and lauramine oxide to be present as well, according to Courtney Curtis: Your Guide to Green Living.  jstevens.wordpress.com is also troubled by Clorox’s use of the unregulated word “natural,” commenting: “even if it was clearly defined, not everything that is natural is safe. Arsenic, lead, and mercury occur naturally. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, [Clorox's] 1% of unnatural ingredients are derived from petrochemicals. Namely, the preservative Kathon, and the Milliken Liquitint Blue HP dye and Bright Yellow dye X. The dyes give several of the products a light green color. Not exactly necessary, in my opinion.”
6.) Con: Just how bad is that 1%? Clorox claims that the preservative, Kathon, will biodegrade within 28 days. According to the MSDS for Kathon, the substance by itself carries the following risks: “irritating to skin, risk of serious damage to eyes, may cause sensitization by skin contact, harmful to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.” Not exactly green.

I’ve purchased and used dozens of alternative cleansers over the years, and as a result have a small collection of tried-and-true products with plant-derived surfactents that really work and are safe for my family and cat. (And when my children get old enough to begin helping more around the house, I won’t think twice about handing over a sponge and bucket!) Click here for reviews of my favorites.