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This issue's topics:

How regular exercise may help prevent breast cancer

Two cool new recipes for the hot summer weather!

BIG  .com news--DrMarcantel.com now has an RSS feed!

(So what's that, and why should you care? Read on to find out!)

An update and correction on our last skin care article

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Breast Health and Exercise

by Dr. Tina Marcantel

Most women are very concerned about breast health, and particularly about avoiding breast cancer. It’s certainly an important issue to address because according to the Center for Disease Control, “Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women. In 2003 (the most recent year numbers are available),

181,646 women and 1,826 men were diagnosed with breast cancer
41,619 women and 379 men died from breast cancer” (1)

The good news for women is that there are things they can do to promote breast health and reduce their chances of contracting this disease. We know that regular exercise is extremely important for many reasons concerning our overall health: weight loss, cardiovascular strengthening, balancing blood sugars, and much more, but did you know that exercise might also help you avoid breast cancer?

My clinical experience brings to me women who are experiencing signs and symptoms of estrogen dominance and there is evidence that this estrogen dominance may lead to breast cancer over a period of time. Dr. John Lee states in his book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause:

“Since many women in their mid-thirties begin to have non-ovulating cycles, they are producing much less progesterone than expected, but still producing normal (or more) estrogen….They develop signs of estrogen dominance relative to progesterone deficiency resulting in fluid retention, weight gain (especially around the hips and torso), depression and decreased libido.” (2)   But this extra estrogen could have a more insidious effect.

Dr. Bob Arnot, in his excellent book The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet, cites many good studies that associate high estrogen levels with a high risk of breast cancer:

 “Researchers at NYU measured estrogen levels in women long before they ever developed breast cancer. Years later the NYU health study found that those post-menopausal women who developed breast cancer had a markedly higher amount of estrogen measured in their blood than those who did not have cancer.”

Arnot also points out that exercise intercepts the estrogen pathway at several critical junctures. This results in a decrease in estrogen dominance. The more women exercised the less likely they were to get breast cancer. In America, a study at the University of Southern California of 1,000 women concluded that those who exercised 3.8 hours or more a week had less than half the breast cancer of those who remained inactive. (3)

Here’s what I recommend for my patients:

For young women—high intensity aerobic activity 4 or more hrs/week
For middle-aged women—moderate aerobic activity 4 hrs a week. Moderate intensity of exercise helps to stabilize insulin levels and lower body fat better than more intense exercise. Also, moderate intensity exercise may prevent adrenal fatigue in middle-aged women as compared to high intensity aerobic exercises.

Obviously, if you have had limited or no exercise recently you should start slowly and work up to the 4 hour/week mark. The important thing is consistency and persistence in following your exercise program. So what are you waiting for? Get moving and get (and stay) healthy!

1 Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/  accessed June 20, 2007.

2 Lee, John R., MD, and Hopkins, Virginia. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause: The breakthrough book on natural progesterone. New York: Warner Books; 1996.

3 Arnot, Dr. Bob. The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet. Boston: Little, Brown and Company; 1998.

This article on Breast Health and Exercise is available on our website. For more articles on a variety of health topics please visit our Articles Index page.

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Next to the home page, the recipes pages are the most visited area of our site. Here are some new additions.

Crispy Turkey Salad

by Dr. Tina Marcantel

 

5 ounces thin sliced turkey

1 small sliced roma tomato

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

several chopped olives with pimentos

1/2 Asian pear chopped (very crispy and sweet)

1 tablespoon raspberry vinaigrette

 

Mix all ingredients and place on a bed of romaine lettuce.

 

 

Sumptuous Salsa

by Dr. Tina Marcantel

 

This one is packed full of fiber. It's high in protein and low in fat.

2 16-ounce cans black beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 small chopped roma tomato

1/2 red onion chopped finely

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/4 cup lemon or lime juice (optional)

1 small red bell pepper chopped

 

Combine and mix thoroughly. You can eat it right away, but if you let it sit overnight it will be even better!

 

Visit our recipes pages for more good-for-you meal ideas!

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Now it's easier than ever to keep up with all the news and updates at DrMarcantel.com! How? We've added an RSS feed and a blog page to the website. The blog page contains a brief description of any pages that have been recently updated, with a link to take you directly to that updated page, and you'll find the blog page link at the top of the navigation bar (menu) on the left side of each page. The RSS feed means we can send news of those updates or special information straight to you without you having to visit the site to see if anything is new. That means any time we add recipes, publish a new article, significantly update a page, or share time-sensitive health information on our blog you will be notified immediately about it. It's easy to get set up and as handy as e-mail. Interested? Find out all you need to know about getting started with RSS by watching a short and fun video tutorial. To watch the video, visit our blog page and click on the link in the third paragraph that says watch this five-minute tutorial video.

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Our last newsletter included an article by Dr. Marcantel entitled "Skin Care: Ten Tips for Naturally Healthier Skin." One part of that article said, "Use 'superfatted' soaps like Dove or Neutrogena that have extra amounts of fatty substances such as lanolin, coconut oil, cold cream, or cocoa butter. The 'superfatted' soaps cause less irritation to the skin. Avoid soaps with lye, as they are irritating to the skin." One of our readers wrote in to say:

"Thank you for your newsletter. I have one concern: you mentioned avoiding soaps made with lye. I am an RN as well as a soap maker as was my mother before me. When soap is made with lye and lard (or vegetable oil as I make it) the lye becomes a neutral in the saponification process. All the lye binds with the fat. After the lye is bound, extra fats as in coconut oil and rosemary oil add extra oils for the skin. Commercial soaps contain detergent which strip natural body oils. Lye soaps by their nature do not. I am an OR circulator and supply soap to my co-workers who are so dried out from scrubbing with alcohol based products and have found that homemade soap is the only thing that does not dry them out..."

Donna

Thanks for the valuable information, Donna! We did some research on this ourselves and found that you are right on target regarding the breakdown of lye in the saponification process. We're happy to offer this correction and pass along this info to our readers.

The complete article on natural skin care is available on our website. For more articles on a variety of health topics please visit our Articles Index page.

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Is it time for a heath maintenance visit with Dr. Marcantel? Remember that it's easier to stay healthy than it is to get healthy. Call today for an appointment with Dr. Marcantel to evaluate your current progress with your personal health regimen: 480-985-0000. Need directions to our office or other contact information? Just click here for details.

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Dr. Tina Marcantel

5416 East Southern Avenue #110

Mesa, AZ 85206

480-985-0000

Newsletter written by Peter Marcantel, webmaster for DrMarcantel.com.