There is no surefire way to prevent breast cancer, but developing healthy habits can lower your risk of developing the disease.

By adjusting some daily habits and incorporating healthy practices into your lifestyle, you can significantly reduce your chances of developing breast cancer. Here are three habits that can help protect you from breast cancer:.

Eat a Balanced Diet

A balanced diet packed with nutritious foods is essential for good overall health. Eating healthy means that your body receives the essential vitamins and minerals it requires to function correctly.

A healthy diet should contain a variety of different kinds of food, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

Research suggests that a healthy diet enriched with plants may help lower your risk of breast cancer. Multiple studies show the intake of specific dietary components that help guard against breast cancer, including:.

Green vegetables like spinach and broccoli
Fruits like berries, apples, oranges, lemons, and limes
Nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, and chia seeds
Whole grains, including brown rice, quinoa, and barley
Healthy fats found in avocados, olives, and oily fish like salmon

It is also advisable to reduce processed foods loaded with sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats as much as possible.

Exercise Regularly

Regular exercise has many health benefits, including reducing the risk of breast cancer. Studies have found that women who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to those who do not.

Exercise helps keep body weight in check, and overweight and obese women have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

The recommended amount of exercise for adults is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week.

Some examples of moderate-intensity exercises include brisk walking, cycling, and swimming. Examples of vigorous-intensity exercises include running/jogging, fast cycling, and aerobic dance.

Incorporating resistance training exercises, such as lifting weights or doing body-weight exercises, can also help reduce your risk of breast cancer by building lean muscle tissue, which can improve insulin resistance and metabolic function, both of which can help reduce the risk of acquiring cancer.

Avoid or Reduce Alcohol Consumption

Alcohol consumption is a significant contributing factor to breast cancer development. Studies show that alcohol intake raises the level of estrogen, a hormone that can increase breast cancer’s risk.

The more alcohol you drink, the higher the risk of developing breast cancer. It is therefore highly advisable to reduce alcohol consumption or entirely avoid it, if possible.

The American Cancer Society recommends limiting alcohol consumption to at most one alcoholic beverage a day for women and two drinks for men per day. However, cutting out alcohol entirely is even more beneficial for preventing breast cancer.

Conclusion

Adopting healthy habits can significantly lower your breast cancer risk while also contributing significantly to your overall health.

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats; regular exercise; and limited or avoided alcohol intake are excellent habits to get started with reducing the risk of breast cancer. Keeping up with a healthy lifestyle not only helps lower the risk for breast cancer but also decreases the risk of various other chronic diseases and leads to an overall healthier lifestyle.