Follow Genesis’ Ten Commandments to reduce your breast cancer risk

The Genesis Appeal – the only UK charity dedicated entirely to the prevention of breast cancer – highlights that only five per cent of breast cancer cases are directly linked to high risk genes.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the UK, with 44,000 diagnoses a year. Recent research findings suggest that controlling weight and making wise diet and exercise decisions can reduce your risk by as much as 40 per cent.

Manchester-based dietician, Dr Michelle Harvie, has formulated The Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Diet. To explain how women can actively reduce their risk of developing the disease, the diet draws on evidence from Genesis’ researchers and other specialists in nutrition, cancer prevention, and genetics.

The Genesis Appeal has outlined its Ten Commandments to help women adapt their lifestyle for the better and reduce their risk:

1. Watch your weight, and calorie intake. Gaining more than three stone in weight from the age of 20 can double your chances of developing breast cancer after the menopause.
2. Do more exercise. Aim to include three to four hours of exercise each week (five 35 to 45 minute sessions each week). A quarter of all breast cancer cases worldwide are due to excess weight, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
3. Limit your alcohol intake. Each drink you have on a daily basis can increase your risk by seven per cent – therefore someone who has five drinks every day can increase their risk by up to 35 per cent!
4. Reduce your intake of saturated (animal) and trans fats by cutting down on fatty meats, high fat dairy foods, cakes, biscuits, pastry, crisps and many margarines. Not all fat is bad for us – the fats found in oily fish, avocado, and rapeseed, walnut and olive oils are part of a healthy anti-cancer diet.
5. Eat more wholegrain and less refined (white) starchy foods. Wholegrains help to control levels of cancer-promoting hormones in the body and boost your intake of cancer-beating nutrients like selenium and vitamin E.
6. Include plenty of different coloured fruit and vegetables. These are a great way to fill you up and control your calorie intake; aim for at least five portions a day.
7. Include low fat dairy products such as yoghurt, low fat milk, and cottage cheese – rich in calcium and often vitamin D – which help protect us from cancer.
8. Be aware of taking HRT in the long term as it contains oestrogen and progesterone and can increase the risk of breast cancer. The increased risk does disappear within five to ten years of stopping the combined HRT.
9. Be breast aware. There is good advice on breast awareness from www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk.
10. Attend breast screening, if eligible. If you are under 50, you may be eligible for a mammogram if a close relative has had breast cancer at a young age.