By: Dr. Mercola
Source: Mercola.com
Breast cancer is a growing epidemic among women, with just under 12 percent of women developing an invasive form of the disease during their lifetimes.
This works out to about one in eight U.S. women!
Research suggests, however, that one of the most powerful ways to lower this risk substantially is through the simple act of exercise.
New research is underway to determine just how much exercise — either 150 minutes or 300 minutes a week — is best for cancer prevention, but it’s safe to say that starting an exercise regimen, if you’re not already participating in one, is a very wise strategy to optimize your health.
Exercise May Reduce Your Breast Cancer Risk by Up to 40 Percent
The notion that exercise may help prevent cancer dates back to 1922, when two independent studies observed that cancer deaths declined among men working occupations that required higher amounts of physical activity.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that the topic received due attention once again, and since then a paper in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reported that “more than a hundred epidemiologic studies on the role of physical activity and cancer prevention have been published.”
In the same paper, which reviewed published epidemiologic studies on physical activity and the risk of developing cancer, it’s noted that:
“The data are clear in showing that physically active men and women have about a 30-40% reduction in the risk of developing colon cancer, compared with inactive persons … With regard to breast cancer, there is reasonably clear evidence that physically active women have about a 20-30% reduction in risk, compared with inactive women. It also appears that 30-60 min