Nature's Secrets: All About Women's Health

Additional Info

• Segment Number: 5
• Audio File: wellness_for_life/1519wl5e.mp3
• Featured Speaker: Susanne Bennett, DC
• Transcription: RadioMD Presents: Wellness for Life Radio | Original Air Date: May 8, 2015
  Host: Susanne Bennett, DC
  
  It is time to feel better with help from Dr. Susanne Bennett. Allergies, nutrition, ultimate wellness... all discussed right here, right now. It is Wellness for Life Radio on Radio MD. Here is your host, Dr. Susanne.
  
  DR SUSANNE: Moms are the best. They are so special. They give so much to us, right? Love and all the great things that they do. But often they forget to take care of themselves. So, for Mother’s Day, I thought it would be appropriate to support all of the moms out there with some advice on how they can be best for their own body. What can they do? So, today on Nature’s Secrets, I want to talk about three things that many women aren’t aware of or they rarely talk about it, even with their doctors. Number one, now how many women can say that they really know their own breasts in detail? We have been told for years to do monthly breast exams self-exams as a preventive measure to support our breast health and catch problems early on. And while spending the time doing that check is there something more that we can do that might actually prevent breast cancer, the most common cancer among American women? I say “Yes. There is.”
  
  So, let’s have you start now. Breast lymphatic massage that is my number one advice. It is a simple exercise so you can truly consider it being a preventive in nature to help your breasts stay perky and healthy. Your lymph system keeps tissues clean and the body’s immune system working. It is like a second circulatory system and moves waste and toxins out and it produces immune cells that fight infection. But your lymph system doesn’t have a pump like the circulatory system, so our body movements activate the lymph flow. Now, if you don't get enough exercise or you have poor diet, have a hidden infection or are exposed to toxins, your lymphatic system can become bogged down, stagnant with toxins that don't get filtered out. Then your body can become more susceptible to infection and diseases such as cancer.
  
  Here are four simple steps to help you move the breast lymph and prevent disease. Now, what you want to do is keep your shoulder relaxed. Put all four fingers into your armpit where the lymph nodes are and pump straight into your pit. Pump, this is not a massage where you are doing circular movements, you are just pushing straight up into your lymph nodes, your tissues. You want to do this about ten to twenty times. Next, hold the entire breast with both hands and pull your breast towards the armpit towards the lymph nodes, so you are basically pumping and pulling your breast up towards the armpit towards lymph nodes. You do this about ten to twenty times as well.
  
  Up next. The upper quadrant, the inner quadrant of the breast needs a little extra care because it drains differently. Hold the breast on the same side just holding the breast in opposite hand supports the above breast then you are pumping the upper breast towards the collarbone. Now using this you can do this by using your palm and really just pumping upwards. So, again this is ten to twenty times. Last exercise. Grab both breasts with both hands and push the breast straight back into the chest while straight back. So, you are going to just basically push straight into your chest and by doing that ten to twenty times you are moving your lymph; you are moving your breast lymph. Now how often? I would do this every day in the shower it doesn’t take very long.
  
  And by following these simple four steps…There is actually a short video that you can find at Breast Health Project and you can get that at drsusanne.com/breastexercise and it is a video that will help you get your lymphatic fluid moving, filter and remove waste products and potentially reduce swellings and PMS breast symptoms and also other breast discomforts. Less toxins in the breast tissues means less triggers that can lead to cancer cell growth. Plus, you know what? It turns this whole scary cancer hunting self-check into a relaxing preventive massage that can help you strengthen your breast immunity and detox the tissues.
  
  Now one more thing. I suggest women do not wear the underwire bras it is way too restrictive and which will inhibit lymphatic flow. There has been concerns about that so it is really important that you go for you know what like I do, I wear a wireless bra and so can you, or you can just go completely free without anything.
  
  Alright number two. Let’s keep your vagina healthy. What are the best things to do to keep your vagina healthy is to keep your vaginal microbiome healthy, the good friendly bacteria properly balancing within the vagina by eating an appropriate diet and that includes the use of probiotics as well. So, if you eat a lot of sugar and simple carbs the bad bacteria and the yeast will go into total overgrowth mode and which leads to vaginal infections. You can counter that by eating whole healthy foods low glycemic load carbs lots of green leafy vegetables and fermented foods, such as kimchi which is my favorite and sauerkraut, pickles and miso as well as coconut yogurt and kefir. Otherwise, you could go ahead and take a daily probiotic.
  
  So you also want to keep things in and around the vagina clean but to avoid over drying and irritating chemicals. A healthy vagina is at a pH of 3.8 to 4.5 and many soaps will change that healthy level to an unhealthy level. I recommend you avoid baby wipes, sprays and douching. You know, douching impacts the pH level and study has shown that douching can actually increase the risk of infections, pelvic inflammatory diseases and sexually transmitted diseases. Wash the vulva area around the outer area of the vagina daily and I recommend you try the probiotic cleansing bar which is pH-balancing chemical-free as well as hyper-allergenic. It contains fermented lactic acid bacteria to ensure a healthy microbiome as well.
  
  Now if you are perimenopausal or menopausal you know less estrogen will thin and dry vaginal tissues and so it also increases the pH level and fewer secretions can mean discomfort during sex. Having sex actually can help preserve your vagina’s thickness and moisture. So, if you don't want to lose it you want to use it. Also start taking C buckthorn oil, Omega 7, it will increase the tone and keep your vagina very moist and healthy and within a week you will notice, “Oh, wow. Less pain, less irritation and less inflammation,” triggered by different sexual activity and what not. And if you use lubrication please look for a natural water-based formula verses Vaseline or other toxic chemicals.
  
  Alright lastly. Today most of us without even knowing we are poisoning our bodies by applying toxic skin care products and make up. We slather on products on our skin loaded with synthetic chemicals that can easily be absorbed by our skin, our body’s largest organ. So, synthetic chemicals found in majority of skin care products are often endocrine disruptors that mimic our natural hormones signaling to our body to decrease the production of key hormones erroneously. So, they can actually tell our cells to die prematurely or allow other dangerous hormones to accumulate. So, which ones are we talking about? These are the culprit: amines, amines can be definitely carcinogenic if they mix with nitrates and it causes dermatitis as well and irritating our skin. Parabens. That is well known carcinogen it is really important that you stay away from parabens because they found on bodies with breast tumor that they are actually high in those tumors, parabens.
  
  BPA Bisphenol A. That is another problem that can actually link to breast and other cancers. Phthalates which is a lot in fragrances although we love good smells, they are also endocrine disruptors. These are all lipophilic. What that means is that it gets stored in fatty tissue. You know, I dedicate an entire chapter day 6 in my bestselling book, The 7-Day Allergy Makeover, of this topic about body care. So, one more thing, don't forget, stay away from colors: yellow, number five red, number four because there is a lot as well in cosmetics because they can cause allergic reactions. So, you can also go to ewg.org and there is a place called Skin Deep and you will be able to get all kinds of great information. So, happy Mother’s Day to all of the beautiful women in your life including you. This is Dr. Susanne. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to serve you. I am dedicated to helping you feel your best today.
  
  This is Wellness for Life Radio on RadioMD. See you next time. Stay well.
• Length (mins): 10
• Waiver Received: No
• Host: Susanne Bennett, DC