Exercise Your Way To Better Breast Health

It’s official (again): Exercise is good for you.

Aside from a healthier heart, healthier lungs, reduced risk of disease and illness, an elevated mood, a more attractive physique, clearer skin, a higher metabolism, better sleep, better sex, and elevated energy… you can now officially say you’re reducing your risk of breast cancer with exercise.

In a very recent study published by Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research), young women who exercise aerobically on a regular basis are finding the bonus benefit of exercise – better breast health.

Isolating out all other lifestyle factors, it took only four short months of regular aerobic exercise to improve estrogen metabolism in younger women. In this study regular aerobic exercise meant 30 minutes of elevated heart rate, 5 times a week for women who have not yet gone through menopause. That shift has a positive correlation with reduced breast cancer risk.

It’s no secret that our country is feeling the pull of wanting to look good while not wanting to go to the gym. But the reasons to workout are piling up, and some of those reasons are on our favorites list. Once again, breast health and whole body health compliment each other nicely.

Now, run (or swim, or bike, or…) like your life depends on it. There are too many good things that can all result from getting a little sweaty!

Image credit: Taebo_1 by J.C. Rojas Creative Commons Copyright Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Originally posted 5/9/13 on mammographykc.com.