WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Let’s Beat Breast Cancer. That’s the message nearly two dozen doctors, dietitians, and celebrities—including Suzy Amis and James Cameron, Hilaria and Alec Baldwin, and Tracey and Jon Stewart—are sharing in a new Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine initiative to help women reduce their risk for breast cancer.
Launched by the nonprofit Physicians Committee and breast cancer surgeon Kristi Funk, MD, Let’s Beat Breast Cancer focuses on four simple, science-backed strategies to help reduce breast cancer risk: eating plant-based foods, getting regular exercise, limiting alcohol, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Visitors to LetsBeatBreastCancer.org are invited to pledge to follow the four lifestyle guidelines for the month of October. Those who take the pledge are awarded a free e-cookbook filled with healthful recipes developed and approved by members of the program’s advisory board.
“What you eat can either fuel cancer, or help your body seek and destroy it. Eating whole, colorful plant foods helps your body defend itself from rogue cancer cells,” says Kristi Funk, MD, who heads up the Let’s Beat Breast Cancer advisory committee with Physicians Committee president and nutrition researcher Neal Barnard, MD.
Dr. Funk is a board-certified breast cancer surgeon who co-founded the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Los Angeles. She has helped thousands of women through breast cancer treatment, including well-known celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Sheryl Crow. While writing the national best-seller Breasts: The Owner’s Manual, Dr. Funk’s research led her entire family to become 100 percent plant-based.
The advisory board also boasts expert breast cancer researchers, registered dietitians, lifestyle influencers, and high-profile individuals with personal experiences with breast cancer: Suzy Amis and James Cameron, Tracey and Jon Stewart, Hilaria and Alec Baldwin, Joanna Kerns, Tig Notaro, Annabeth Gish, Mallika Sherawat, Lawrence Kushi, ScD, Lucille Beseler, MS, RDN, LDN, CDE, Ruth Heidrich, PhD, Paulette Chandler, MD, MPH, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Dotsie Bausch, Audrey and Jeff Dunham, Lee Crosby, RD, LD, and Geraldine Adams, RN, MS, CDE.
Dozens of organizations and companies have also partnered with the Physicians Committee for the campaign, including Pink Lotus, Vitamix, The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences Office of Integrative Medicine and Health, Oldways, Forks Over Knives, Veestro, Mama Sezz, 22 Days Nutrition, Food for Life, Copper Branch, Wellness Forum Health, The Invisible Vegan, Kate Farms, Candle 79, Switch 4 Good, Whole Food Plant-Based, Eat Well Stay Well, LLC, GreenFare, Veggie Grill, Tofurky, International Association of Reversive Medicine, Sweet Potato Soul, Naked Food, One Day to Wellness, Arbonne Independent Consultant Nancy S. Fitzgibbon, RBG Fit Club, Saladmaster, Hungry Planet, Pick Up Limes, Rodman’s Discount Gourmet, Purple Carrot, Rouxbe, Hungry Harvest, and Fruitive.
“Wearing a pink ribbon to raise awareness of breast cancer is good,” says Lee Crosby, RD, LD, a dietitian with the Physicians Committee. “But following the Let’s Beat Breast Cancer guidelines to reduce our risk of getting the disease or having a recurrence is even better.”
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research.