I never thought I’d say how much I enjoyed reading a book about breasts, but I highly recommend the new release: BREASTS: The Owner’s Manual by Dr. Kristi Funk, a board-certified breast surgeon and founder of The Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills.

You may have seen or read about Dr. Funk recently. She’s appeared on “Good Morning America,” “Megyn Kelly Today” and numerous other national media outlets.  And her name made headlines after her patient, Actress Angelina Jolie, revealed in a New York Times op-ed her pivotal decision to have a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy to reduce her cancer risk (Jolie carries the BRCA1 genetic mutation).

Dr. Funk tells it like it is, with frank explanations based on credible, fact-based research. And she busts several myths about what causes breast cancer and provides better and proven options for reducing your risk, which I have also reiterated many times.

Ladies you will not get breast cancer by:

  • wearing a too-tight bra
  • keeping your mobile phone in your shirt
  • using underarm deodorant
  • getting a breast tattoo or nipple piercing
  • having breast implants or breast reduction surgery
  • breathing or touching someone who has breast cancer (seriously, some people think it is contagious!)

Since more than 85 percent of all breast cancers are lifestyle related and not genetic, you can increase your risk by:

  • being overweight
  • smoking
  • consuming more than the recommended daily allowance of alcohol (one 4 oz. glass)
  • being sedentary (which contributes to weight gain and overall poor health)
  • eating an unhealthy diet which contributes to weight gain and toxicity (Dr. Funk’s section on diet and nutrition is one of the best I have read.)
  • not getting regular clinical breast exams, mammograms and not conducting regular breast self-examinations (which is how I found the lump in my breast in 2009)

Here’s the book (you can click the link or photo to buy this book)

Breasts: The Owner’s Manual: Every Woman’s Guide to Reducing Cancer Risk, Making Treatment Choices, and Optimizing Outcomes

Listen to my show with Dr. Kristi Funk here on iHeart: