Take your bra off! Take it off!
No, you aren’t reading this wrong. Almost half of the world’s population are females and at one point in their lives, they would have worn a bra. Now you might be thinking, it’s normal for females to wear bras, except of course if they are indigenous people who wear their traditional clothing or if you don’t believe in wearing bras.
If you are reading this and you find yourself in the two categories above, consider yourself with a relatively lowered risk for breast cancer (unless, of course, you’ve other risk factors that you’re actively experiencing).
No to Antiperspirants
In the United States alone, there is a 1 in every 8 chance of a female to have invasive breast cancer. Every year, there is approximately 40,000 American women dying from breast cancer. And if there is an easier way to reduce your risk without having to alter your diet, change your job or your gene pool (not that you can), wouldn’t you take it?
Initial studies have pinpointed antiperspirants as a risk factor for breast cancer. It still is, especially because the aluminum that it contains blocks and clogs the exit pores for sweat. Sweat that contains toxins. Now what has bra got to do with all this?
Bra and Breast Cancer
A study was conducted on 4000 women and these were the results:
| Number of hours of wearing a bra | Risk of developing breast cancer |
| 24 hours/day | 3 out of 4 |
| More than 12 hours/day, but not to bed | 1 out of 7 |
| Less than 12 hours/day | 1 out of 52 |
| Barely wore a bra or never had | 1 out of 168 |
If you compare the women who wore bras the whole day to those who didn’t wear a bra at all, there was a 125-fold difference in risk. So why do the researchers think that wearing bras can cause cancer?
Following the same rationale of using an antiperspirant, the bra that you wear can suppress the lymphatic system. When the lymphatic system is compressed, the toxins are going to accumulate in the breast tissues. The accumulation is what causes the health problems, one of which can be breast cancer.
Benefits of not wearing a bra
Set your breasts free! Not only will you lessen your risk of getting breast cancer, you also make your breasts more toned. A research in France found out that the breast tissue growth is stopped by wearing a bra. If the breast tissues don’t grow, this leads to weakened muscles for breast support.
In fact, there was a 7 millimeter lift that was measured from the women’s nipples each year that they didn’t wear a bra. Who needs support when your breasts are fine on their own? The women who participated in the French study also claimed that their breasts were firmer with the stretch marks around the area fading. The study had around 330 participants from the age of 18 to 35 and was conducted for 15 years.
To wear or not to wear
These are just some of the studies conducted by different researchers around the world. The claims can hold true for them, but it’s up to you if you want to change your lifestyle. Watch as the cancer researcher in this video share his knowledge of the no bra studies:
This is one of those nasty rumors that won’t go away, that most poelpe shrug to the I-don’t-believe-this-tall-tale-for-one-second Bin. However it may not be just a rumor, no matter how improbable it sounds. According to The American Cancer Society and the American Breast Cancer Society, wearing a bra in the daytime, nighttime, or anytime for long periods cannot cause a woman to develop breast cancer, yet they have no scientific research to support their claim. In fact, there has been absolutely no research to date that disconects the link between breast cancer and bras. However, a Harvard study in 1991 showed that bra-free women had a lower rate of breast cancer than bra wearing women. And a medical study published in 1995 suggested bras are the leading cause of breast cancer. The proposed method for bras causing breast cancer (the build up of toxins due to constriction) has been called implausible by the American Cancer Society, although numerous health care practitioners have found the suggestion to be highly possible. Even cancer and lymphatic experts advise women not to wear tight bras because it can impair lymphatic drainage from the arms and chest and cause lymphedema. Was this answer helpful?
I normally don’t wear a bra when I’m at home because I feel restricted and uncomfortable. However, it’s not because I fear that it will cause me cancer, but because of comfort.
Others believe that not wearing a bra can make their breasts sag. You know how society thinks of saggy and unperky breasts as ugly or a woman who has had too much sex to the point that her body is no longer beautiful.
Just my two cents, there are a lot of clothes that are form fitting that may have been clogging our pores as we sweat. Even the sports outfits that we use sometimes have the same fabric as bras. What about that? Would it cause problems too?
I don’t wear my bra 24 hours. Actually, as soon as I get home, I’m a free woman. ?
I was thinking that maybe it depends on what bra you’re using, or that it needs to be “breathable” for your lymphatic system or something?
I was thinking of that as well. Like making sure that there’s no aluminum in your bra. Others are 100% cotton anyways and just like shirts, they’re breathable and comfy.
Not that I care about my breasts getting bigger but it’s the shape that I’m worried about if I don’t wear a bra.
I don’t feel good when I’m wearing bra. It just feels uncomfortable when you’ve been wearing it all day. I also sleep without any bra on because I’ve been constantly reminded as a teen that it does cause cancer.
I’m not going to be alarmed with this because I don’t think there’s a big reason to. Unless they can provide alternatives for women so that we don’t have to wear bra, then good. But I’m not going to rely on nipple tapes just so I can free my boobs from getting any cysts or whatsoever. I’m on the bigger side and there’s no way I’m going to let it jiggle around freely in public. That’s just humiliating and so is this comment.
Even with the information in this article, I’m not going to risk getting stared at by creepy men on the streets because of how my nipples are peaking through my clothes just because you’re saying that bras can cause cancer. Bras have become a necessity for women and the lack of it doesn’t seem proper.