What I Eat Since I Have an Increased Risk of Developing Breast Cancer
Key takeaways:
Rachel Volk has the CHEK2 gene, increasing her risk for breast cancer.
Her mom battled breast cancer three times before passing away in 2019.
Rachel changed her diet to reduce her risk of cancer. She now focuses on eating whole foods and minimally processed ingredients.
When Rachel Volk goes grocery shopping, every item in her cart must earn its place.
Some items automatically make it in: unprocessed, single-ingredient whole foods. She carefully scrutinizes everything else for additives, added sugars, and unpronounceable ingredients.
Rachel shares her weekly grocery hauls and other educational content with her thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok. As a high school history teacher, Rachel, who is 30 and lives in Texas, knows first-hand how powerful education can be at changing lives.
For Rachel, nutrition is both a passion and deeply personal. “The main reason I got so interested in it was due to my mom. She had cancer pretty much my whole life,” she says.
Her mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer when Rachel was in kindergarten. Then, she had it again a decade later and a third time in 2017.
“After she had gotten diagnosed the second time, in 2007, she went on a really deep dive into health and nutrition,” she says. “We really went all in, trying to eat as healthy as possible.”
At the time, Rachel’s family started following a plant-based diet. They counted calories and opted for low-fat products.
“When she got sick a third time, we were kind of just in shock,” Rachel says. “How could somebody who looks so healthy keep getting so sick?”
Rachel’s mom passed away in 2019.
Why changing what she eats could help her avoid cancer
When Rachel did genetic testing to find out whether she has an increased risk of breast cancer, she tested positive for the CHEK2 gene. The inherited gene mutation gives her a 30% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.
Rachel does what she can to prevent breast cancer naturally, by doing things like exercising and eating well. She studied nutrition “to learn as much as I could about health, wellness, and healthy ways of eating,” she says.
“I lost my mom — which is really sad — and I have this gene. I don’t want to go down that same path after seeing what she went through,” she adds.
And while no diet is a guaranteed defense against cancer, research has shown that certain lifestyle choices can lower the risk of cancer. That includes eating a healthy, nutritious diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Rachel also limits alcohol and processed meats. And she swaps out products made with refined grains — like white bread or rice — with whole-grain foods.
What a nutritious grocery haul looks like
While Rachel gravitates toward grocery stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts, she also keeps budget in mind. She often shares the cost of her grocery hauls — as well as tips about finding healthy, organic options at places like Walmart or Target — on social media.
A typical grocery haul for Rachel includes items like:
Eggs
Whole-fat milk
Whole-fat, plain yogurt
Fresh or frozen fruit
Fresh vegetables
Chicken breasts
Beans and other legumes
Dark chocolate
Nuts
Minimally processed snacks
It’s not about counting calories
Nutrition classes helped change Rachel’s perspective on what she needs on her grocery list. “The biggest thing for me is that not all calories are created equal,” she says.
She used to choose food items based on calories. Now, she looks at ingredients, additives, and whether something is overly processed.
“I learned the importance of getting your calories through whole-food sources rather than processed food,” she says. “That was a big shift for me.”
Rachel also experimented with reintroducing animal products into her diet. And she found that she feels better when she eats meat, dairy, and eggs as part of a balanced approach.
“Plant-based diets can work for some people, but I realized that it wasn’t working for me,” she says.
Pro tip: Come up with a meal plan
Rachel says she isn’t obsessive about her diet, but she follows a couple of fundamental guidelines. And her rules are pretty simple:
Eat as much minimally processed foods as possible.
Strike a balance of proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates.
Every Sunday before heading to the grocery store, she comes up with a flexible meal plan for the week.
“I think about what I want to have for lunch and dinner every week,” she says. “I’m pretty simple with breakfast. I eat the same thing pretty much every day.”
Breakfast
For breakfast, Rachel usually has Greek yogurt with berries, granola, and cinnamon.
“That fills me up, and I don’t ever get sick of it,” Rachel says. “You can always change the fruit. You could change the granola or put a different spice on it, like pumpkin pie spice.”
Lunch
Right now, homemade DIY protein boxes are a lunchtime favorite of Rachel’s. She includes a couple of hard-boiled eggs, sliced turkey or chicken, crackers, cheese cubes, and fruit.
Dinner
For dinner, Rachel rotates through recipes. Popular ones at the moment include curry lentil soup, green-chili chicken enchilada skillet, and air-fryer buffalo cauliflower tacos.
‘Find what works for you’
While Rachel enjoys inspiring her followers and friends with what she eats, she says that just because something works for her doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for someone else.
“I don’t think that there is a way of eating that fits every single person. Find what works for you,” she says. “That’s why it's important to be patient and figure out what way of eating makes you feel the best.”
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