Many health-conscious women are very good about watching what they eat, but completely ignore how they eat. Eating in an unhealthy manner can completely disrupt the healthy functioning of the stomach. Because half of all breast cancers are caused in part by a stomach-function disorder, it is critical to keep this organ healthy.

Here are four recommendations, based on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), to help you eat in harmony with your body's natural cycles:

1. Eat your larger meals earlier in the day. This will give your body nutrition when its energy is naturally rising.
2. Don't eat late at night. This allows your digestive organs to rest while you sleep, conserving energy for healing.
3. Eat until you feel not hungry, not until you feel full. Not overtaxing your digestive organs allows them to do their job without expending excess energy.
4. Don't work while eating. Working while eating diverts energy from your digestive system, hampering your body's ability to extract nutrition from your food. Over time, this can unbalance your stomach function. Simply taking twenty minutes out of your day to eat a meal in an unhurried, relaxed way can have a profound impact on your health and your overall quality of life.