By making a few easy lifestyle changes, you can greatly reduce your risk of developing cancer or improve your chances of beating the disease if you are diagnosed. The recommendations outlined here also lower your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and other serious ailments, boosting your odds of living a long, healthy life.
Maintain a healthy weight
Obesity is a risk factor for several cancers, including breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, lung, pancreatic and prostate cancer. The key to slimming down is to take in fewer calories by eating less and burn more calories by exercising. If you’re not sure what your ideal body weight is, consult this body mass index (BMI) calculator.
Stay physically active
Exercise lowers the risk of cancer, as well as heart disease and diabetes, even if it doesn’t result in weight loss. As a general goal, aim to include 30 minutes of physical activity in your daily routine. If you can do more, that’s even better! Start small if you need to. Even light-intensity exercise, such as a 10-minute walk, can offset some of the risks of sitting all day.
Eat a healthy diet
Eating a varied diet packed with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat and legumes is an effective way to help prevent cancer. On the other hand, eating processed food, a lot of red meat and sugar is linked with higher cancer risk. Follow these guidelines instead:
- Eat 2.5 cups, or at least five servings, of fruits and vegetables every day. It’s wise to vary the colours you eat because the phytochemicals found in various fruit and vegetable pigments guard against different types of cancer. Some of the top anti-cancer produce items include blueberries, cherries, cranberries, raspberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, kale, spinach and squash.
- Get more fibre in your diet to lower the risk of colon cancer. High-fiber foods include whole grains, legumes and vegetables.
- Choose whole-grain bread, pasta, brown rice over refined grains.
- Limit your fat intake to 25 or 30 grams per day. Then, focus on getting your fat from healthy sources, such as olive oil, nuts, avocados and fish.
- Eat less red meat, including beef, pork and lamb. The saturated fat in these products may increase the cancer risk
- Eat less processed meat, including bacon, sausage, hot dogs, pepperoni and cold cuts. Because they contain nitrate- or nitrite-based additives, consuming even a small amount of these meats regularly can cancer risk
- Substitute some of the meat in your diet for legumes, an excellent source of fibre and phytochemicals that are protective
- Eat fewer sweets and sugary drinks.
- Drink green tea to increase your antioxidant intake.
Avoid tobacco products
Using tobacco in any form drastically increases your risk of lung, mouth, throat, larynx and other types of cancer. In fact, about 30 percent of all cancer deaths, including 80 percent of lung cancer deaths, are attributed to tobacco use. If you don’t use tobacco, don’t start. And if you do, quit.
Drink less alcohol
Alcohol consumption increases the risk of several types of cancer. There is no “safe” level of alcohol, and your risk increases the more you drink. The healthiest option is to cut out alcohol altogether, but if you do indulge, limit yourself to no more than one or two drinks per day.
Protect your skin from the sun
Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer—and one of the most preventable. Remember these tips.
- Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen of 30 SPF or higher before going outside, even on cloudy days.
- Wear protective clothing.
- Seek shade when spending a long time outside.
- Avoid tanning beds and sunlamps.
Stress management
"Stress has a profound impact on how your body’s systems function,” says Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor of General Oncology and Behavioral Science, and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at MD Anderson. Health experts are still sorting out whether stress actually causes cancer. Yet there’s little doubt that it promotes the growth and spread of some forms of the disease. Put simply, “stress makes your body more hospitable to cancer,” Cohen says.
Get regular cancer screenings
Preventing cancer in the first place is ideal, but even if you follow all of these tips, you can never reduce your risk to zero. That’s why regular self-exams and formal cancer screenings are so important. Catching cancer early makes it easier to treat and increases your chances of recovery. Ask your doctor what screenings and tests are right for you.