Healthy habits can reduce your risk of cancer
Cancer is a complex disease which is affected by many factors. Some of the risk factors, such as genetics and environment, are out of our control. But we can control our lifestyle choices – and creating healthy habits can reduce your risk of cancer.
The World Cancer Day website says that more than one third of cancers “can be prevented by reducing your exposure to risk factors such a tobacco, obesity, physical inactivity, infections, alcohol, pollution, occupational carcinogens and radiation”.
Putting the kids in control of their own snacking isn’t as crazy as it sounds. We’ve priced up a range of healthy snacks and not-so-healthy treats to let your kids choose from within a daily budget. It’s safe to say they’ll start limiting the chocolate bars when they realise they can get more healthy snacks for their money.
Here are our top tips to make the right changes:
Healthy habits to reduce risk of cancer
Fruits and vegetables
Research has shown that people who eat more of these have a lower risk of cancer.
And the nutrients found in fruit and vegetables can also reduce risk of other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
Focus on getting as much as you can from whole foods, as they not only contain the vitamins but also have fibre (which protects against bowel cancer) and antioxidants.
Whole grains
Whole grains are full of fibre, which has been shown to reduce your risk of cancer.
One possible explanation for this is that it helps to speed the transportation of food through the digestive system.
Plant protein
Plant proteins such as beans, lentils and pulses are a great source of fibre and protein — and are very cheap to buy at local supermarkets.
Eating large amounts of red meat has been shown to increase your risk for many cancers, especially those of the digestive tract.
Aim to limit the amount of red and processed meat (bacon, sausages, etc.) that you consume. This doesn’t mean you have to give it up entirely, as red meat has lots of nutrients (such as iron and zinc) and protein which our body needs.
Less alcohol
How alcohol contributes to cancer development isn’t fully understood, but it may be related to inflammation in the body.
Anyway, alcohol intake has been clearly linked to an increased risk of cancer — especially of the liver, breast and colon.
Again, you don’t have to completely cut alcohol out of your diet — just try to reduce and be mindful of how much you are drinking.
The government guidelines for alcohol intake are no more than 14 units a week.
Can exercise reduce your risk of cancer?
Get physically active
Being active not only helps you to maintain a healthy weight, it also has a positive effect on the immune system and hormone levels in the body. Physical activity has been linked to a reduction in the chances of post-menopausal breast cancer, colon cancer and endometrial cancer.
You don’t have to spend all your time in the gym to be active. Just focus on adding movement to your day, like going for a walk or doing household chores. You can even exercise with your family to add some fun to it.
Not sure how much exercise you need? Take a look at these guidelines:
Maintain a healthy weight
Eating well and exercising regularly will not only give your body the resources it needs to function properly, it will also help you to maintain a healthy weight.
Unfortunately, none of us can completely eliminate our risk of cancer. But by creating healthy habits, we can reduce it – and live better lives.
References:
Eugene E Calle at al (2003). Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12711737/.
British Journal of Cancer (2011). 1. The fraction of cancer attributable to lifestyle and environmental factors in the UK in 2010. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3252063/.
Preeta Anand et al (2008). Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18626751/.
World Cancer Research Fund (2024). Be physically active. Retrieved from https://www.wcrf.org/diet-activity-and-cancer/cancer-prevention-recommendations/be-physically-active/.