We’re always hearing news about the effects of all sorts of things on your risk of cancer. Red meat, tea, coffee; the news changes every month. However, there are a few safe bets that are sure to have an positive impact not only your chances of avoiding cancer, but on your health in general. So listen well and take on these five tips for protecting yourself
Eat a Healthy, Well-Balanced Diet
A high fibre diet, rich in nutrients is a good way to reduce your risk of cancer. Ensure you include a lot of fruit and vegetables into your diet and reduce the amount of red and processed meats that you eat. Try to cut back on salt as much as possible.
You may have heard of so-called “super foods” when it comes to reducing cancer risk. Pomegranates, watercress and Goji berries are all claimed to have powerful cancer-preventing properties.
Keeping a healthy diet will ensure a good immune system, which in turn ensures a higher change you can reduce your cancer risk.
Keep Active
Physical activity has been proven to reduce the risk of breast, womb and bowel cancers. You only need to do thirty minutes of moderate exercise five days a week to reduce your cancer risk. Moderate exercise includes brisk walks, cycling, swimming and aerobics.
Spending an afternoon running and playing games in the park with the children is better than sitting indoors watching television and can be considered as exercise.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
People who are considered overweight or obese are more likely to suffer from cancer than people who have a healthy weight. The cancers found in overweight people include breast cancer in women past menopause, womb cancer, bowel cancer, oesophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer and gall bladder cancer.
The fat tissues in overweight people produce more hormones than people with a healthy weight and these hormones include high levels of insulin and oestrogen, and both of these increase your risk of cancer.
Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Alcohol and smoking are the two main causes for mouth and oesophageal cancer in the UK. Alcohol is responsible for seven different types of cancer from mouth and upper throat cancer to oesophageal and laryngeal (voice box) cancer. It is also a factor in breast, liver and bowel cancers.
Alcohol is actually the cause of four per cent of all cancer cases in the UK. As little as three units per day can increase your risk.
Enjoy the Sun in Moderation
It’s not the sun itself, but rather the UV (ultra violet) radiation caused by sunlight that is the cause of skin cancer. Skin cancer can be a result of extended periods in the sun or extensive use of tanning beds.
While skin cancer is often easily cured by removing the cancer under local anaesthetic, the most dangerous of all skin cancers is melanoma. This cancer can spread throughout the body through the lymph glands causing serious damage and risk to the patient.
Everyone worries about cancer at some time, and while there’s nothing you can do to be certain you won’t be affected, if you take the time to make subtle changes to your daily lifestyle in terms of diet, activity levels and ensuring you maintain a healthy body weight, you can immediately start reducing your risk of cancer right now!
For more help and answers to all your questions about breast cancer, visit Cancer Research UK.
