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You must have heard that it is essential to reduce your risk of cancer. But at the same
time also wondered how is it possible to do it yourself? Well, the good news is that it is not very difficult.
According to research, your diet and daily lifestyle habit play a vital role in eliminating your risk of cancer. Now poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle also increase your risk of cancer-related issues. So, you must be aware that only a healthy diet and active lifestyle can reduce your cancer risks up to a specific limit and not wholly.
Apart from smoking, there are some of the vital things that will help reduce your risk of cancer, and those are:
- Being physically active always
- Maintaining a healthy weight throughout your life
- Consuming a healthy diet comprising of plant-based foods
Our diet is linked directly to the development of cancer. Having a diet full of fats and being overweight can develop 13 types of cancer. The list could include cancer of colon, breast, rectum, endometrium, kidney, pancreas, thyroid, gall bladder, prostate, ovary, cervix, esophagus, liver, and multiple myeloma.
For many of the cancer survivors, maintaining a healthy weight and regular physical activity is linked to the low rate of reappearing of cancers like colon and breast.
Here are some of the crucial things in a healthy living that can reduce your risk of cancer up to a specific limit.
Maintaining a healthy weight
Maintaining at a healthy weight throughout your life is essential to eliminate your risk of cancer-related issues and other chronic diseases like diabetes and heart diseases. Being overweight can increase the risk of cancer in various ways.
The significant one being the excess weight, causing the body to produce insulin and circulating more estrogen, increasing hormones can stimulate the growth of cancer. Checking your body mass index (BMI) is an excellent way to get an idea of how healthy your weight is. Your BMI must be below 25 to reduce the risk of cancer.
Portion control is the first step in controlling your weight, especially when your food is high in calories, added sugars, and fat. You must also reduce the intake of high-calorie drinks and juices. Making a list of what you should eat and not in a week will help you cut down your portion sizes.
Being physically active
In addition to helping you reduce your weight, being physically active lowers the risk of colon and breast cancer. It also helps reduce your risk of diabetes and heart diseases. Adults who participate in any type of physical activity can gain some of the health benefits.
For substantial health benefits, get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercises for a week or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activities for a week. You can also combine moderate and vigorous activity. Daily you must indulge in 30 minutes of physical activity or, more if possible, to maintain a healthy weight.
Along with all of this, you must also limit your sedentary behavior like watching television, sitting for a long time, lying down, or indulging in a long time for other types of screen-based entertainment.
Reducing the risk of cancer in communities
It can be easy for people to adopt a healthy lifestyle if they work, play, or live in an environment that supports healthy behaviors. Communities can attempt to create an environment where it is easy to make healthy choices.
The sedentary lifestyle that we follow can prove fatal in the years to come. Therefore, it is vital to enhance our lifestyle and overcome the growth of cancer-related issues or other health-related issues by visiting an oncology practitioner. Doing so can make our communities much safer and appealing to walk, bike, and be active.
Consuming healthy foods
Making the right selection at the grocery store cannot guarantee the prevention of cancer-related issues, but it can reduce your risk of cancer to a great extent. When you consider the below guidelines, you are sure to make healthy food choices.
- Having ample vegetables and fruits – your diet must be based on vegetables and fruits, along with whole grains and beans.
- Avoiding obesity – you must try to eat lighter and leaner by choosing very few high-calorie foods. You must also avoid refined sugars and animal fat sources.
- Moderation in drinking alcohol – the more you drink alcohol, you increase the risk of breast, kidney, colon, lung, and liver.
- Limiting processed meat – eating a large amount of processed meat can increase your risk of cancer. It is better to eat lean meat in moderation and not regularly.
Moreover, women who consume a Mediterranean diet that includes extra virgin olive oil and mixed nuts have a reduced risk of breast cancer. Mediterranean diet mostly consists of plant-based foods, like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. The diet includes healthy fats like olive oil and fish instead of red meat.
Limit the intake of alcohol
People must always limit their intake of alcohol. They must not consume more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. The alcohol limit for women is lower due to their leaner body size and slow breakdown of alcohol.
One glass of alcohol is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 11/2 ounces of hard liquor, and 5 ounces of wine. The number of alcoholic beverages is essential and not the type.
The limits do not specify that it is safe to drink a large amount of drink in some days of the week. Consuming more alcohol can lead to social disturbance, health, and other problems.
Bottom line
It is our diet and lifestyle that influence the oncoming of cancer in our life. If we live healthily, we can avoid cancer-related issues to a great extent. You can also ensure the health of your loved ones to be safe by practicing a healthy living lifestyle and encouraging them to do the same.
