Cancer experts advise that even simple lifestyle changes can greatly reduce a person’s risk to cancer. In fact, a study showed that more 84,000 cases of the dreaded disease could be prevented every year if people cut down on their weight, exercised more and drank less alcohol in Britain, reports the Daily Mail.
An analysis study carried out by the World Cancer Research Fund found that even ‘simple changes’ like exercising for ten minutes a day could make a huge difference. So, here we list down 10 simple steps that you can take to cut down your risk of up to 13 types of cancer according to experts.
1) Maintain a healthy body weight: Experts claim that being overweight increases the risk of 10 cancers including bowel, breast and liver as well as advanced prostate tumours. Not just that, after not smoking, keeping a healthy weight is listed to be the most important thing one can do to reduce their cancer risk. This is because studies reveal that storing too much fat encourages the body to produce ‘growth hormones’, which are linked to the disease.
2) Eat your veggies: Consuming a diet rich with vegetables, fruits, wholegrains and pulses can prevent the development of cancer. In fact, vegetables and fruits contain substances called phytochemicals, which can help to protect cells in the body from damage that can eventually lead to cancer.
3) Drink less alcoholic drinks: Top experts go on to advise that avoiding drinking alcohol as much as possible for preventing cancer. According to one theory, alcohol consumption may directly harm our DNA, which increases the risk of the disease.
4) Avoid junk food and fizzy drinks: As eating a lot of high-calorie food most likely makes a person overweight and obese, it increases an individual’s cancer risk as well.
5) Breastfeed your baby: Breastfeeding not only helps mothers lose any excess baby weight more quickly, it also reduces the risk of breast cancer. It decreases the levels of some cancer-related hormones in a mother’s body and also gets rid of any cells in her breast that may have DNA damage.
6) Quit smoking: Kicking the habit of smoking is the most important thing one can do safeguard themselves from the risk of cancer, according to the World Cancer Research Fund. Smoke from cigarettes is full of cancer-causing chemicals which damage the lung tissue almost immediately. Smoking causes cancer in different parts of the body like the mouth, lips, throat, voicebox (larynx), oesophagus, bladder, kidney liver, stomach and pancreas.
