Three Ways to Really Reduce Your Cancer Risk
In the last Memo before Spring Break, I said I’d cover ways to reduce your risk of getting cancer that really work. Every cancer website has lists, ranging from 10 to 15 recommendations. I’m going to give you my top three ways to reduce the risk of cancer of the items you can control. You can’t control your age or your genetic risk factors, but there are many elements of your health you can control if you work at them.
I’m not including smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products. That’s a no-brainer and shouldn’t even be mentioned, because no one should smoke. (I’m not saying that from my perch on Mount Olympus; I smoked when I was young and foolish, and quitting was one of the best decisions I ever made.)
Dr. Chet’s Top Three Ways to Prevent Cancer
- Eat more vegetables and fruits every day and the wider the variety, the better. They don’t have to be organically farmed; you just have to eat eight to ten servings per day. That seems like a lot, and I’m not perfect at it, but you get a new chance every day. Here’s a tip: weigh your produce instead of measuring it. Find out what constitutes a serving in grams or ounces. You may find out that a large banana is actually two servings. Do supplements matter? Yes, but the important point is to eat the fruits and veggies first, then add a multivitamin as backup.
- Exercise for 30 to 45 minutes per day. The fitter you are, the lower your risk of cancer. It doesn’t all have to be aerobic; yoga and strength training count as well.
- Reduce your weight until you achieve as close to a normal BMI (under 25) as you can; you’ll find all the info you need in the Body Mass Index article on the Health Info page at drchet.com, including how to adjust your target for your body type. We talked about caloric restriction in February, and that’s a way to slowly reduce your weight. My theory is that the older you are, the more movement matters, so if you are doing well at Numbers 1 and 2, you’re well on your way to accomplishing Number 3.
Those may sound very familiar: Eat less. Eat better. Move more. The reason these are my top three is that they reduce inflammation in different ways.
On Thursday, I’m going to cover a study on the relationship between a test for inflammation and cancer.
What are you prepared to do today?
