HOW TO REDUCE YOUR RISK OF CANCER

Experts say, roughly 40 percent of cancers are preventable. Here are what Heather Eliassen, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and other researchers suggest are ways to lower your risk.

1.     Stay away from tobacco.

2.     Limit alcohol to 2 servings a day for men, or 1 for women. The less you drink, the better. “Alcohol may increase susceptibility to DNA damage, contribute to oxidative stress, and increase levels of estrogen,” explains Eliassen. Carotenoid-rich green, orange, or red vegetables and fruit, on the other hand may protect against specifically breast cancer, even women at high risk. “Carotenoids are potent antioxidants,” says Eliassen, “but other bioactive compounds in those fruits and vegetables may also lower risk.”

3.     Lose or don’t gain excess weight.

4.     Limit red and processed meats. Amanda Cross’s research (professor of cancer epidemiology at Imperial College London) showed that feeding people red meat can create carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds in the gut. This was just one piece of evidence that led the International Agency for Research on Cancer to conclude that processed meat like bacon, ham, sausage, and lunch meats are a human carcinogen while unprocessed red meat is a “probable” human carcinogen. 

5.     Fill half your plate with vegetables or fruit.

6.     Shoot for 20-40 minutes a day of exercise that speeds up your heart rate. Even a brisk walk will do.

7.     Apply broad spectrum sunscreen (SPF 30+) every 2 hours that you are in the sun. Avoid tanning beds.

8.     Anyone aged 9-26 should get HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines to prevent cancers of the cervix, throat, vagina, penis, and more.

For more information, go to cancer.gov (the National Cancer Institute), or AICR.org (the American Institute for Cancer Research). (Some information found in this article is available on https://www.cspinet.org, Center For Science in the Public Interest.)