Prevention is better than cure - Prevent cancer - Foods to avoid cancer
Eat Healthy
Start by reducing dietary fat intake, especially animal fat. Make your diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains.Start small. No one can overhaul their food habits quickly. Add a few servings of fruits and vegetables to your diet each day to reduce your cancer risk. Mix some dark, leafy greens like spinach in with your salad. Eat a peach, or other brightly colored fruit, for a snack.
Eat less red meat and cut out processed meat. Eating too much red meat can increase your cancer risk. Skip processed meats like bacon, ham, pastrami, salami, sausage, hot dogs and pepperoni. Choose fish, poultry, or beans instead of beef, pork or lamb. When you eat meat, choose lean cuts and eat smaller portions. Prepare meat by baking, broiling, or poaching at lower temperatures, rather than by frying in fat or broiling/grilling at excessively high temperatures. \
Steam your broccoli - Broccoli is a cancer-preventing super food—one you should eat frequently. But take note: A study done in 2008 by Italian researchers found that steamed broccoli contains more glucosinolate (the healthy components of the vegetable) than boiled, fried, or microwaved broccoli. Nutrients leach into the cooking water instead of remaining in the vegetable, according to the Harvard Family Health Guide.
Eat garlic - This pungent herb contains allyl sulfur compounds that may stimulate the immune system’s natural defenses against cancer, and may have the potential to help the body get rid of cancer-causing chemicals and help cause cancer cells to die naturally, a process called apoptosis. The Iowa Women’s Health Study showed that women who consumed the highest amounts of garlic had a 50 percent lower risk of colon cancer compared with women who ate the least.
Make a cancer-fighting dinner - Sauté two cloves of crushed garlic in two tablespoons of olive oil, then mix in a can of low-sodium diced tomatoes. Stir gently until heated and serve over one cup of whole-wheat pasta. You'll get the cancer-preventing benefits of garlic, plus the lycopene in the tomatoes protects against colon, prostate, lung, and bladder cancers, the olive oil helps your body absorb the lycopene, and the fiber-filled pasta reduces your risk of colon cancer.
Be Active
Maintaining a healthy weight might lower the risk of various types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon and kidney.Physical activity counts, too. In addition to helping you control your weight, physical activity on its own might lower the risk of breast cancer and colon cancer. Adults who participate in any amount of physical activity gain some health benefits. But for substantial health benefits, strive to get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic physical activity. You can also do a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. As a general goal, include at least 30 minutes of physical activity in your daily routine — and if you can do more, even better.
Stand more. Sit less. New studies suggest that people who spend most of their day sitting are at a 24 percent higher risk for colon and endometrial cancer than people who spend less time in a chair. Other research showed that people who spent more time in front of the TV had a 54 percent increased risk of colon cancer than those who watched less TV. Time to switch to a standing desk? If that's not an option, get up and walk around for a few minutes at least once an hour.
Drop 10 pounds - Being overweight or obese accounts for 20% of all cancer deaths among women and 14% among men, notes the American Cancer Society. (You're overweight if your body mass index is between 25 and 29.9; you're obese if it's 30 or more.) Plus, losing excess pounds reduces the body's production of female hormones, which may protect against breast cancer, endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancer. Even if you're not technically overweight, gaining just 10 pounds after the age of 30 increases your risk of developing breast, pancreatic, and cervical, among other cancers.
Don’t Smoke / Drinking alcohol
Alcohol consumption is linked to increased risk of mouth, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, liver and breast cancers. If you drink alcohol, men should try to drink no more than two drinks a day and women should try to drink no more than one drink a day.Don't use tobacco
Using any type of tobacco puts you on a collision course with cancer. Smoking has been linked to various types of cancer — including cancer of the lung, bladder, cervix and kidney. And chewing tobacco has been linked to cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas. Even if you don't use tobacco, exposure to secondhand smoke might increase your risk of lung cancer. Avoiding tobacco — or deciding to stop using it — is one of the most important health decisions you can make. It's also an important part of cancer prevention. If you need help quitting tobacco, ask your doctor about stop-smoking products and other strategies for quitting.Protect yourself from the sun
Skin cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer — and one of the most preventable. Try these tips:Avoid midday sun. Stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun's rays are strongest.
Stay in the shade. When you're outdoors, stay in the shade as much as possible. Sunglasses and a broad-rimmed hat help, too.
Cover exposed areas. Wear tightly woven, loosefitting clothing that covers as much of your skin as possible. Opt for bright or dark colors, which reflect more ultraviolet radiation than pastels or bleached cotton.
Don't skimp on sunscreen. Use generous amounts of sunscreen when you're outdoors, and reapply often.
Avoid tanning beds and sunlamps. These are just as damaging as natural sunlight.
Get Screened
Cancer screening tests can find disease in people who have no signs of sickness. It is important to get screened for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers because screening tests can find these cancers early, when they are most easily treated. In fact, cervical and colorectal screenings can find growths which can be removed before they ever become cancer. Men and women should talk to their health care providers about which cancer screening tests are right for them and when they should get them.Get immunized
Cancer prevention includes protection from certain viral infections. Talk to your doctor about immunization against:Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B can increase the risk of developing liver cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for certain high-risk adults — such as adults who are sexually active but not in a mutually monogamous relationship, people with sexually transmitted infections, intravenous drug users, men who have sex with men, and health care or public safety workers who might be exposed to infected blood or body fluids.
Human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical and other genital cancers as well as squamous cell cancers of the head and neck. The HPV vaccine is available to both men and women age 26 or younger who didn't have the vaccine as adolescents.
Know your family history
Talk with your health care provider if you are concerned about your personal or family history of cancer and decide when to start regular cancer screening and if genetic testing is right for you.When talking about family history, it's important to consider both sides of your family. A history of breast cancer in a close male relative (father, brother or uncle) increases your risk of breast cancer.
Inherited gene mutations and risk of breast cancer - The breast cancer risk linked to family history may be due to inherited gene mutations or shared lifestyle factors that increase risk. Families with a strong family history of breast cancer often carry gene mutations. Such families may have more than one first-degree relative (mother, sister or daughter) with breast cancer, a single female relative diagnosed at an early age or a male relative with breast cancer. Family history of ovarian cancer may also be related to an inherited gene mutation. Inherited gene mutations account for only five to 10 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in women in the U.S.
There are special breast cancer screening guidelines for women with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer (for example, two or more first-degree relatives with breast cancer or two or more with ovarian cancer). If you have a strong family history, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and American Cancer Society recommend, starting at age 30, you get a :
Clinical breast exam every six to 12 months
Mammogram every year
Breast MRI every year
If you have a first-degree relative who was diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer before age 30, talk with your health care provider about starting this screening at the age of your relative’s cancer diagnosis.
This medical care helps ensure that if breast cancer does develop, it is caught early when the chances of survival are highest.
Genetic testing - Approximately 5% to 10% of all cancers are considered hereditary. Clues to hereditary cancer include multiple relatives with cancer on the same side of the family, cancers diagnosed at an early age, and a single person with multiple tumors (especially in the same organ).Hereditary cancer is found through genetic testing, which is the analysis of genes, chromosomes, or proteins to help predict the risk of disease, identify carriers of a disease (individuals who do not have the disease but have a copy of the disease gene), diagnose disease, or determine the likely course of a disease. It is done by testing a person’s blood or a tissue sample that contains genetic material, such as the cells inside a person’s cheek. More than 900 genetic tests are available for many different diseases, including breast, ovarian, colon, thyroid, and other cancers.
