Make Healthy Choices to Control Cancer

Experts predict that 60 to 70% of cancers could be prevented through diet, exercise, and other healthy lifestyle choices. And many other cases could be cured if caught in their early stages.

True, many factors that can affect your cancer risk, such as family history of cancer, are beyond your control. But more and more studies are showing that the following healthy habits can significantly reduce your chance of developing cancer:

Bring On the Fruits and Vegetables

Experts estimate that overall cancer rates could fall by as much as 20% if everyone ate five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Some experts, such as the American Dietetic Association, suggest aiming even higher—up to 10 servings a day.

Research into why fruits and vegetables are protective has revealed complex interactions between vitamins, minerals, fiber, and various chemicals and compounds known as antioxidants. That's why it's best to eat fruits and vegetables themselves rather than relying on vitamin supplements.

Some fruits and vegetables may be particularly protective against cancer:

• Citrus fruits
• Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower
• Leafy greens
• Garlic
• Tomatoes

However, it's important to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. This helps ensure you're not missing important elements found in some fruits and vegetables and not others.

Tips: How to Increase Your Intake of Fruits and Vegetables

How to Increase Your Intake of Fruits and Vegetables

• Learn to recognize a serving of fruits and vegetables: a medium-sized piece of fruit or 1/2 cup of most fresh, canned, or cooked fruits and vegetables.
• Start the day off with fruit for breakfast. For example, add fruit to cereal or on top of waffles. Or add vegetables—tomatoes, onions, potatoes—to an omelet or scrambled eggs.
• Pack them as snacks—for example, try yogurt with raisins or blueberries for a morning snack. In the afternoon, munch on cut-up carrots and peppers with a low-fat dip.
• Drink some servings-try blending papaya with pineapple for a cool drink or sip on a glass of tomato juice.
• Add them to lunch fare. Load your sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and onions; top pizza with spinach and broccoli; or toss pasta with steamed vegetables.
• Stir them into casseroles, pastas, stir-fries, and other dinner dishes.
• Top meat and fish with salsa made from tomatoes, onions, corn, mangos, or other fruits and vegetables.
• Try fruit salad or fresh fruit for dessert.

Limit Fat

People with a high-fat diet have a higher risk for a number of different cancers. Plus, too much fat can lead to obesity, which may further add to cancer risk.

Some fats may be more risky than others—in terms of both cancer and heart disease. The good fat: the monounsaturated kind, found in abundance in olive and canola oils. The bad fat: saturated fat, found primarily in meat, butter, and other animal products. Trans fats, found in stick margarine and commercially prepared baked goods, also have been linked to increased risk of disease.

Experts recommend reducing total fat intake to 15 to 30% of total calories for both cancer and heart protection. They also suggest keeping saturated fat intake to 10% or less of total calories.

Curb Your Intake of Red Meat

Red meats, such as beef and lamb, are linked to an increased risk of many cancers, including colorectal, breast, pancreatic, prostate, and kidney. In addition, red meats are usually higher in saturated fat—which also is linked to cancer—than most poultry and fish.

However, when eaten in moderation, red meats can be a source of important nutrients. The key is knowing how to make them part of a healthful diet.

How to Choose Meats Wisely

• Limit fatty meats like beef, lamb, and pork to less than 3 ounces a day—a serving about the size of a deck of cards.
• Choose lean cuts of red meat when you eat it.
• Instead of meat, substitute fish, poultry, and beans as protein sources.
• Increase the portion size of side dishes so that wholesome vegetables, grains, and pastas shift the focus from meat.

Add Soy to Your Diet

Research shows that isoflavones, estrogen-like chemicals found in soybeans, can block the action of harmful natural and chemical estrogens. Large amounts of estrogen seem to fuel breast cancer. Eating tofu and other soy products also may help protect against cancers of the colon, prostate, bladder, liver, lung, and skin.

How to Add Soy to Your Diet

• Begin by adding small amounts of soy to your diet. As you get used to the taste and texture, gradually add more.
• Add cooked or canned soybeans to casseroles, soups, stews, and sandwiches. Since soybeans have a rather bland flavor, cook them with robust ingredients. They easily absorb the flavors of spices, garlic, and other seasonings.
• Snack on roasted soybeans—but limit your intake since these are high in fat.
• Try soy burgers in place of hamburgers.
• Experiment with tofu, a creamy soy product that can be stir-fried, broiled, grilled, sautéed, or baked. Tofu will develop a meat-like taste if marinated before cooking. It also can be puréed for dips and dressings or mashed and used in place of cottage or ricotta cheese.
• Try tempeh, another soy-based food that makes a useful meat substitute. Found in specialty stores, tempeh can be sliced or formed into patties.
• Drink soy milk or add it to fruit smoothies and other drinks.
• Add soy protein to regular flour and use it in baking.

Drink Plenty of Fluids

The more fluids you consume—particularly water—the less likely you are to develop bladder cancer. According to one study, men who drank six to 10 glasses of water a day cut their risk of this cancer nearly in half. How does water reduce cancer risk? One theory is that water helps wash potential cancer-causing compounds out of the urine.

Another tip: Try green tea. This beverage contains chemicals called polyphenols that act as powerful antioxidants. Black tea also may prove protective, according to researchers. But don't take your tea boiling hot—that can add to your risk of esophageal and stomach cancer.

How to Increase Your Fluids

Aim for at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. To avoid dehydration in hot weather or when exercising, you need additional water.

Fruit juices, milk, and decaffeinated teas also count toward your goal. But coffee, cola, and other caffeinated drinks act as diuretics and actually cause you to lose fluid. Alcohol does the same thing.

Here are some tips on how to increase your intake of fluids—and make them more appealing:

• Try mineral or seltzer water instead of cola. As a healthy sweetener, add some fruit juice.
• Drop a slice of lime in your water.
• Mix fruit and ice in a blender for a slushy.
• Freeze fruit juice into cubes and add to your glass of water.
• Snack on frozen fruit juice bars.
• Try flavored, decaffeinated iced teas.
• Drink water or milk with meals.
• Take water breaks at work, or keep a large water glass at your desk and fill it up several times a day.

Watch Your Weight

Putting on pounds as an adult may raise cancer risk. For example, overweight postmenopausal women have about twice the risk of breast cancer than their slimmer peers. In both sexes, kidney and colon cancer also may be connected to weight gain. To protect against cancer, health experts advise not gaining more than 10 pounds after age 18.

How to Maintain—or Achieve—a Healthy Weight

• Look for low-fat versions of your favorite recipes—and eat smaller portions.
• Learn to listen to your body as to when you're full or hungry. Try this: Fill your plate with about half the amount that you'd like to eat. Then, eat slowly and enjoy the taste of the food. If you're still hungry when your plate is clean, take another moderate-sized portion.
• Step on the scale once a week or so, and cut back on calories when the number begins to tip upward.
• Select or prepare foods that are steamed, broiled, baked, or roasted. When sautéing foods, use only a small amount of oil, soup broth, or nonstick spray.
• Watch the condiments. Choose mustard over mayonnaise, and look for low-calorie varieties of salad dressing.

Get Moving

Regular physical activity seems to be important in preventing colon cancer and may possibly help prevent breast and lung cancers. The amount of exercise you need for cancer protection is somewhat higher than what you need to stave off heart disease. Most experts recommend 30 minutes of moderate activity a day to boost heart health. But the American Institute for Cancer Research recommends that you get:

• at least an hour a day of moderate exercise, particularly if your job doesn't require a lot of physical activity, and
• one hour or more of vigorous exercise a week.

If you're new to exercise, start slowly and gradually increase the length and intensity of your workouts.

Tips: What Counts as Exercise?

What Counts as Exercise?

Just about any activity that has you up and moving around is beneficial. Most important: Pick activities that you enjoy and are likely to keep doing regularly.

Examples of moderate activities:

• Brisk walking (4 mph)
• Baseball
• Canoeing (3 mph)
• Cycling (7.5 mph)
• Gardening
• Volleyball
• Hiking
• Dancing
• Skating (9 mph)
• Snowshoeing (2.5 mph)
• Water skiing

If you prefer, you can substitute 30 minutes of vigorous activity for one hour of moderate activity.

Examples of vigorous activities:

• Brisk hill walking (4 mph)
• Canoeing (4 mph)
• Cross-country skiing (4-5 mph)
• Running (5-8 mph)
• Swimming (breast stroke: 40 meters/min; crawl: 50 meters/min)
• Tennis
• Cycling (13 mph)
• Basketball
• Handball
• Hockey
• Soccer

Drink Alcohol in Moderation, If You Drink

Alcohol has been linked to cancer of the liver, breast, esophagus, pharynx, mouth, larynx, lung, and gastrointestinal tract. Research shows that a woman's risk of breast cancer is 30 to 40% higher if she has two to three drinks daily. Women who choose to drink should limit themselves to one drink a day. Men should keep their intake to two drinks a day or less.

Quit Smoking, If You Smoke

Tobacco is the chief cause of lung cancer and is linked to cancers of the bladder, cervix, pancreas, mouth, and throat. Also potentially risky: smokeless tobacco, such as snuff and chewing tobacco.

Want to quit? Look into nicotine replacement aids, such as the patch or gum, which can help ease cravings and lessen physical withdrawal symptoms. Studies show that nicotine replacement can significantly boost a smoker's chances of quitting.

Smokers might also talk to their doctor about the pros and cons of bupropion, an antidepressant approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for smoking cessation. Counseling also can help smokers when they are trying to give up cigarettes.

Seek Shade

Exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun is an important factor in skin and lip cancer. Both tanning and burning can increase your risk, so if you're going to be out in the sun, you need to take precautions.

How to Protect Yourself from the Sun

• Plan outdoor activities for early morning or evening hours. The sun's rays are the strongest at midday.
• Stick to the shade when possible. Sand, concrete, water, and snow reflect up to 85% of the sun's rays.
• Wear dark, tightly woven clothes. These filter out the sun and help keep you cool.
• Remember to wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays.
• Make sure your sunscreen has an SPF of 15 or higher and protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Go for a higher SPF when in high altitudes or tropical areas.
• For children, buy a sunscreen made specifically for them. Slather SPF 30 on kids who are outside most of the day.
• Liberally apply sunscreen at least 30 minutes before going outside.
• Reapply sunscreen every two hours while in the sun. Also, reapply after vigorous activity or prolonged swimming—even if the product says "waterproof."

Choose Safe Cooking Methods

High-heat cooking methods—such as grilling, broiling, and barbecuing—produce possible cancer-causing compounds. Smoked and cured foods, such as sausage and bacon, also may be problematic because of dangerous compounds produced when wood is burned in the smoking process.

Healthier cooking options include steaming, boiling, poaching, stewing, braising, baking, roasting, and microwaving. When you grill or broil food, be sure to take precautions.

Tips for Safe Grilling

• Avoid charring food when cooking and remove any charred material that forms.
• Trim meat before cooking to decrease fat dripping onto the coals.
• Keep smoke from food by covering the grate on the grill with aluminum foil punched with holes.
• Partially precook poultry and ribs in the microwave, then grill them briefly to add a subtle barbecue flavor.
• Grill vegetables and vegetable/meat combinations in foil "packets" to keep smoke from the food.

Stick with Screening

Regular examinations for breast, uterine, prostate, colon, and other cancers are important in reducing cancer deaths. Such screenings can detect cancer earlier, when it's easier to treat.

Women

Cancer Screenings for Women

Cervical Cancer

Women should have yearly Pap tests for cervical cancer beginning at age 18, or when they become sexually active. After three negative tests, her doctor may recommend taking the test less often.

Breast Cancer

* Breast self-examinations: The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends that women older than age 20 perform breast self-examinations on a monthly basis.

* Physician breast exams: The ACS suggests that women ages 20 to 39 have their breasts examined by a doctor every three years. Those older than 40 should get such exams annually.

* Mammograms: According to the ACS, women age 40 and older should have yearly mammograms, or breast X-rays. Other professional organizations are slightly less stringent about mammograms. For instance, the National Cancer Institute recommends that women in their 40s or older get mammograms every 1 to 2 years.

A woman's personal risk factors may affect when and how often she should have a mammogram and other breast cancer screenings. That's why it is important for women to talk about breast cancer with their doctors. Factors that may increase a woman's risk of the disease include:

• a personal or family history of breast cancer
• specific alterations in certain genes, such as in the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2
• a history of other breast diseases or conditions
• unusually large or dense breasts that make physical exams difficult.

Colon Cancer

According to the ACS, women older than age 50 should talk with a health care professional about screening for colon cancer. Women should seek testing earlier if they have a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, or have chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

All Other Cancers

The ACS recommends that women under 40 should have a cancer-related checkup every three years. After age 40, women should have one of these checkups once a year. This might include examinations for the following cancers:

• Thyroid
• Mouth and throat
• Skin
• Lymph nodes
• Ovaries

Men

Cancer Screenings for Men

The American Cancer Society recommends the following screening tests for men.

Prostate Cancer

White men older than age 50, African-American men older than age 45, and any man age 45 or older with a family history of the disease should get an annual digital rectal exam and possibly a blood test to look for a specific protein related to prostate cancer.

Colon Cancer

Men older than age 50 should talk with a health care professional about screening for colon cancer. Men should seek testing earlier if they have a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, or have chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

All Other Cancers

Men younger than age 40 should have a cancer-related checkup every three years. After age 40, men should have one of these checkups once a year. This exam might include examinations for the following cancers:

• Thyroid
• Mouth and throat
• Skin
• Lymph nodes
• Testes