steps to take; they are the closest you can come to a total
cancer-prevention plan. Plus, many of the other healthy-lifestyle tips
shown in this discussion help to battle cancer. Also, it's important to
try as many of the actions that follow as possible. These are the
preventive measures that, in recent studies, have shown significant
benefits. In each case, the type of cancers for which the action is best
suited is revealed.
SIP SOME TEA Real tea - not herbal - contains powerful antioxidants called catechins that help to protect proteins and DNA from oxidative damage, the harmful changes due to free radicals and other substance produced in cellular metabolism that can lead to cells becoming dangerous. In laboratory studies, researchers find that people who are regular tea drinkers have half the risk of developing some cancers as those who don't drink the liquid at all, or who drink it less frequently.
BEST FOR Stomach and oesophageal cancer
SWITCH TO OLIVE OIL Not only can olive oil reduce heart disease, it's also a great way to elude cancer. In late 2006, researchers from five European countries concluded that olive oil alone may account for the significant difference in cancer rates between southern and northern Europeans. They found that north European had much higher average levels of a marker of oxidative damage. But after three weeks of supplementing with 25ml of olive oil daily, north European volunteers showed a significant fall in levels of the marker - sufficient, the researchers conclude, to support the idea that 'olive oil consumption may explain some of the north-south differences in cancer incidences in Europe'.
BEST FOR All cancers
SUPPLEMENT WITH VITAMIN B AND CATCH SOME RAYS Several studies find that the 'sunshine vitamin' reduces the risk of many cancers. Vitamin D is best produced by sunlight acting on the skin, but also comes from food sources, and in winter in northern climates you can get the benefits by taking supplements.
In one study, researchers followed 1,179 postmenopausal women for four years. Half took 1,400-1,500mg of calcium alone, and half took the calcium along with 1,100 international units (IU) of vitamin D. Those getting the calcium/D supplement had a 30 percent lower risk of developing any type of cancer during the four years than those receiving just calcium.
Other studies found that women with vitamin D intakes of more than 800 IU a day from diet or supplement had a 19 percent lower breast cancer risk than those getting less than 400IU. Studies also find that people is sunny climates are far less likely to develop solid tumours such as stomach, colorectal, liver, gall bladder , pancreatic, lung and prostate cancers than those from northern climates.
The bottom line: the more steady, continuous exposure you get to the sun (nor sunburn), the less likely you are to develop many internal cancer. One reason for vitamin D's benefits may be its ability to limit cell division and to help to ensure that when cells do divide, they don't differ significantly form other cells of their type.
BEST FOR Most solid tumours (Such as breast. prostate, pancreatic, colorectal, lung, stomach, liver and gall bladder)
FOLLOW A CANCER-PREVENTING DIET
The link between cancer and nutrition is so powerful that there's even a medical journal devoted just to that topic: Nutrition and Cancer. So as well as substituting olive oil for other fats, as mentioned above, and loading up on tomatoes (see on next), get plenty of these other foods.
Garlic and onions are jammed with cancer-destroying chemicals
Top 5 ways to prevent cancer
1 Stop smoking You've heard it before. But consider this: if you smoke, you are 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer that someone who doesn't. Compare that with a woman who had a mother, sister or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer; her overall risk is only twice that of a woman with no mother, sister or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer. Yet what do women worry about most? Breast cancer.
2 Cut back on the alcohol Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is a major cause of breast, bladder, stomach, oesophageal, liver and colon cancers, among others. Scientists suspect the link may be due to the effects of acetaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen that forms as the body metabolises alcohol. This compound reacts with natural compounds that are required for cell growth. This reaction can cause DNA damage to cells, which can, in turn, lead to malfunctioning cell division. Healthy limits are no more than two units a day for women, or three for men.
3 Lose weight About one in three cancers results from poor diet and being overweight, particularly breast, colon, rectal, stomach, prostate and pancreatic cancers. When you're overweight, your body produces more oestrogen - linked to breast, ovarian and uterine cancers; and more insulin, which can increase inflammation and free-radical damage.
4 Eat right Studies find that diets low in red meat and high in whole grain result in lower levels of various cancers, as do those that get seven to nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables.
5 Get moving Physical activity not only helps you to maintain a healthy weight, it also reduces the percentage of body fat and helps your muscles to make better use of insulin, reducing insulin blood levels and free-radical production. Special studies find that regular physical activity can slash the risk of bowel cancer by half and the risk of uterine cancer by a third, as well as significantly reducing the risk of ovarian, breast and colon cancers.
HAVE SEX No, we're not kidding. An eight year study of 29,342 men aged 46-81found that the more orgasms the men had, the lower their risk for prostate cancer. Specifically, those who had at least 21 orgasms a month of slashed their risk of the disease by a third, compared with those who only had four to seven a month. The mechanism at work here? The prostate makes sermen; the more you ejaculate, the more potentially cancerous cells you're getting rid of (and no, they won't hurt your partner). If you don't have a partner, don't worry.The benefit comes from ejaculating, which as you no doubt know, doesn't require a partner.
BEST FOR Prostate Cancer
SPOON ON SOME TOMATO SAUCE
Lycopene, an important antioxidant in tomatoes, packs a heck of an anti-cancer wallop. Just ten tomatoes a week reduces the risk of prostate cancer by a third and the risk of breast-cancer up to 50 percent. The thing is, you get way more lycopene if the tomatoes are cooked, which releases more of the chemical. Even just gently heating a chopped tomato will up the content.
BEST FOR Prostate, breast and oesophageal cancer.
DRINK WATER LIKE A THIRSTY CAMEL
The more water you drink, the more you dilute toxins in food and other liquids, reducing their damaging effects on your colon and bladder. One major study found that just six 250ml glasses of water every day slashed the risk of bladder cancer by half in men; while another found a 45 percent reduced risk of colon cancer in women who drank a lot of water throughout the day. To avoid a huge pile of plastic bottles. Keep a jug of filtered water in your fridge at home and at work, and make sure you empty it at least once, preferably twice, a day.
BEST FOR Colon and bladder cancer
SIP SOME TEA Real tea - not herbal - contains powerful antioxidants called catechins that help to protect proteins and DNA from oxidative damage, the harmful changes due to free radicals and other substance produced in cellular metabolism that can lead to cells becoming dangerous. In laboratory studies, researchers find that people who are regular tea drinkers have half the risk of developing some cancers as those who don't drink the liquid at all, or who drink it less frequently.
BEST FOR Stomach and oesophageal cancer
SWITCH TO OLIVE OIL Not only can olive oil reduce heart disease, it's also a great way to elude cancer. In late 2006, researchers from five European countries concluded that olive oil alone may account for the significant difference in cancer rates between southern and northern Europeans. They found that north European had much higher average levels of a marker of oxidative damage. But after three weeks of supplementing with 25ml of olive oil daily, north European volunteers showed a significant fall in levels of the marker - sufficient, the researchers conclude, to support the idea that 'olive oil consumption may explain some of the north-south differences in cancer incidences in Europe'.
BEST FOR All cancers
SUPPLEMENT WITH VITAMIN B AND CATCH SOME RAYS Several studies find that the 'sunshine vitamin' reduces the risk of many cancers. Vitamin D is best produced by sunlight acting on the skin, but also comes from food sources, and in winter in northern climates you can get the benefits by taking supplements.
In one study, researchers followed 1,179 postmenopausal women for four years. Half took 1,400-1,500mg of calcium alone, and half took the calcium along with 1,100 international units (IU) of vitamin D. Those getting the calcium/D supplement had a 30 percent lower risk of developing any type of cancer during the four years than those receiving just calcium.
Other studies found that women with vitamin D intakes of more than 800 IU a day from diet or supplement had a 19 percent lower breast cancer risk than those getting less than 400IU. Studies also find that people is sunny climates are far less likely to develop solid tumours such as stomach, colorectal, liver, gall bladder , pancreatic, lung and prostate cancers than those from northern climates.
The bottom line: the more steady, continuous exposure you get to the sun (nor sunburn), the less likely you are to develop many internal cancer. One reason for vitamin D's benefits may be its ability to limit cell division and to help to ensure that when cells do divide, they don't differ significantly form other cells of their type.
BEST FOR Most solid tumours (Such as breast. prostate, pancreatic, colorectal, lung, stomach, liver and gall bladder)
FOLLOW A CANCER-PREVENTING DIET
The link between cancer and nutrition is so powerful that there's even a medical journal devoted just to that topic: Nutrition and Cancer. So as well as substituting olive oil for other fats, as mentioned above, and loading up on tomatoes (see on next), get plenty of these other foods.
- Apples Apples are packed with quercetin, an antioxidant shown to reduce the risk of numerous cancers, particularly lung cancer. One study of more than 77,000 women found that just one apple a day reduced the risk of lung cancer by 21 percent, regardless of smoking status. Meanwhile, experiments in the laboratory showed that quercetin prevents lung cancer cells from multiplying.
- Raspberries Raspberries, seeds and all, contain even more antioxidants than blueberries and strawberries. Rats injected with a compound to cause colon cancer, then fed a diet rich in raspberries, developed 80 percent fewer tumours than rats who didn't get the fruit (but who did get the cancer-causing chemical).
- Cruciferous vegetables These include broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and even cabbage-based dishes such as sauerkraut and coleslaw. In one major study, men who ate three or more 40g servings of these veggies a week reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 41 percent, compared with men who ate less. Steam the vegetables slightly and drizzle on a little olive oil.
- Garlic and onions These two flavoursome vegetables are jammed with cancer-destroying chemicals. Get 16 servings a week of onions (80g raw, chopped onion equals one serving) and 22 servings a week of garlic (one clove equals one serving), and your risk of oral, oesophageal, colorectal, laryngeal, ovarian, breast and prostate cancers drops precipitously.
- The protective effect from both vegetables stem from the same compounds that give each their distinctive odours: organosulphur compounds. These compounds do many things they influence enzymes that detoxify carcinogens; they prevent DNA from bonding to cancer-causing substances; and they scavenge free radicals in the bloodstream, inhibit proliferation of tumour cells and support the immune system, among other benefits. People who consume a diet rich in these compounds have been shown to be less susceptible to a variety of cancers. One hint: either use garlic raw or let it sit for 10 minutes after chopping; otherwise, heat destroys the cancer-protecting enzymes.
Garlic and onions are jammed with cancer-destroying chemicals
Top 5 ways to prevent cancer
1 Stop smoking You've heard it before. But consider this: if you smoke, you are 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer that someone who doesn't. Compare that with a woman who had a mother, sister or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer; her overall risk is only twice that of a woman with no mother, sister or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer. Yet what do women worry about most? Breast cancer.
2 Cut back on the alcohol Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is a major cause of breast, bladder, stomach, oesophageal, liver and colon cancers, among others. Scientists suspect the link may be due to the effects of acetaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen that forms as the body metabolises alcohol. This compound reacts with natural compounds that are required for cell growth. This reaction can cause DNA damage to cells, which can, in turn, lead to malfunctioning cell division. Healthy limits are no more than two units a day for women, or three for men.
3 Lose weight About one in three cancers results from poor diet and being overweight, particularly breast, colon, rectal, stomach, prostate and pancreatic cancers. When you're overweight, your body produces more oestrogen - linked to breast, ovarian and uterine cancers; and more insulin, which can increase inflammation and free-radical damage.
4 Eat right Studies find that diets low in red meat and high in whole grain result in lower levels of various cancers, as do those that get seven to nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables.
5 Get moving Physical activity not only helps you to maintain a healthy weight, it also reduces the percentage of body fat and helps your muscles to make better use of insulin, reducing insulin blood levels and free-radical production. Special studies find that regular physical activity can slash the risk of bowel cancer by half and the risk of uterine cancer by a third, as well as significantly reducing the risk of ovarian, breast and colon cancers.
HAVE SEX No, we're not kidding. An eight year study of 29,342 men aged 46-81found that the more orgasms the men had, the lower their risk for prostate cancer. Specifically, those who had at least 21 orgasms a month of slashed their risk of the disease by a third, compared with those who only had four to seven a month. The mechanism at work here? The prostate makes sermen; the more you ejaculate, the more potentially cancerous cells you're getting rid of (and no, they won't hurt your partner). If you don't have a partner, don't worry.The benefit comes from ejaculating, which as you no doubt know, doesn't require a partner.
BEST FOR Prostate Cancer
SPOON ON SOME TOMATO SAUCE
Lycopene, an important antioxidant in tomatoes, packs a heck of an anti-cancer wallop. Just ten tomatoes a week reduces the risk of prostate cancer by a third and the risk of breast-cancer up to 50 percent. The thing is, you get way more lycopene if the tomatoes are cooked, which releases more of the chemical. Even just gently heating a chopped tomato will up the content.
BEST FOR Prostate, breast and oesophageal cancer.
DRINK WATER LIKE A THIRSTY CAMEL
The more water you drink, the more you dilute toxins in food and other liquids, reducing their damaging effects on your colon and bladder. One major study found that just six 250ml glasses of water every day slashed the risk of bladder cancer by half in men; while another found a 45 percent reduced risk of colon cancer in women who drank a lot of water throughout the day. To avoid a huge pile of plastic bottles. Keep a jug of filtered water in your fridge at home and at work, and make sure you empty it at least once, preferably twice, a day.
BEST FOR Colon and bladder cancer
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