Click on Play (>) to watch the video
Taking proactive steps toward a healthier lifestyle is one of the most effective ways to lower your cancer risk. First and foremost, avoiding tobacco is crucial, as smoking remains the leading preventable cause of cancer worldwide. By quitting, you drastically reduce your risk of developing lung, throat, bladder, and cervical cancers; those living in the UK can access free support through the NHS Better Health Quitting Smoking service. Alongside avoiding tobacco, maintaining a healthy weight is vital, as being overweight or obese is a major risk factor for several malignancies, including breast, bowel, and oesophageal cancers. To support weight management and further lower your risk, it is important to move more and sit less. Regular physical activity helps regulate hormones and reduce inflammation, so you should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week. Daily habits regarding diet, alcohol, and sun exposure also play a powerful role in cancer prevention. Eating a balanced diet rich in high-fibre foods, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables provides essential nutrients while protecting your digestive health. Conversely, you should limit your intake of red meat and completely avoid highly processed meats, as these are strongly linked to bowel cancer. It is equally important to limit alcohol consumption because all types of alcohol can increase the risk of breast, liver, and bowel cancers; the standard recommendation is to cut down and avoid drinking more than 14 units a week. Finally, remember to stay safe in the sun to protect your skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. You can do this by consistently using a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, seeking shade during peak midday hours, and avoiding sunbeds entirely.Read a transcript
Here are three ways that you can reduce your risk of getting cancer:
- Improve your diet – and still enjoy your food!
- Take more exercise – without having to be a gym bunny (unless you want to!)
- Control your alcohol intake – without becoming teetotal!
Five dietary changes that can reduce your risk of getting cancer
Here are five ways to help yourself reduce your risk of cancer:
| The Change | Too much? Try This! | Why it works | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Aim to fill at least two-thirds of your plate with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans. | Swap out refined white rice or pasta for whole-grain versions like brown rice, quinoa, or farro, and try to incorporate a vegetable into every meal. | Plants are packed with fibre, which aids digestion and significantly lowers the risk of colorectal cancers. They also contain natural plant compounds and antioxidants that help protect your cells from the DNA damage that can lead to cancer. |
| 2. | Reduce fast food, sugary drinks, soda, and heavily processed snacks. | Replace soda or sweetened energy drinks with sparkling water infused with fruit, and keep whole pieces of fruit or nuts handy for snacks. | A diet high in these foods is a primary driver of weight gain. Carrying excess body weight causes chronic, low-grade inflammation and alters hormone levels which are linked to at least 13 different types of cancer. |
| 3. | Keep your total intake of beef, pork, or lamb to less than 300g to 500g, cooked weight; that’s about 12 to 18 oz in old money! | Rotate in poultry, fish, or plant-based proteins like lentils, chickpeas, and prawns a few nights a week. | Eating high amounts of red meat has been consistently linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. |
| 4. | Avoid bacon, sausages, hot dogs, pepperoni, and deli meats that are classified as Group 1 carcinogens by the WHO. Hint: that’s bad! | Use nitrite-free alternatives | The methods used to preserve these meats (smoking, curing, or adding nitrates and nitrites) create chemicals that can damage the lining of the bowel, significantly increasing colon cancer risk even in relatively small amounts. |
| 5. | Stay well-hydrated by drinking plenty of water | Keep a reusable water bottle with you throughout the day | Staying well-hydrated by drinking plenty of water keeps your cellular processes running smoothly and assists your kidneys and liver in naturally filtering out waste. |
The importance of exercise
When it comes to lowering cancer risk, movement is medicine. You do not need to live in the gym or sweat for hours to get the benefits because even regular, moderate physical activity fundamentally alters your body’s internal chemistry in ways that make it much harder for cancer to take root and grow.
Exercise achieves this by changing three main environments inside your body, starting with lowering chronic, long-term inflammation, which otherwise acts like fertiliser for mutated cells. Regular movement flushes out these inflammatory markers and calms the immune system down. Furthermore, exercise regulates hormones by burning up excess blood sugar and lowering circulating levels of insulin, estrogen, and growth factors, which effectively cuts off the signals that tell abnormal cells to divide rapidly.
It also boosts your immune system, stimulating the circulation of specialised immune cells, and destroying pre-cancerous cells before they can form a tumour.
Fortunately, the goal is simply to get your heart rate up slightly and move your body consistently, which can be easily achieved through a few low-barrier habits without becoming a gym bunny.
First, commit to a brisk twenty-minute walk every day at a pace where you can still talk but could not comfortably sing a song. Doing this hits the exact target of one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate activity a week recommended by health organisations, which alone cuts the risk of several major cancers by up to twenty percent.
Second, turn everyday chores into snack-sized workouts by raking leaves, vacuuming energetically, washing the car by hand, or doing heavy gardening. Researchers refer to these brief bursts of huffing and puffing during daily tasks as vigorous intermittent physical activity, and studies show that just three to four one-minute bursts a day can lead to a significant drop in overall cancer risk.
Finally, you can practice the commercial break rule by using brief windows while watching television, listening to a podcast, or waiting for water to boil to move your body. Doing a few gentle wall push-ups, some bodyweight squats using a couch for balance, or just pacing around the room successfully breaks up long periods of sitting, which is vital since extended sedentary time actively raises the risk of colon and endometrial cancers.
By adopting these manageable habits, you can dramatically improve your long-term health right from home.
Keep your weekly alcohol consumption to 14 units
The last time that recommended alcohol limits were reduced was to specifically take account of the increased risk of cancer from higher alcohol consumption levels. Here’s what 14 units look like!
