11/04/2022
8 Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer
1. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Keeping your weight in check is often easier said than done, but a few simple tips can help. First off, if youโre overweight, focus initially on not gaining any more weight. This by itself can improve your health. Then, when youโre ready, try to take off some extra pounds for an even greater health boost. To see where you fall on the weight range
2. Exercise Regularly
Few things are as good for you as regular physical activity. While it can be hard to find the time, itโs important to fit in at least 30 minutes of activity every day. More is even better, but any amount is better than none.
3. Donโt Smoke
Youโve heard it before: If you smoke, quitting is absolutely the best thing you can do for your health. Yes, itโs hard, but itโs also far from impossible. More than 1,000 Americans stop for good every day.
4. Eat a Healthy Diet
Despite confusing news reports, the basics of healthy eating are actually quite straightforward. You should focus on fruits, vegetables and whole grains and keep red meat to a minimum. Itโs also important to cut back on bad fats (saturated and trans fats) and choose healthy fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats) more often. Taking a multivitamin with folate every day is a great nutrition insurance policy.
5. Drink Alcohol Only in Moderation, If at All
Moderate drinking is good for the heart, as many people already know, but it can also increase the risk of cancer. If you donโt drink, donโt feel that you need to start. If you already drink moderately (less than one drink a day for women, less than two drinks a day for men), thereโs probably no reason to stop. People who drink more, though, should cut back.
6. Protect Yourself from the Sun
While the warm sun is certainly inviting, too much exposure to it can lead to skin cancer, including serious melanoma. Skin damage starts early in childhood, so itโs especially important to protect children.
7. Protect Yourself From Sexually Transmitted Infections
Among other problems, sexually transmitted infections โ like human papillomavirus (HPV) โ are linked to a number of different cancers. Protecting yourself from these infections can lower your risk.
8. Get Screening Tests
There are a number of important screening tests that can help protect against cancer. Some of these tests find cancer early when they are most treatable, while others can actually help keep cancer from developing in the first place. For colorectal cancer alone, regular screening could save over 30,000 lives each year. Thatโs three times the number of people killed by drunk drivers in the United States in all of 2011. Talk to a health care professional about which tests you should have and when
