National Cancer Control Month

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. There are many modifiable risk factors or lifestyle behaviors that can lead to cancer, but the key word is modifiable, which means they can be improved in order to prevent cancer.

April is National Cancer Control Month. On March 31^st of this year, the president put forth a proclamation promising to re-double efforts to boost awareness, care, and help more Americans win their battles against cancer. In the last two decades, Americans have gained better tools, prevention strategies and treatments to fight cancer or decrease risk. However, more can always be done to strengthen the battle against this deleterious disease.

Pertinent modifiable risk factors that can be improved include diet, exercise and weight.

Improving your diet would consist of adding more cancer prevention foods into your diet. These foods consist of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans, which are nutrient dense and not calorie dense. Consuming nutrient dense foods will help decrease weight and body mass index (BMI), therefore serving two purposes in cancer prevention: weight loss and eating cancer preventative foods. Your goal should be to incorporate nutrient dense foods by filling 2/3 of your plate with fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans on most days of the week. The focus on fruits, vegetables and whole grains results from their high vitamin, mineral, phytochemical and antioxidant content. These are all essential nutrients in keeping the body healthy and working correctly while preventing abnormal cancer cells from forming.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, carrying extra weight increases your risk for seven cancers. Increased cancer risk from excess body fat particularly pertains to excess fat around the waist. This excess fat increases hormone levels and inflammation, both of which increase cancer risk. Therefore, decreasing weight to a healthy range should be a priority. As mentioned above, this can be achieved by improving your diet, although diet improvements should also be accompanied by physical activity improvements. The general exercise prescription includes incorporating 30 minutes of exercise into your daily routine every day. If you cannot achieve 30 minutes at once then break it up and go for a brisk walk in the morning, and find another activity for 30 minutes in the afternoon.

Following the guidelines outlines above can help you decrease your cancer risk.

Now it’s your turn to take action: What how will you improve your diet and add more movement into your daily routine?