1. First and foremost, don’t use tobacco in any form.
Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death – Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, card accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides COMBINED.
A lot of really gross images…. this one was PG rated — you get the point!
2. Maintain a healthy weight throughout life.
The best way to reduce your weight and body fat is to stick to a healthy caloric intake and increase physical activity. To reduce calories, reduce your portion sizes (ditch the supersizing), avoid high-calorie foods such as fried foods, processed cookies, cakes, candy, ice cream, and soft drinks.
The good news is that regular or moderate exercise lowers inflammation even if the exercise does not lead to a healthy weight. And, regular exercise also lowers blood-estrogen levels in women, helping protect against breast cancer.
Being overweight in youth tends to continue throughout life, so keeping a healthy (not obsessive) watch on your weight is a good thing.
3. Adopt a physically active lifestyle.
- Adults: This means engaging in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, 5 or more days of the week; 45 to 60 minutes of intentional physical activity are preferable
- ex. Jog in the park, zumba class, weight-lifting circuit, basketball game– fun!
- Children and adolescents: Engage in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity at least 5 days per week.
4. Eat more fruits and vegetables, less red meat.
Have you ever read the label on packaged foods? It’s sometimes hard to figure out what the actual food is inside. The more unprocessed your food is, the better. Cancer.org recommends you:
- Eat 5 or more servings of vegetables and fruits each day.
- (This isn’t as hard as you think)
- One serving equals 1 medium apple, banana, orange, etc.; 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit; 1 cup of raw, leafy vegetables; and 1/2 cup of other cooked or raw vegetables, chopped.
- The brighter the vegetable the more antioxidants it contains.
- Antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, and many phytochemicals that help prevent damage to cells in the body from chemical reactions with oxygen.
2. Choose whole grain rice, bread, pasta, and cereals over processed (refined) products.
- Higher in fiber, which is can help with the risk of colon cancer.
3. Choose protein foods such as fish, poultry, or beans instead of beef, pork, and lamb
- processed meats and red meats – both have been linked to colon cancer.
- When you eat meat, choose lean cuts and eat smaller portions:
Preparation matters as well:
- Prepare meat by baking, broiling, or poaching, rather than by frying or charbroiling.
- Cooking meat and fish at high temperatures causes cancer-causing agents to form.
- Two ways to alleviate this are to use a marinade that contains lemon or vinegar marinade before you put the meat on the grill, and to avoid having the fire flare up.
5. If you drink alcoholic beverages, limit your intake.
1 drink per day for women or 2 per day for men is recommended
- High alcohol consumption is an established cause of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, and breast.
- For each of these cancers, risk increases substantially with intake of more than 2 drinks per day.
- Regular consumption of even a few drinks per week has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in women.
- How alcohol affects breast cancer is not clear. It may be because alcohol increases estrogen levels in the blood, reduces folic acid, or has a direct effect on breast tissue.
Limit! Which means still have one! or two more mean, that’s not so bad!
6. Don’t catch those rays – outdoors or in the tanning bed.
Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers, and one of the most preventable along with lunch cancer. It accounts for nearly half of all cancers in the United States.
Most skin cancer occurs on exposed parts of your body, including your face, hands, forearms and ears. Nearly all skin cancer is treatable if you detect it early, to prevent it, try these tips:
- Use sunscreen ( a least SPF 15) in and avoid peak radiation hours if possible: 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- Wear light-colored clothes and wear a broad-brimmed hat that covers your head and ears.
- Don’t use indoor tanning beds or sun lamps. These can damage your skin as much as the sun can. There’s no such thing as a healthy tan.
7. Be Proactive — Get screened
For people age 20 or older: having periodic health exams, a cancer-related checkup should include health counseling, and depending on a person’s age and gender, might include exams for cancers of the thyroid, oral cavity, skin, lymph nodes, testes, and ovaries, as well as for some non-malignant (non-cancerous) diseases.
All women: should begin cervical cancer screening about 3 years no later than age 21 years old, every 2 years.
Women age 40 and older should get a mammogram every year, and men and women age 50, who are at average risk for colon cancer, should begin regular testing.
Resources:
- Cancer.gov
- Cancer.org
- American Cancer Society
As you can probably tell from last recipes, I am a huge Mediterranean fan… not only am I Italian and think that Mediterranean food tastes delicious but it has been proven to reduce cardiovascular risk by raising “good” cholesterol (HDL) and lowering “bad” cholesterol (LDL), not only this but the diet is high in protein and fiber and low in saturated fat and sugar, as well as loaded with fruits and vegetables needed for all those vitamins & minerals! The med diet even includes wine… needless to say, I’m a fan!
Nutrition with Natalie 