7 tips to reduce your risk of cancer

7 tips to reduce your risk of cancer


Although selecting healthy food at the grocery store can’t guarantee cancer prevention, it reduces your risk of developing cancer. Here are some guidelines you can keep in mind:

  • Take plenty of fruits and vegetables: Fruits, vegetables, and other foods from plant sources not only prevent cancer but they also strengthen your immune system to fight infectious diseases.
  • Maintain a healthy weight: Stay away from high-calorie foods, including refined sugar and fats. Maintaining a healthy weight prevents obesity and the growth of malignant cells.
  • Take moderate alcohol: If you take alcohol at all, only take it in small quantities because the risk of various types of cancer like cancer of the colon, lung, breast, kidney, and liver increases with the amount of alcohol you consume. If you consume alcohol regularly, you are doing more harm than good.

If you are physically active, you can maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of developing breast, lung, prostate, and kidney cancer. Of course, you don’t have to visit the gym every day to be physically active; simple activities like going for a run regularly or swimming can make a difference.

Taking any type of tobacco puts you on track to get cancer. Smoking is linked to various cancers like cancer of the lung, throat, mouth, larynx, pancreas, cervix, kidney, and bladder. Exposure to smoke can also increase your risk of lung cancer.

4. Shield yourself from the sun

Skin cancer is one of the most popular kinds of cancer, and it is caused by severe ultraviolet rays from the sun. To prevent it, avoid staying in the sun for extremely long periods, cover exposed body areas, avoid tanning beds. Also, use sunscreen.

Many risky behaviors can cause infections that increase your risk of cancer. People that have HIV or some other sexually transmitted disease are more susceptible to cancer of the anus, lung, penis, and liver. So, ensure you practice safe sex and don’t share needles.

Talk to your doctor for vaccination against Hepatitis B and some other infections that can increase your cancer risk. Hepatitis B is known to increase the risk of getting liver cancer, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

7. Get regular medical care

Go for regular self-exams and screenings for various types of cancer. Regular checkups can help you detect malignant growth early and get good treatment. Ask your doctor for details about the medical exam.

Oluwatimilehin Ademosu is a passionate content writer and copywriter.

Pulse Contributors is an initiative to highlight diverse journalistic voices. Pulse Contributors do not represent the company Pulse and contribute on their own behalf.

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