Lifestyle Changes to Prevent Cancer

Medical Oncologist Dr Sudha recommends lifestyle changes one can adapt to prevent and reduce the risk of cancer.

What are the lifestyle changes that we should adopt to prevent cancer and to reduce our risk of cancer?
A: I think we need to keep it as simple as possible. On the internet, you will find several products like alkaline water, selenium, vitamin E supplements etc that are marketed as a preventive measure for cancer. A lot of these claims have not been proved, but anything done in moderation should be fine.

Let’s look at the top lifestyle changes that can be undertaken to reduce the risk of cancer.
- Consume one or two fruits daily.
- Consume two to three cups of vegetables every day. Many people assume that because they are vegetarians, they consume a lot of vegetables. That is not always true. The quantity of vegetables in our diet has to be increased to two to three cups.
- Substitute at least one meal with unprocessed food. Our diets tend to be high in processed foods like white bread, white rice, wheat etc. Try to substitute this with brown rice or millets.
- Ensure sufficient fibre in your diet. If your intake of vegetables is high, this will automatically be taken care of.
- Active exercise needs to be incorporated into our daily lifestyle. The exercise should be moderate to intense. You need to know what the optimum heart rate to reach during exercise is for your age. You can find this information on health websites through a google search. Having a healthy lifestyle means you need to reach the optimum heart rate, and sustain that heart rate for 15 to 20 minutes. So 150 minutes of moderate activity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity exercise is recommended.

These lifestyle changes will reduce not just the risk of cancer but also for several other diseases including cardiovascular diseases.

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