Nowadays, cancer is becoming more and more prevalent, and everyone is afraid of talking about cancer, and they all hope that they can be cancer-free for the rest of their lives, so they want to satisfy their desires.
In fact, Ai can tell you for sure that those miracle drugs or health care products that claim to keep cancer away and prevent cancer for life are all lies! Because, there is no scientific basis to prove that a specific food can completely inhibit the occurrence of cancer.
Although there is no anti-cancer food, the two leading authorities in the world of cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), have jointly released a new report on cancer prevention, in which 10 recommendations for cancer prevention are proposed, which are
One: Maintain a healthy weight.
Two: Be physically active.
Three: Eat a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes.
Four: Limit the intake of “fast food” and other processed foods that are high in fat, starch or sugar.
Five: eat less red meat and processed meat.
Six: Limit the intake of sugary drinks.
Seven: Limit alcohol consumption.
Eight: Do not use supplements to prevent cancer.
Nine: For mothers, breastfeed your baby if you can.
Ten: After cancer diagnosis, if possible, please also follow adhering to a healthy lifestyle.
Below, 39Health.com’s Ai carefully expands and explains these 10 cancer prevention suggestions to you. If you don’t want to get cancer either, hurry up and take a look.
Maintain a healthy weight
Scholars from Harvard University predict that obesity will overtake smoking as the number one cancer-causing factor in the next 10 years.
Experts from the World Cancer Foundation have found after years of research that about 33% of cancers occur in obese people, and the most common cancers among obese people are esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, uterine cancer, kidney cancer and breast cancer, in addition, gallbladder cancer, larynx cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, brain tumor, lymphoma, etc. are also related to obesity.
Therefore, keeping body weight within the normal range can effectively reduce the risk of cancer.
Experts suggest that the normal range of body weight (BMI) should preferably be between 18.5 and 23. [Calculation method: divide weight (kg) by height (m) squared].
–There are “four treasures” to maintain a healthy weight
The BMI measurement method, weight is one of the indicators, so you can buy a weighing scale, always monitor the weight situation.
A leather tape measure. The first thing to look at is whether your waist circumference is within the normal range, and you can also measure the waist-to-hip ratio (waist-to-hip ratio = waist circumference / hip circumference). If the waist-to-hip ratio is 0.9 for men and above 0.8 for women, it means you have excess visceral fat.
A small oil jug. A high-fat diet is an important cause of obesity, and the World Health Organization’s recommendation is that each person should eat no more than 25 grams of oil per day. You can buy a small oil jug with a scale to cook food with strict control of oil intake, which also helps to reduce weight.
A fitness card. A fitness card can remind you to do more exercise.
Second, active participation in physical activity
Regular exercise can not only help you maintain a healthy weight, but also reduce the risk of cancer.
A study on sedentary behavior was once published in the famous journal Cancer Epidemiology, with the thesis that prolonged sedentary behavior increases the risk of kidney and bladder cancer. Researchers did a comparison experiment with a thousand people and found that people who did not exercise regularly had a 73% increased risk of bladder cancer and a 77% increased risk of kidney cancer.
The researchers also explained that the study was meant to emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and hoped that the results would encourage those who do not exercise to engage in as much physical activity as possible, not necessarily marathon exercise, but also walking, stair climbing, jogging, cycling, yoga and other moderate to light exercise.
–Healthy exercise should remember the “two 3s”
On a rock on Mount Olympus, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, there is an inscription: Do you want to be healthy? Just run! As you can see, exercise is vital to health, but it should be noted that exercise must be measured, no matter what type of people, it is recommended to do aerobic exercise first.
What is meant by aerobic exercise? The standard of measurement is the heart rate during exercise, the general target heart rate of 150 beats / min or less exercise are aerobic exercise. In addition, the frequency and length of exercise to pay attention to the “two 3”, that is, each exercise time of not less than 30 minutes, adhere to more than 3 days a week.
Three, diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes
The human body needs a variety of nutrients to be healthy, such as protein, fiber, fat and carbohydrates.
The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends that we eat mainly plant-based foods at every meal, especially whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans, which are rich in fiber. Fiber is known as the “cleanser” of the intestinal tract. Properly increasing intake can promote intestinal peristalsis, facilitate bowel movement and reduce the residence time of carcinogens in the intestinal tract, thus reducing the incidence of colorectal cancer.
The American Cancer Society recommends 30 to 40 grams of dietary fiber per person per day, while the recommended standard in China is 30 grams of dietary fiber per day.
Limit the intake of “fast food” and other processed foods with high fat, high starch or high sugar
Westernized diet is more likely to induce gynecological cancer. Director Lin Dexi of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Nanjing Mingji Hospital said that long-term intake of fast food with high salt, oil and fat will easily make people obese, and obesity is the main cause of endometrial cancer. It is also mentioned in the first point of the article that obesity is also related to the occurrence of many kinds of cancer.
Therefore, it is recommended to reduce the frequency of fast food and reduce the intake of high-fat and high-calorie food, which can not only maintain a good body shape but also prevent cancer.
V. Eat less red meat and processed meat
Beef, lamb and pork belong to the category of red meat, which is classified as “suspected carcinogen class 2A” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of WHO. Processed meat products such as hot dogs and ham are classified as “class I carcinogens”, on par with tobacco, asbestos and diesel engine exhaust.
Tom Saunders, professor of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, explained that some processed meat products to prevent the growth of botulism, the production process will add nitrite, which can form carcinogens in the intestine – nitrosamines, accumulated to a certain amount, will induce tumors.
As for “red meat causes cancer”, Cancer Research UK published an article saying that the “heme” contained in red meat decomposes in the intestine, forming N-nitroso compounds, which can damage intestinal cells, resulting in other intestinal cells need to double the replication to repair the damage, in the replication process, it will increase the chances of DNA mutation, thus increasing the possibility of cancer.
–How to eat meat healthily?
So, all these meat can not be eaten? Fan Zhihong, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the School of Food Science and Nutrition Engineering at China Agricultural University, said that consuming processed meat products increases the risk of many diseases, including cancer, so it is common sense to limit the intake of such foods.
So how to eat meat healthily? Ai gives a few suggestions.
-Meat must be fresh, and priority should be given to buying meat with health and quarantine marks from regular stores.
-The national recommended intake of red meat is an average daily intake of 50-75 grams per person. As for bologna, bacon and other processed meat products, it is okay to eat occasionally, but not all the time.
-Do a balanced diet. It is not recommended to do meatless “meat lovers”, nor is it recommended to do “vegetarians”, to maintain health, or to achieve a balanced diet, the intake of meat, but also a reasonable intake of carbohydrate vitamins and dietary fiber.
Six, limit the intake of sugary drinks
There is reliable evidence that the intake of sugary drinks can cause weight gain, overweight and obesity, and obesity is related to the occurrence of many types of cancer.
A U.S. study involving 23,000 people found that those who consumed sugary drinks had a higher risk of developing endometrial cancer, and the more they drank, the higher their risk.
“The group that consumed the most sugary drinks had a 78 percent risk.” The researchers said.
This idea was also argued in a 2016 report by WebMD Medical News that people who consumed a lot of processed carbohydrates and sugary drinks had an increased risk of breast and prostate cancers.
Researcher Nour Makarem noted that after correcting for other cancer-causing factors such as obesity, smoking and dietary habits, those who drank sugary drinks several times a week had a three-fold increased risk of prostate cancer compared to those who did not.
Dr. Rosa Sancho, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said, “Both sugary and unsweetened beverages may have a negative impact on the brain, so we recommend that people drink more water rather than sugary or artificially sweetened sugar-free drinks.”
Seven, limit alcohol consumption
Ethanol is metabolized in two main steps: in the first step, ethanol is converted into acetaldehyde with the help of ethanol dehydrogenase (ADH); in the second step, acetaldehyde is converted into acetic acid with the help of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH).
Neither alcohol nor acetic acid are carcinogens, except for the intermediate product acetaldehyde, which causes cancer when it accumulates in large amounts in the body.
Under normal circumstances, alcohol is normally metabolized into acetic acid with the help of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Once the efficiency of ALDH decreases or is not effective at all, acetaldehyde cannot be metabolized into acetic acid, and acetaldehyde will accumulate in the body in large quantities, which will increase the risk of disease.
— How to drink more healthily?
In China, alcohol is the norm, so what if you really can’t stop drinking? There are a few tips to make sure you write down.
-Alcohol allergy and blushing people must drink with caution.
-Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Before drinking, you can eat some food to ease the absorption of alcohol.
-Drink more water after drinking to speed up the excretion of ethanol.
-Small amounts of alcohol have a positive effect on relaxing nerves and cardiovascular, but large doses of alcohol can be more harmful, so drinking must be done in moderation.
-Take medicine during illness must not drink alcohol.
Eight: Don’t use supplements to prevent cancer
Zeng Yixin, an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out, “We are firmly against relying on the so-called nutritional supplements to prevent cancer.” Long-term high doses of nutritional supplements can disturb the balance in the body, cause metabolic disorders and, in serious cases, induce cancer.
Most of the nutrients can be supplemented from daily diet, except for specific groups (pregnant women and the elderly), who can take nutritional supplements for their individual conditions, but long-term consumption is not recommended.
It is also important to understand that nutritional supplements only serve to replenish nutrients in the body and do not have a curative effect, much less prevent cancer, so do not expect any dietary supplement to reduce cancer risk as much as a healthy diet.
Nine: For mothers, breastfeed your baby if you can
The benefits of breastfeeding are twofold: First, it is physiological. It helps the mother to regain her body shape faster and promote uterine recovery. Second, for the child, breast milk has the effect of strengthening resistance, easy digestion, promoting muscle development, and promoting brain development.
In addition, there is evidence that breastfeeding helps mothers prevent breast cancer.
Therefore, if conditions allow, all women should breastfeed.
-How long is breastfeeding good?
Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.
From 6 to 12 months, you can reduce the amount of breast milk and give your baby formula and a small amount of various semi-liquid foods.
After 1 year old, you can try to wean.
After cancer diagnosis, please follow a healthy lifestyle
A large-scale study in the United States showed that adherence to a healthy lifestyle can reduce cancer mortality by half. The study involved 89,000 women and 46,000 men, and the participants were divided into two groups according to their healthy lifestyles, and it was found that about 20-40% of cancer incidence and 50% of cancer deaths could be avoided through lifestyle changes.
Therefore, after cancer diagnosis, if patients accept the advice of their doctors and follow a healthy lifestyle, they will have better results in fighting cancer and will also be able to achieve a longer survival period. A good lifestyle includes not smoking, not drinking alcohol, having a BMI in the range of 18.5-27.5, and exercising more than 150 minutes per week.
Most of the cancer occurrence is related to lifestyle habits. To make yourself healthier, the most important thing is to monitor your life and eating habits to reduce the chance of cancer.
