How do I reduce cancer risk?
My 16 Week Program and Cancer Recovery Program focus on physical and mental well-being to reduce your risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. I introduce simple habits that improve your health across nutrition, exercise, stress-management, relationships, career, and mindset. These are my simple recommendations to reduce cancer risk and other chronic diseases.
Always include berries with breakfast.
Fruit often gets a bad wrap for its sugar, but fruit is good for cancer prevention. Yes it contains sugar, but other vital vitamins, antioxidants and fibre too. Antioxidants fight oxidative stress, created through exercising, stress, fatigue and more. Oxidative stress damages cells, and damaged cells can become cancer. Berries have the highest antioxidants - especially blackberries and blueberries, so add a cup to your breakfast each morning and include other beneficial fruits like kiwi, citrus and apples that are recommended for cancer prevention. Eat the rainbow!
2. Only buy wholegrain breads and pastas
There are many reasons to eat wholegrain over white, starting with the most obvious: Wholegrain is the whole grain, white grains and flours are the processed version of wholegrains. As a general rule, whole foods are best for prevention of any chronic disease. Try to eat at least a serving of whole grain bread, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, wild rice or rolled oats per day. Choose wholemeal or spelt flour over white. Wholegrains also contain more fibre. Adequate fibre intake reduces cancer risk. For women, this means 21 to 25g fibre per day. For men, 30 to 38g fibre per day. Wholegrains aren’t the only source of fibre. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and beans are too!
3. Eat beans, legumes, nuts and seeds
These badboys aren’t just packed with fibre, but a non-animal based form of protein too. Even if you’re a meat or dairy lover, it’s smart to add plant-based protein to your diet. They’re packed with nutrition - even providing healthy bacteria for your gut! Start with two servings per day of lentils, mung beans, black beans, chickpeas, split peas, tofu, tempeh, edamame, walnuts, flaxseeds or chia seeds and you can build variety from there.
4. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables especially leafy greens, broccoli and cauliflower
The food we eat must nourish our body and help our systems function brilliantly. I know that sounds obvious but before cancer, I was into calorie counting. I now appreciate that my magical body and the 24 hour systems that heal and protect me need the right foods and lifestyle to protect them. Whilst we all indulge occasionally, we must eat vegetables every day. They too have fibre, plus protein, carbs and lots of nutrients our body needs to function well. Cruciferous vegetables and leafy greens have strong cancer-fighting properties. I’m not suggesting eating broccoli cures cancer, but it doesn’t take much to dress it up with yummy flavours and add it to one meal per day. It doesn’t have to be just broccoli (though broccoli gets a special mention for breast cancer prevention), aim for 3 servings of other cruciferous or leafy greens like cauliflower, spinach, brussel sprouts and beans.
5. Limit alcohol – or don’t drink it at all
This one was big for me. I loved to drink, even as a Marathon runner. What I didn’t realise, was just how much alcohol increases cancer risk. In fact, when my tumour only had a partial response to chemotherapy and I had a higher chance of recurrence, I asked my medical oncologist what I could do to try and stop my cancer returning. Her one suggestion? Limit alcohol or don’t drink at all. What does limit mean exactly? 1 std drink a day for women with a maximum 10 per week. To be clear, a glass of wine is about 1.3 std drinks. When it comes to breast cancer and eight other types of cancer, your risk increases significantly based on light to moderate drinking. With tasty non-alcohol alternatives and the benefits of better sleep, weight-loss and less regretful behaviour, I’m sure you’ll agree cancer prevention is easier than the alternative!
As a health and nutrition coach, I cover all of this and more in my 16 Week Program, Reboot Program, Cancer Recovery Program and Do it with you sessions. Book a free initial consult and we can chat about what’s best for you.
