Cancer Proof Your Life

by Tracy Austin, M.D.

Cancer—that dreaded C word. Even with the tremendous advances that have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, cancer still frightens everyone. It’s the second leading cause of death among Americans, followed by heart disease—so there’s good reason for concern.

Keeping with the old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” here’s a list of seven steps to help you “cancer proof” your life. These simple preventative measures are the key to drastically reducing your risk of developing some of the most common types of cancers, like prostate, breast, lung, and skin cancer.

Become a fruit addict & get green with vegetable envy

Fruits and vegetables have tons of photochemicals and antioxidants that help protect against cancer. Multiple daily servings of fruits and vegetables are great for your health. For example, tomatoes are high in lycopene, which has been proven to greatly reduce the risk of prostate cancer. If you’re not a fan of tomatoes, but still want a good dose of this cancer-fighting agent, consider eating other red fruits, like watermelon and pink grapefruit. In addition, vegetables help protect against other types of cancers, including ovarian, breast, stomach, lung, bladder and colorectal cancers. And if you want to try a delicious cancer busting dish, try Avocado Fruit Salad. You can find the recipe (along with other recipes and culinary medicine info) on The Kitchen Prescription, at www.thekitchenrx.com.

Ditch the processed foods

Processed foods and prepackaged meals have been altered from their natural state to facilitate convenience. These meals are quite popular, and they are also linked to cancer. Processed meats (like hotdogs and sausage), might be some of the worst of these foods. Nearly all processed meats are made with sodium nitrite. This ingredient is a precursor to nitrosamines—potent chemicals that accelerate the formation and growth of cancer cells in the body. Moreover, refined carbohydrates like white flour, sugar and high fructose corn syrup are also found in many processed foods. These ingredients are not only linked to cancer, but also obesity and diabetes. So, it is strongly advise that you start cutting back on processed foods that contain these ingredients. Doing so may greatly decrease your risk of things like colorectal, kidney and stomach cancer.

Sweat into your oldies

Exercise and sweating should be part of everyone’s lifestyle, whether young or elderly. And it’s not just for the purpose of losing weight. Any kind of physical activity modulates levels of hormones, specifically androgens and estrogen—hormones that can specifically protect against certain cancers like breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer. So no matter what your age, make sure you break a sweat regularly.

Overcome your fear

For a lot of people, there’s a fear of physicians. Regardless of your fears, doctors are here to help you. Regularly visit your doctor, and stay up-to-date on health screenings like blood tests, colonoscopies, mammograms, and physical exams. These are all meant to detect malignancies early on, while treatment and prognosis are favorable. And while you’re at it, talk to your doctor about genetic testing. For example, testing for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations lets women know if they have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Ultimately, visiting your doctor regularly could end up being the difference between life and death.

Butt out

It’s common medical knowledge that if you stop smoking today, within 15 years, your lung cancer risk will drop to that of a nonsmoker. Lung cancer ranks as the leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States, and the majority of lung cancers are directly caused by smoking. You should also be aware that when you smoke, you lungs are not the only thing at risk. Cigarette smoke can cause cancer in your mouth, larynx, esophagus, as well as more distant places like your prostate, colon, and breasts. It’s not easy, but quit smoking today—there’s no better time to butt out, and your doctor has never had more tools to help you do it!

Start battling the bulge

According to the American Cancer Society, being overweight or obese accounts for 20% of all cancer deaths among women and 14% among men. And even if you’re not overweight, gaining just 10 pounds after the age of 30 actually increases your risk of developing cancer. Losing weight will help reduce your risk of developing certain cancers like colon, pancreatic, breast, endometrial, ovarian and cervical cancer.

Practice your ABCs—NAKED

When it comes to skin cancer, the ABCs stand for: Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter, and Evolving. When examining moles, healthy ones are typically symmetrical, the border is uniform and distinct, the color is uniform (it’s OK for moles to be dark, but various shades of colors on one mole are very suspicious), they should measure less than 6 millimeters in diameter, and they should not be rapidly changing—in size, shape, or color. If you have moles or other skin markings that are not following the ABC guidelines, then run to see your dermatologist.