Guest Author - Rhonda Cravey

Cancer is a vicious disease that affects millions of people each year. While not all cases of cancer can be prevented, there are some simple lifestyle changes you can make to help reduce your chance of getting certain types of cancer.

1 – Stop Smoking and Avoid Second-hand Smoke. This is likely the most important way to reduce many types of cancer such as lung, esophagus, larynx, mouth, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, and acute myloid leukemia. Chewing tobacco is also included in this category since it increases your risk of mouth, cheek, and gum cancer. Smoking cigars and pipes will also increase your risk of developing cancer.

2 – Protect Your Skin from the Sun. According to the American Cancer Society, 65,050 new cases of skin cancer were diagnosed in 2007. This is terribly unfortunate considering that skin cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer. To protect your skin from the damaging rays of the sun, you should:

• Wear sunscreen.
• Avoid being in the sun when the sun’s ultraviolet rays are the most dangerous (between 10am and 4pm).
• Stay in the shade as much as possible.
• Wear protective clothing such as hats and long-sleeved shirts.
• Don’t (and I repeat), Don’t tan indoors.

3 – Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Ideally, you should eat 5 or more servings a day. Fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, which help you repair damaged cells. Blueberries are loaded with lots of antioxidants. Type the word “blueberries” in the search box on Bellaonline’s main page and you will receive many creative recipes to help you include more blueberries in your diet.

4 – Limit alcohol intake. You don’t have to totally eliminate alcohol, just limit the amount you drink. Studies have indicated that drinking more than 1 to 2 drinks a day may increase your risk of mouth, throat, esophageal, liver, and breast cancer.

5 – Exercise and maintain a healthy weight. Need some ideas for increasing your exercise routine? If so, check out Bellaonline’s Health and Fitness section.

6 – Take a multivitamin. Taking one dose of multivitamin daily is a great way to boost your immune system.

7 – Increase your Vitamin D intake. Some studies have linked a Vitamin D deficiency with an increased risk of breast, colon, prostate, ovarian, and stomach cancer.

8 – Reduce high-fat foods. You don’t need to eliminate fat from you diet entirely, but reducing your intake to a moderate level will help decrease your risk of cancer of the prostate, colon, rectum, and uterus.

9 – Get regular screenings and self-exams. Screenings and self-exams are an effective way to detect abnormal cells in the body before they have a chance to turn into cancer cells. Pap smears, mammograms, self-breast exams, and colonoscopy are some of the most common cancer screenings and self-exams. For a list of age-specific screening test quidelines see Regular Cancer Screenings for Women.