How to lower cancer risk by up to 30 per cent? Exercise, eat more whole plant-based foods, and avoid drinking alcohol, scientists say
- In the world’s Blue Zones where people live longest, those with specific lifestyle habits – chief among them staying active – tend to have lower rates of cancer
- Other habits, validated by new research, include eating whole plant-based foods, quitting the drinking of alcohol and limiting the consumption of sugary drinks
In Blue Zones – parts of the world where residents live exceptionally long lives, often 100 years or more – it is well documented that those with specific lifestyle habits tend to have lower rates of cancer.
Chief among those habits are consuming an abundance of whole grains, fruit and vegetables, staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding alcohol and tobacco.
Can adopting these – and other – practices help slash the risk of getting cancer for people in other places? And if so, by how much?
New research by Newcastle University in the UK put common and well-known cancer-reducing recommendations to the test. The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine in November, attempted to validate the 10 guidelines for reducing cancer that the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) issued in 2018.
