One in two people born after 1960 will develop cancer in their lifetime, says Cancer Research UK.
But around 40 per cent of cancer diagnoses are preventable.
Michele O’Connor has the vital statistics to help you cut your chances of developing the disease.
Eat four Brazil nuts every day
Brazil nuts are high in the mineral selenium, which many of us are deficient in.
This powerful antioxidant has been associated with a reduced risk of bladder, prostate and skin cancer.
In fact, an Australian study showed that those with the highest selenium levels had almost 60% fewer skin cancer tumours.
Count your coffees
Five daily cups is associated with a 40% decreased risk of bowel cancer – compared to drinking none.
Four cups a day may reduce the risk of developing mouth and pharynx cancers by 39% and two cups can reduce liver cancer risk by a third.
Get outside
Getting 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure a day can help raise your vitamin D intake.
Japanese researchers who examined 33,736 men and women aged 40-69, found that higher levels of vitamin D were linked to a 50% lower risk of liver cancer, while overall cancer risk was 20% less.
Breakfast on yogurt (especially if male)
Researchers found that those who ate a daily serving of yogurt lowered their risk of lung cancer by 20% compared to those who didn’t.
And a Harvard Medical School study found that men who had two or more servings of yogurt per week lowered their risk of precancerous growths in their colons by 26%.
Swap white bread and rice for brown
A review of 25 studies by Cancer Research UK found the risk of bowel cancer was reduced by 10% for every 10g of total dietary fibre and cereal fibre consumed each day.
Furthermore, 90g of wholegrains daily accounted for a 20% reduction in risk (that’s six tablespoons of wholegrain cereal, two slices of wholemeal bread and four tablespoons of brown rice a day).
Buy (or borrow!) a dog
It’s well proven that owning a dog has numerous health benefits but a recent study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology showed that people who owned a dog or cat were almost 30% less likely to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – a type of cancer that affects the body’s cells. Experts believe that exposure to pets helps build up our immune systems.
Eat three portions of fish per week
Those who enjoy fish on a regular basis have a 12% lower risk of bowel cancer than those who eat less than one portion per week, say experts from the University of Oxford and the International Agency for Research on Cancer who examined the dietary habits of 476,160 people.
Add garlic
Chinese scientists who looked at 1,400 lung cancer patients and 4,500 healthy adults found that participants who ate raw garlic at least twice a week were 44% less likely to develop lung cancer.
And the World Cancer Research Fund states that garlic could protect against colorectal and stomach cancer.
Wait 10 minutes after chopping or crushing before you cook through – this allows the enzyme alliinase to start a reaction that produces protective allyl sulfides.
Steam your greens
A Spanish study found that microwaving broccoli destroys 97% of the vegetable’s cancer-protective flavonoids.
The best way to cook the vegetable is to steam it for three to four minutes instead.
Use semi-permanent hair colour
Using permanent hair dye or chemical straighteners could increase the risk of breast cancer by 8%, say experts from the US National Institutes of Health, but there was little to no increase for semi-permanent or temporary dye use. And women who chemically straightened their hair at least every eight weeks saw their risk increase by 30%.
Swap red meat for poultry
Researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the US looked at the meat consumption and meat cooking practices of 42,012 women over seven years.
Participants who consumed the highest amount of red meat were found to have a 23% greater risk of breast cancer than those who consumed the lowest amount.
Meanwhile, women who ate the highest amount of poultry in their diet had a 15% lower risk of the disease than those with the lowest consumption.
The findings remained unaffected even when factors such as physical activity, obesity and alcohol consumption were taken into account.
