Cancer has been a deadly disease throughout the history of mankind. Although treatments for cancer like chemotherapy are fairly new, cancer has always affected people since centuries ago. The awareness for cancer is much more common nowadays compared to earlier days. Awareness of cancer is good, but prevention of cancer is equally important for all people.
Around 90-95% cases of cancer are related to lifestyle. Only 5–10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects. You are more likely to avoid cancer if your lifestyle is good. Most cancer cases could be avoided through a healthy lifestyle. A healthy diet, avoidance of tobacco products, and daily exercises are very helpful for the reduction in the risk of cancer. Along with these basic habits, there are a few more habits that you can inculcate in your daily lifestyle to avoid this deadly disease.
Marinate meat before cooking
Although eating less meat is more healthy as you age, abstaining from eating meat completely is not compulsory for you to avoid cancer. You may eat meat but whenever you eat it, try to avoid charred or overcooked meat as they are harmful to your health.
When the meat is heated at a high temperature, heterocyclic amines are formed. Heterocyclic amines are carcinogenic in nature. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed in meat when they are cooked at direct radiant heat.
Consumption of these hydrocarbons leads to an increased risk of skin, lung, and gastrointestinal cancers. Always slow cook meat for it to be nutritious and free from carcinogens. Marinate meat for at least 6 hours before cooking. The spices used to marinate the meat are rich in antioxidants and they will reduce the hydrocarbons in your meal.
Consume caffeine
Drinking coffee every day decreases your chances of getting brain cancer. It also helps in reducing the possibility of cancers in your mouth and pharynx. Tea also offers some protection against brain cancer, but its effect is less than coffee.
Regular coffee drinkers also have a reduction in the risk of skin cancer. Studies only found a relationship between drinking coffee and the risk of developing skin cancer, but it didn’t find any cause and effect relationship between coffee and skin cancer.
Coffee contains caffeine, which rushes carcinogens through the digestive tract. This prevents the gastrointestinal tract from coming into contact with carcinogens. Caffeine also contains antioxidants, which prevent the growth of colon cancer cells.
Drink water a lot
Staying hydrated is a very crucial part of a healthy lifestyle. Health experts say that we should drink 2 liters of water every day. Sipping water throughout the day is also a very healthy habit to stay hydrated. Water reduces the risk of bladder cancer in your body by diluting the concentration of carcinogenic substances in urine and helps in flushing them out faster through your bladder.
Drinking water flushes toxins out of your body and prevents their buildup. This prevents diseases like colorectal cancer from affecting your colon. Water is an important molecule in cells, comprising 70% of the total cell mass. Drinking more of it helps in the healthy growth and reproduction of cells in your body. This prevents your tissues from getting cancer.
Avoid passive smoking
Everybody already knows that smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. But many people don’t realize that second-hand smoke can also cause cancer. Furthermore, you are also exposed to smoke from pollution in the environment.
Second-hand smoke from cigarettes and smoke from pollution in the environment contains a lot of chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic in nature. Avoid all forms of tobacco products like chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, snus, dissolvable tobacco, etc. because they contain nicotine, a substance that causes dependence and addiction.
The use of smokeless tobacco products can increase your chances of getting oral cancer, oesophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer. You can prevent all of these risks by not using tobacco at all.
Eat vegetables
The greener a vegetable is, the more chlorophyll it has. Chlorophyll contains a large amount of magnesium, which reduces the risk of colon cancer. Magnesium helps cells in your body to coordinate with each other.
Green vegetables contain carotenoids, which have antioxidant properties and boost the body’s defense mechanism. Fruits and vegetables slow down cell growth, prevents inflammation, and lower the damages caused by oxidants. Try to buy organic foods free from added fertilizers and antibiotics. There are many carcinogens found in pesticides and avoiding them is a healthy decision.
Summary
Awareness of cancer is very important for all human beings. We can prevent most cancer cases through a healthy lifestyle. We have to inculcate some healthy habits in our lifestyle to always stay away from cancer. A few of them include:
- Marinate meat before cooking
- Consume caffeine every day
- Drink water a lot
- Avoid passive smoking
- Eat vegetables
Comments / 142