5 Simple Swaps to Cut Cancer Risk

Cancer is one of the scariest words in the world (I know this firsthand; my husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer about five years ago. Thankfully, he’s fine now, but it was a very dark moment when we heard that word).

That being said, it’s also a very different diagnosis today than it used to be years ago. We have better detection and prevention, as well as encouraging new treatments. And from the lifestyle perspective, there are plenty of things we can do to lower our risk, including:

  • Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight. In fact, experts estimate that we can dodge of all cancers by simply eating better and moving more.)
  • Quit smoking and limit alcohol.
  • Avoid excessive sun exposure (and wear sunscreen).
  • Get screened, especially for cervical and colorectal cancers. Work with your primary to set up a formal calendar for appropriate screenings, for example, skin checks—dermatologist; colonoscopy—gastroenterologist; cervical screening and mammography—gynecologist, and so on.

You can also make any of these five simple swaps to your diet.