The most comprehensive study ever undertaken on the association between cancer and obesity concludes that excess fat triggers many types of cancer, as does consuming moderate amounts of alcohol, red meats and processed meats.

The Amercian Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund conduted a five-year study involving nine independent teams of scientists from around the world, hundreds of peer reviewers, and 21 international experts who reviewed and analyzed over 7,000 large-scale studies. Their comphrensive study provides 10 recommendations for cancer prevention.

While, you may have heard some of these recommendation before, please read on and do your best to incorporate some, if not all, of the recommendations into your lifestyle. 

Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.  Maintenance of a healthy weight throughout life may be one of the most important ways to protect against cancer.  This will also protect against a number of other common chronic disease. Median adult body mass index (BMI) to be between 21 and 23, depending upon the normal range for different populations. (Normal range refers to appropriate ranges issued by national governments or the World Health Organization.) To calcuate your BMI link on this link: http://www.aicr.org

1. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day. As fitness improves, aim for 60 minutes or more of moderate, or for 30 minutes or more of vigorous, physical activity every day. (This can be incorporated in occupational, transport, household, or leisure activities.)  All forms of physcial activity protect against some cancers as well as weight gain.
2. Avoid sugary drinks. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods (particularly processed foods high in added sugar, or low in fiber, or high in fat). Consumption of energy-dense foods and sugary drinks is increasing worldwide and is probably contributing to the global increase in obesity.
3. Eat more of a variety of vegetables and fruits of different colors (red, yellow, white, purple, green, orange), whole grains and legumes such as beans.  Aim for consumption of non-starchy vegetables and fruits to be at least 600g (21 oz) daily.  Non-starchy vegetables include green, leafy veggies, broccoli, okra, eggplant, and bok choy, but not potato, yam, sweet potato, or cassava.  Non-starchy roots and tubers include carrots, celery root, rutabaga, and turnips. Include tomato-based products and allium beggie such as garlic.
4. Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork and lamb) and avoid processed meats. Limit average consumption of red meat to be no more than 500g (18 oz) cooked a week, and very little if any of which to be processed. Beyond this amount, the evidence indicates, every 1.7 ounces of red meat consumed per day increases cancer risk by 15 percent.
5. If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women a day. The evidence does not show a clear level of consumption of alcoholic drinks below which there is no increase in risk of cancers it causes.  This means that, based solely on the eveidence on cancer, even small amounts of alcholic drinks should be avoided.  There is evidence however that modest amounts of alcholic drinks are likely to protect against coronary heart disease.
6. Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with salt (sodium). The strongest evidence on methods of food presevation, processing, and preparation shows that salt and salt-preseved foods are probably a cause of stomach cancer, and that foods contaminated with aflatoxins are a cause of liver cancer.
7. Don’t use supplements to protect against cancer. The recommendation of the report is to optain your vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in foods and drinks that contain them. 

Special Population Recommendations

• It is best for mothers to breastfeed exclusively for up to 6 months and then add other liquids and foods. Breastfeeding protects against infections in infancy, protects the development of the immuature immune system, protects against other childhood diseases, and is vital for the development of the bond between mother and child.
• After treatment, cancer survivors should follow the recommendations for cancer prevention.

And always remember - do not smoke or chew tobacco.

You can view the summary of the report at the following link http://www.dietandcancerreport.org

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