Prevent Cancer Pt. 1

I have been interested in cancer prevention for many years.  How can we fight back against this awful disease?  Is it even possible to fight back or are we helpless against its attack, if and when, it comes?  I did a good bit of reading for this post, before deciding to write.  There are a couple of theories.  One is that cancer is completely hereditary and that you will either get it or you won't.  At the other end of the spectrum of belief is that cancer is completely and totally a lifestyle disease and that you can completely prevent it if you eat and live right.  I fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.  Some cancers are hereditary and will attack certain individuals regardless of the steps they take to prevent it.  However, many cancers are preventable based upon lifestyle choices.  I believe that you can take control and lower the odds that you will be afflicted by this awful disease.

Even if I am wrong in my assessment that you can actively prevent cancer, all of the habits below will translate into a healthier lifestyle and lower risk of other diseases.  I would rather die with my boots on, so to speak than just sit back and let stuff happen to me.  I am choosing to be proactive in my search for a healthy life.

I combined 4 different posts from magazines and blogs to compile my "top prevents" list.  I am going to post these in two separate posts.  Do your own research.  Here are my sources 1.)  Prevention Magazine, 11-16-11 article by Richard Laliberte 2.)  Dr. Jerod Ochesndorf, personal website 3.)  Article in Readers Digest  entitled "30 Ways to prevent Cancer  4.)  "10 Tips for Avoiding Cancer" web article. Not every preventative suggestion I list appeared on each of the researched lists, but most appeared in multiple articles.  Most of these are basic, common sense solutions, but as I have previously posted "common sense is not very common nowadays."

This is not an exhaustive list and it is not comprehensive.  I am sure that there are many preventative habits that I am not listing here.  However, here a few with a one sentence explanation.  You can do further research on your own if you want a more in-depth look at each prevent.

1.)  NO Tobacco!  Avoid at all costs for a healthier life.

2.)  Lower Your Alcohol Consumption.  Zero is best, less is always better than more for cancer prevention.

3.)  Avoid Dry Cleaners.  There are pretty nasty chemicals that are regularly used in the dry cleaning process.

4.)  Stop eating French Fries and Potato Chips.  These are some of the worst foods to eat if you desire to be cancer free.

5.)  Filter tap water.  According two several of the articles/posts municipal water is pretty full of carcinogens that can lead to cancer.

6.) Exercise More!  A minimum should be around 2 hours per week or 1/2 and hour 4 times a week.

7.)  Stop topping off your tank.  By filling all the way up you release very harmful vapors into the air and even can splash gas onto your clothes and skin.

8.)  Breathe deeply as often as possible.  More oxygen equals more red blood cells/better quality of blood which can filter all kinds of harmful stuff out of your body.


More to come in a post later this weekend.  Pick a few of the above and start fighting back against cancer risks today.