Diet and Cancer - How to reduce your risk!

Up to 35% of all cancers can be prevented by being active, eating well and maintaining a healthy body weight. After not smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the best things you can do to reduce your risk of getting cancer.Eating a Low Glycemic Diet is one of the best ways to achieve a healthy weight.

High Glycemic Diets and Cancer Risk

Foods and drinks with added sugar have lots of calories but usually contain few nutrients. Eating a lot of these sugary foods makes it easy to have more calories than you need, which means you are more likely to put on weight. Being overweight can put you at higher risk for certain cancers, so try to eat these foods less often. A Low Glycemic diet that includes a variety of vegetables and fruit instead of higher-fat, higher-calorie foods can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. People who are overweight are at greater risk for cancer and other health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Eat more Veggies and Fruits and boost your Antioxidants and fibre

Have vegetables and fruit more often than juice Eating a vegetable or fruit gives your body more fibre than juice. You’re also likely to feel fuller and be better able to maintain a healthy weight by choosing vegetables and fruit.

Pesticides on vegetables and fruit and the risk of cancer In Canada

The vegetables and fruit you buy are regulated and monitored by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Less than 4% of all vegetables and fruit contain pesticide residue above Canada’s maximum limit. If laboratory tests indicate that action is required, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will investigate. If needed, they will recall the food from the market. The benefits of eating more vegetables and fruit far outweigh the risks from pesticides. Choose Organic vegetables and fruit often.

To clean your vegetables and fruit: Wash them well under clean, running tap water. Rinse packaged and prepared produce even it it’s marked pre-washed. Throw away outer leaves of cabbage, lettuce and other leafy vegetables. Scrub well and peel them. Unfortunately, peeling vegetables and fruit (such as potatoes and apples) may also reduce the amount of nutrients and fibre. More about pesticides on vegetables and fruit Even small changes to what you eat and how active you are can make a difference to your risk of cancer. A healthy body weight will mean different things to different people – healthy bodies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.  For more information check out www.cancer.ca