10 Simple Ways to Prevent Colon Cancer

It is important for you to understand that you can prevent colorectal or colon cancer if you are able to do the things that you would do to prevent a heat attack. Colon cancer is he third largest disease to hit mankind and it is seen to be more common in men than women. But, there is nothing to worry about as it has been found out that this dreaded disease can be prevented by keeping a tag on what you eat, how of physical activity that you  do and the amount that you weigh. Researchers have found out that more than 45 percent of the colon cancers can be prevented by staying healthy, being active physically and of course eating a healthy diet. So, all that you need to do to prevent heart attack is more than enough to prevent colon cancer. It is not that easy for a person to shift to healthier habits just like that. But, it is highly important for you to understand that maintaining a healthy body by eating good and healthy food along with a good exercise regime is the perfect success formula that will help to prevent you from colon cancer attacks.

It is highly important for you to make the necessary lifestyle changes in order to reduce the risk of capturing colon cancer. The following are the steps that you need to follow to stay healthy and free from colon cancer.

1. Stop Smoking

You are aware that smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer and heart attacks. But, little did you know that it also causes colon cancer.

What Studies Reveal?

• 17% of the smokers are likely to get affected by colon cancer. It is high time that you thought of quitting smoking especially if you have attained 40 years of age.
• The percentage of smokers above the age of 40 years to catch the dreaded colon cancer increases by about 30% to 50%.

2. Never Consume Red Meat

It has been researched that eating large amounts of red meat has a direct effect on your intestines. Red meat consumption in large quantities has been linked to higher risk of colon cancer in men as well as women.

What To Avoid?

• It is ideal for you to totally avoid processed, smoked, cured or salted red meat completely to prevent colon cancer.
• If you cannot live without eating red meat, then limit your red meat consumption to just a couple of 4 ounce portions every week.
• It is important for you to make sure that you do not char the meat on a grill and try to go for lean and trim red meat.

3. Reduce Belly Fat

Obesity is one of the main reasons for men to suffer from colon cancer and abdominal obesity or belly fat is the major contributor to the risk of a person catching colon cancer.

Initial Steps To Take:

• It is important for you to consume everything in portion size. Also, you must know the amount of calories that each food has.
• It is ideal for you to limit high calorie foods like juice, nuts, meats and cheese to very small servings.
• Reduce the intake of desserts and sweets to just two ties a week and that too in very small portions.

4. Regular Exercising

If you are really interested in reducing the risk of colon cancer, then it is time to get moving. If you have led a sedentary lifestyle all these years, it is time for you to do regular exercises to cut the cancer polyps and colon cancer risk considerably.

What To Do?

• It is important for you to do moderate to vigorous activity for a minimum of 30 minutes at least five days a week to stay healthy.
• It is recommended that you increase the exercise activity to 45 minutes every day after a month or so in order to reduce the risk of catching colon cancer to a greater extent.
• It is ideal for you to maintain a healthy body weight through exercise and healthy diet.
• Increase the amount of exercise and reduce the amount of calories that you take in every day to safely reduce your weight and to stay healthy.

5. Eat Plenty Of Fruits And Vegetables

It is highly important for you to increase the intake of raw vegetables and fruits in your daily diet and to reduce the amount of cooked food to help maintain body weight. This will also help in preventing the risk of colon cancer.

Vegetables And Fruits To Eat:

• Whole grains and fiber rich raw vegetables like beans, spinach, mushrooms carrots, artichokes, ginger must be part of your daily diet and you need to consume at least two to three servings every day to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
• You can also substitute one serving of vegetables with a serving of fibrous fruits like guava, orange, black raspberries and so on to prevent colon cancer.
• Four to five serving of a variety of fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and few nuts will surely play a big part in preventing colon cancer.

6. Curb On Drinking Alcohol

Heavy drinking is one of the main reasons for people to increase the risk of colon cancer. It is not a good sign to drink two to three drinks every day as research has shown that such people have a 21 % chance of getting affected by colon cancer than people who drink occasionally. Drinking heavily will tend to lower the levels of folic acid in your body that is a vitamin that will protect against cancer.

• It is ideal that you stick to one or two drinks a day to reduce the risk of catching colon cancer if you cannot do away with the habit of drinking alcohol.
• Limiting to just one drink a day would be the most ideal option.

7. Use More Garlic

It is ideal for you to increase the amount of garlic in your food as it is an effective anti- oxidant that will help in reducing the risk of colon cancer.

What To Do?

• Add a lot of chopped garlic to every food that you cook.
• You need to chop the garlic into small pieces and then keep it aside for 10 to 15 minutes for activating the health promoting ingredients in the garlic. You can add the chopped garlic to your food after 10 minutes.
• Eating three to four cloves of raw garlic everyday will also keep the colon cancer at bay.

8. Take Aspirin

Sometimes you might need certain medications to reduce the risk of colon cancer and polyps. Taking anti inflammatory drugs like aspirin will help to cut the risk of colon cancer. But, regular use can also cause certain side effects. If you are advised by doctors to use aspirin every day for preventing coronary artery disease, then it would also serve you in colon cancer prevention.

9. Green Tea

Green tea is found to be really effective in preventing colon cancer. Studies have shown that people who regularly consumed green tea had lower incidence of colon cancer.

Drinking Tips:

• If you have the habit of drinking three to four cups of coffee every day, then it would be ideal for you to replace three cups of coffee with organic green tea.
• Sipping two cups of hot green tea every day will help in preventing colon cancer effectively.

10. Increase Calcium And Vitamin D

It is important for you to maintain an adequate amount of calcium and vitamin D needed by your body to prevent colon cancer.

• It is recommended to consume 1000 mg of calcium everyday by women between the age group 19 and 50 years and by men between the age group 19 and 70 years.
• For women over 50 years of age, it is ideal that they consume 1200 mg of calcium every day.
• Apart from this, you need to take 600 international units of Vitamin D every day for both men and women until the age of 70 years.

Sticking on to a diet that is rich in raw vegetables, fruits, nuts and fibrous food along with 30 to 45 minutes of moderate to intense exercise routine will help you to not just take good care of your heart health but will also help in preventing colon cancer.