Reduce cancer chances by making lifestyle changes

Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center now in Jacksonville

HOUSTON – Many of us are eating to lose or maintain our weight, but if you ask the health professionals at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, they say you should be eating to reduce your risk of getting cancer.

It's recommended to reduce your risk if cancer to eat 2.5 cups of vegetable and fruits a day, limit red meat and processed meats, limit salt, limit sugar and limit alcohol. 

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It's a different way of thinking and a much different way of eating. But if you can grab onto this concept, research shows that you can reduce your risk of getting cancer by one third.  

It's definitely a change if you're a meat lover, but the formula is simple and all you have to do is ask yourself a few questions before you eat.

We walked through one of 12 spots to get food at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with health educator Bonnie Nelson.
 
"The first thing I would think about when I come into a cafeteria or a setting where I have a lot of options is how can I make the best choice possible with the options that are here?  So I'm thinking proportions first. I want to make sure that I have more plants on my plate than animals. Specifically, I want to make sure I have two to one ratios," says Nelson.

The goal is to full two thirds of our plate with plant based foods, leaving a third for animal proteins.

"So we have this lovely salad bar here, so we're going to think about what are my plants and what are my animals? So we have greens, plants, pasta is a plant, right? It didn't come from an animal. OK, chicken is my animal. Tuna is my animal, and then we have all these really nice plants. Then we have cheese.  It's tricky.  It comes from an animal, so we just have to remember that's going to come from our animal protein," says Nelson.

Nelson pointed out that even though an animal-based food is healthy, it still has to fit in the formula. The formula can even allow for foods that you might not consider healthy.  

"People think pizza, they think it's unhealthy and I can't have that. First they tell us their pizzas are made on wheat dough, so I'm thinking vegetable, fruit, whole-grain, bean, seed or nut. That's that whole grain which is awesome.  Since I know that cheese is already an animal and I'm trying to get the most veggies in for the day, if I go for the grilled vegetable, I've got a vegetable, I've got a whole grain and I've got my animal protein right there in the one pizza," says Nelson.

The cheese accounts for less then one third, so this pizza is an OK choice.

But you still have to watch those non-meat options because excess weight puts you at risk for cancer as well.

"The most important thing you want to remember is you want to maintain a healthy weight, so that's going to kind of determine just how many desserts you can fit in. Also, what's your activity level like? What else have you had?  So if I'm coming here for lunch and I'm looking, I really want that chocolate pudding. I need to think about my week, think about other food choices that I've had," says Nelson.

Also watch the sugar.  Nelso points out that extra sugar, extra calories, extra fat equals an increased risk for a cancer diagnosis.

Nelson says it's all about planning.  There's not one food that's going to make us healthy. There's not one food that's not. Instead it's about what we're eating, how often and how much.

The MD Anderson Cancer Center has much more information on nutrition and cancer on its website.


About the Author:

Anchor on The Morning Show team and reporter specializing on health issues.