Plenty of fruit and vegetables are vital for cancer survivors

Exercise, Eat Healthily, And Maintain Ideal Bodyweight

A cancer survivor who want to minimize their risk of that cancer recurring, or another cancer developing, should eat a healthy diet, do plenty of exercise, and maintain a healthy body weight, says the American Cancer Society in its new guidelines. 

The more overweight a cancer survivor is, the higher is his/her risk of recurrence. The proportion of patients who are overweight on the day of their cancer diagnosis is much higher than in the rest of the population.

For those diagnosed with cancer, as well as patients who survive the disease, maintaining a healthy body weight is crucial.

Maintain a healthy weight by:

~  Controlling your calorie intake. This means being careful with high-calorie foods

~ Consuming fewer high-sugar or high-fat drinks

~ Consuming plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and fiber

~ Must be are physically active -> Regular physical activity

Several studies and peer-reviewed articles in academic journals have demonstrated that regular physical activity has a considerable impact on the cancer survivors' quality of life.

More recently, studies have shown that being physically active after being diagnosed with cancer lowers the risk of the disease coming back when the cancer has gone. Studies on patients with ovarian, prostate, colon and breast cancer have convincingly proven this.

Diet :

>  Plenty of fruit, vegetables (and wholegrains) are vital for cancer survivors

Some studies have shown that people who eat lots of fruit and veggies, plus whole grains, have better survival rates after diagnosis.

Similar to what we've seen for cancer prevention, it looks like it's the overall dietary pattern that is important for cancer survivorship -it's not one food, or even one food group, that makes the difference. It's likely the combination of many different nutrients coming from many different foods, working together, that offers the best protection.

According to the studies, cancer survivors should make sure that their diet is:

> High in whole grains, vegetables and fruit

> Has a higher proportion of fish and poultry than red or processed meats, when considering animal-sourced proteins

> Dairy fat choices should be low-fat ones, rather than high-fat

> Butter and trans fats should be replaced by nuts and olive oil