f you ask people what their #1 health fear is, about 40% will state that it’s cancer. Although heart disease affects many more people than cancer does, cancer seems much scarier and more uncontrollable to most people. The American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) understands our fears and has recently published a report by an expert panel of health researchers to let us know that many risk factors for cancer are in fact under our control. They published eight recommendations that we can incorporate into our lifestyles to help us reduce our cancer risk:

1. Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight.

   This is the panel’s first recommendation because it is also the most important thing we can do to reduce our cancer risk. Excess body fat is a risk factor for six types of cancer: breast, colon, kidney, pancreatic, esophageal and uterine. Losing weight can reduce those risks, but preventing weight gain and waist size expansion are extremely important for warding off cancer. Excess fat around the waist causes low-grade inflammation, which can promote the development of cancer. Even if you can’t lose weight, you can and should stop weight gain by incorporating some of the next few recommendations into your lifestyle.
   
   

2. Be physically active as part of everyday life.

   The panel recommends that we be active for at least 30 minutes each day. Being sedentary (aka a “desk jockey” or a “couch potato”) is a risk factor for cancer, but regular physical activity can lower that risk. Moderate to vigorous exercise is what is most strongly recommended for cancer prevention. That means 30 to 60 minutes of dedicated activity. Your everyday activities, though they may be brisk, do not count toward that time goal. As opposed to food, more is better when it comes to exercise. Moderate exercise options include golfing, walking, dancing, skating, and bike riding, while more vigorous options are running or jogging, aerobics, racquetball, soccer, swimming and weight training. Whichever level you choose, you still need to do at least 30 minutes each day. If you are currently sedentary, talk to your doctor before beginning an exercise program of any type or level.
   
   

3. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods and sugary beverages.

   Energy-dense foods are foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients—it’s a polite way of describing junk food. Examples of energy-dense foods include cookies, chips, deep-fried foods, fast food, most snack foods and soft drinks. Highly processed foods promote weight gain (a significant risk for cancer) by providing lots of unsatisfying empty calories that displace other healthful foods in our diet. Junk foods are often loaded with sugar, which fuels the growth of certain types of tumors, and they are also low in cancer-fighting fiber. Cutting out soft drinks and sweetened beverages is a good place to start making changes. After that, start replacing your junk food with more nutritious, less processed foods. Check out my Master Shopping List at your local Gelson’s for my recommendations.
   
   

4. Eat mostly foods of plant origin.

   People who eat a mostly plant-based diet that is high in vegetables, fruit, legumes/beans and whole grains have a lower risk for certain cancers. The panel recommends that at least two-thirds of every meal be composed of plant-based foods. These foods are nutrient-dense and have very few calories, so they contribute to a healthier weight. Plant foods are rich in fiber and antioxidants that are important in the fight against cancer. Try to eat at least five servings of non-starchy vegetables and fruit a day, replace animal proteins with plant proteins from beans and legumes and replace processed grains with intact whole grains or starchy vegetables.
   
   

5. Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat.

   A plant-based diet is also recommended for cancer prevention because of the association between meat consumption and cancer risk. The frequent consumption of red meat (beef, pork and lamb) and processed meats (such as smoked, salted, chemically preserved or nitrite-containing sandwich meat, including ham, turkey and chicken) has been shown to increase the risk of stomach, colon and rectal cancers. Cooking red meat over high heat and charring the outside also raise their carcinogenicity. The panel set a generous limit on red meat consumption at 11 ounces a week, noting that every 1.7 ounces above that limit raises cancer risk by 15%. There is no safe level of processed meat, though. Each 1.7 ounces consumed raises cancer risk by 21%, so eating one turkey sandwich a week could raise your cancer risk by 42%.
   
   

6. Limit alcoholic drinks.

   Even small amounts of any type of alcohol raise cancer risk, but the panel stopped short of recommending that we avoid it. Instead, they limit it to one drink a day for women and two for men since alcohol gives some modest protection against heart disease. Alcohol does not just increase liver cancer risk; it also increases susceptibility to cancers of the breast and digestive tract, including the mouth.
   
   

7. Limit consumption of salt and avoid moldy grains and legumes.

   Salt, salted foods and processed foods preserved with salt are linked to stomach cancer. Limit your salt intake to no more than 2,400 milligrams a day, but a 2,000 milligram limit is preferable. Moldy grains and legumes contain toxins that cause liver cancer, so be picky when eating peanuts and other grains imported from tropical countries.
   
   

8. Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone.

   Our goal should be to eat a nutritionally adequate diet. Taking dietary supplements that isolate what we believe to be the protective phytonutrients and vitamins from fruit, vegetables, grains and legumes are unlikely to offer any cancer protection because of the unique packaging of fiber and nutrients that naturally exist in plants and because it is not totally clear which nutrients are the important ones. Furthermore, high doses of isolated nutrient supplements can have the unintended effect of causing cancer. Forget about those broccoli pills—your best bet for optimal health and disease prevention is to eat between seven and 11 servings of produce daily.

If you find that you have several risk factors for cancer, I hope that this will motivate you to make some positive changes since your risk is not set in stone—you can change your risk by making healthful modifications to your lifestyle. Even if your cancer risk is low, all of these recommendations form the basis of a healthful eating and lifestyle plan. Regardless of your risk, I hope that now your fears about cancer have been replaced with awareness of the things you can do to better protect your health.