Reduce your risk of colon cancer

Below you can read various tips to reduce the risk of colon cancer as much as possible. Some of the advice has to do with lifestyle, others with nutrition.

• move enough
  Exercise is good for you for many reasons. It relaxes, it is good for your weight and for your bowel function. And a good weight and good bowel function reduce the risk of colon cancer. Therefore, try to exercise for at least half an hour on at least five days a week.
• Do not smoke
  Smoking is by far the most important risk factor for cancer, especially lung cancer. Smokers also have a higher risk of colon cancer. So many reasons to quit smoking.
• Check yourself

  Part of a healthy lifestyle is also keeping an eye on yourself. Do you have complaints that may indicate (bowel) cancer? Then consult your doctor.

• Eat healthy and varied

  Healthy and varied food is good for your health for many reasons. You can also reduce the chances of some forms of cancer. Scientists are not yet completely sure what the precise role is of, for example, a lot of fruit and vegetables and a lot of fiber on colon cancer. It is true that fruit and vegetables are good for reducing the chances of other forms of cancer (such as stomach cancer and lung cancer). There are also many indications that a fiber-rich diet reduces the risk of colon cancer. Some studies have clearer and more convincing results than others.

• Be moderate with red meat

  Red meat, i.e. beef, lamb, goat and pork, is often associated with colon cancer. Yet there are only indications that eating these meats frequently increases the risk of colon cancer. But even those indications are enough on their own to be moderate in eating red meat. Switch it up with other meats or fish.

• Be moderate with nitrite-rich vegetables

  Complicated story: the substance nitrate from some vegetables is converted into another substance: nitrite when preparing or eating vegetables. This substance could be carcinogenic in the body. ‘Should’, because here too the scientists are not in agreement. As a precaution, you should not eat nitrate-rich vegetables more than twice a week. Nitrate-rich vegetables include endive, beetroot, Swiss chard, celery, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, bok choy, purslane, turnip greens, watercress, all kinds of lettuce, spinach, pointed cabbage and fennel.

• Be moderate with alcohol

  Alcohol consumption increases the chances of many cancers, including colon cancer. So be moderate with alcohol. What is moderate alcohol consumption? A maximum of one glass per day for women and two for men.