Real data. Big numbers. Same guidance. Eat healthy and exercise. If you do that there is 12 percent reduction in your overall cancer risk. A 14 percent drop in breast cancer risk and a 12 percent drop in prostate cancer risk.
To say it again, what you eat and drink overall, and how much you exercise is more important than any one category in which you indulge (i.e chocolate or red meat).
Read MoreTo understand how the recommendations affected individual cancer risk, Touvier and her team collected information from over 41,000 volunteers in France about their diet, exercise and weight over an eight year period.
They found that the recommendation for a healthy lifestyle may actually have a bigger impact than is obvious. For example, fruits and vegetables contain chemicals caused antioxidants that could help negate the effects of oxidative damage caused by red or processed meat, says Touvier. Similarly, physical activity can help maintain a normal weight and, therefore help counterbalance the consumption of energy dense foods. This emphasizes the role of an overall healthy lifestyle, she says.
But none of this is really new, according to Dr. Elizabeth Comen, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and medical advisor to SurvivorNet. "There will never be a study that says, 'Hey, you know what, if you eat fast food every day you're going to reduce your risk of cancer,'" she says.
The new study simply proves that what we knew about healthy eating, exercise and weight is definitely true in terms of how these factors affect cancer risk. "What that means for you as an individual is important to talk about with your doctor," Comen says. Together, you can figure how to incorporate what we know is right into your own individual lifestyle, she says.
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