New American Cancer Society Prevention Guidelines
- The American Cancer Society (ACS) now says adults should be spending 150-300 minutes per week doing moderate physical activity
- The ACS stresses that the closer to that 300-minutes per week mark people can get, the better
- New recommendations also urge Americans to seriously limit or stop eating red meats, sugary drinks and processed foods
For the first time since 2012, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its cancer prevention guidelines — and the new recommendations suggest that many of us may not be working out as often as we should be.
The guidelines are mostly related to maintaining a healthy body weight — stressing the importance of a nutritious diet and physical activity, as well as limiting alcohol intake. However, this time around, the ACS has seriously upped the number of minutes adults should spend working out each week.
RELATED: Sugar Doesn’t Cause Cancer, But it May Help Cancer Cells to Grow
Previous recommendations said adults should aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity in per week. New recommendations say adults should actually shoot for between 150 and 300 minutes of moderate activity and 75-150 minutes of vigorous activity, noting that exceeding that 300 minute mark for moderate activity is actually ideal.
“The role of physical activity in cancer prevention is supported by accumulating biological evidence,” study authors wrote in the new research published alongside the recommendations. “Physical activity has been shown to affect various systemic functions that would purportedly lower the risk of specific types of cancer, including its effects on insulin/glucose metabolism, immune function, inflammation, sex hormones, oxidative stress, genomic instability, and myokines.”
What is Moderate Physical Activity?
While study authors were clear that more physical activity is better, they weren’t really specific about what kind of activity people should be engaging in.
What can be classified as a moderate physical activity may vary from person to person depending on fitness level. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies the following activities as moderate:
- Brisk walking
- Dancing
- Some housework/chores
- Physical games
- Walking animals
- General building tasks
For people who are more interested in shorter bursts of vigorous activity, the following would meet those standards:
- Running
- Walking/climbing up-hill
- Cycling quickly
- Aerobics
- Swimming quickly
- Competitive sports
What Are the Other Prevention Guidelines?
In addition to increasing the amount of time adults should be exercising, ACS also made some changes to their dietary recommendations.
New guidelines emphasize getting a variety of fruits and vegetables in every day — including dark green, red and orange vegetables, whole fruits and whole grains. Red and processed meats, sugary drinks and processed foods should all be avoided or consumed on very rare occasions.
New recommendations regarding alcohol state flat out that it’s best to NOT drink alcohol at all to lower your cancer risk. However, if you are going to drink, limit intake to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.
RELATED: The Data on Alcohol & Colon Cancer is Mixed
“Alcohol consumption is the third major modifiable cancer risk factor after tobacco use and excess body weight,” study authors note. “A standard drink of alcohol is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80‐proof distilled spirits, which contain approximately 14 grams of ethanol, the primary form of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages.”
The experts SurvivorNet has consulted about the alcohol question mimic the same responses. Binge drinking isn’t good for anybody, Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous conversation about drinking and breast cancer risk in particular.
Dr. Elizabeth Comen explains the link between alcohol and breast cancer risk.
“If you want to have absolutely no risk from alcohol, then don’t drink at all,” Dr. Comen said. “But having less than four glasses a week of alcohol is probably OK. I would feel comfortable with that. I think we’re learning every day about what the contribution of alcohol may be to cancer — and while we know that a lot isn’t good, I don’t necessarily tell patients, you can’t ever drink.”
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
New American Cancer Society Prevention Guidelines
- The American Cancer Society (ACS) now says adults should be spending 150-300 minutes per week doing moderate physical activity
- The ACS stresses that the closer to that 300-minutes per week mark people can get, the better
- New recommendations also urge Americans to seriously limit or stop eating red meats, sugary drinks and processed foods
For the first time since 2012, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its cancer prevention guidelines — and the
new recommendations suggest that many of us may not be working out as often as we should be.
The guidelines are mostly related to maintaining a healthy body weight — stressing the importance of a nutritious diet and physical activity, as well as limiting alcohol intake. However, this time around, the ACS has seriously upped the number of minutes adults should spend working out each week.
Read More
RELATED: Sugar Doesn’t Cause Cancer, But it May Help Cancer Cells to Grow
Previous recommendations said adults should aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity in per week. New recommendations say adults should actually shoot for between 150 and 300 minutes of moderate activity and 75-150 minutes of vigorous activity, noting that exceeding that 300 minute mark for moderate activity is actually ideal.
“The role of physical activity in cancer prevention is supported by accumulating biological evidence,” study authors wrote in the new research published alongside the recommendations. “Physical activity has been shown to affect various systemic functions that would purportedly lower the risk of specific types of cancer, including its effects on insulin/glucose metabolism, immune function, inflammation, sex hormones, oxidative stress, genomic instability, and myokines.”
What is Moderate Physical Activity?
While study authors were clear that more physical activity is better, they weren’t really specific about what kind of activity people should be engaging in.
What can be classified as a moderate physical activity may vary from person to person depending on fitness level. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies the following activities as moderate:
- Brisk walking
- Dancing
- Some housework/chores
- Physical games
- Walking animals
- General building tasks
For people who are more interested in shorter bursts of vigorous activity, the following would meet those standards:
- Running
- Walking/climbing up-hill
- Cycling quickly
- Aerobics
- Swimming quickly
- Competitive sports
What Are the Other Prevention Guidelines?
In addition to increasing the amount of time adults should be exercising, ACS also made some changes to their dietary recommendations.
New guidelines emphasize getting a variety of fruits and vegetables in every day — including dark green, red and orange vegetables, whole fruits and whole grains. Red and processed meats, sugary drinks and processed foods should all be avoided or consumed on very rare occasions.
New recommendations regarding alcohol state flat out that it’s best to NOT drink alcohol at all to lower your cancer risk. However, if you are going to drink, limit intake to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.
RELATED: The Data on Alcohol & Colon Cancer is Mixed
“Alcohol consumption is the third major modifiable cancer risk factor after tobacco use and excess body weight,” study authors note. “A standard drink of alcohol is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80‐proof distilled spirits, which contain approximately 14 grams of ethanol, the primary form of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages.”
The experts SurvivorNet has consulted about the alcohol question mimic the same responses. Binge drinking isn’t good for anybody, Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous conversation about drinking and breast cancer risk in particular.
Dr. Elizabeth Comen explains the link between alcohol and breast cancer risk.
“If you want to have absolutely no risk from alcohol, then don’t drink at all,” Dr. Comen said. “But having less than four glasses a week of alcohol is probably OK. I would feel comfortable with that. I think we’re learning every day about what the contribution of alcohol may be to cancer — and while we know that a lot isn’t good, I don’t necessarily tell patients, you can’t ever drink.”
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
