To reduce the risk of relapse, cancer survivors must adopt an optimally balanced lifestyle combining healthy eating and regular exercise. In its latest report, the World Cancer Research Fund listed 8 recommendations:
- Keep your weight low within the healthy range, i.e. a body mass index ranging from 21 to 23.
- Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day. Regular exercise positively impacts your general health, while reducing fatigue, anxiety and depression that often afflicts cancer survivors.
- Avoid soft drinks and high-energy foods with high concentrations of sugar and fat (fast food).
- Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole-grain foods. We recommend 5 to 10 portions of fruit and vegetables, specifically those containing high concentrations of anticancer molecules (cauliflower and garlic, berries, green tea, turmeric, red wine, algae, mushrooms, probiotics). These foods could play a key role in secondary prevention by interfering with the growth of tumors that survived the cancer treatment.
- Cut down on red meat (beef, lamb, pork) by reducing your intake to 500 g per week and replace them with fish (ideally omega-3 rich fatty fish), eggs or plant proteins. In addition, completely eliminate deli foods because they significantly increase the risk of cancer.
- As for alcohol, opt for red wine and limit your consumption to 2 glasses for men and 1 glass for women.
- Limit your intake of products preserved in salt (cured fish for example) as well as foods with high salt content.
- Do not ingest supplements or other natural products to prevent cancer relapse.