New Guidelines Link Lifestyle to Cancer Survival

In a new release, the American Cancer Society linked healthy lifestyle to increase in chances of cancer survival. The features of healthy lifestyle include eating right, maintaining healthy weight and regular exercise. Although the role of healthy lifestyle and nutrition was never in doubt to be helpful in chances of cancer survival, American Cancer Society was yet to release formal guidelines for cancer survivors.

The main feature of the guidelines is that having diet that mostly includes foods based on plant sources, regular exercise and preventing obesity goes a long way in lowering the risk of cancer recurrence. Some of the specific findings of the guidelines pertain to limiting the intake of red and processed meat. A variety of cancers were studied and it was found that progression of cancer, risk of recurrence and the overall rate of survival improves if the survivor reduces the intake of red meat.

Some other specific findings of cancer survival research include:

• Studies pertaining to breast cancer patients have revealed that the survivors if they take a diet which includes vegetables, fruits whole grains, fish and poultry.
• Apart from processed and red meat, avoiding refined grains, sugar and full-cream dairy that has high fat content also helps to prevent cancer recurrence.
• After treatment of breast, ovarian, prostate and colorectal cancers, regular exercise was found to be linked to improved survival with a lowered recurrence risk.
• The cancer patients were encouraged to do exercise in the newly released guidelines. It was stated that with moderate exercise during treatment of cancer, fatigue, anxiety, self-esteem, heart health and muscle strength improve.
• The guidelines stated that cancer survivors should get their nutrition from foods instead of supplements as the latter can harm them than do any good. Following the treatment of cancer, it is not advisable to take supplements as some of them may render the treatment ineffective.