From breast to bowel, scientists find you can slash your risk of 14 types of cancer by up to 30% just by adhering to seven key lifestyle goals

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Striking new research has revealed the seven crucial habits that lower the risk of developing cancer by up to 30 per cent. 

Eating 400g of wholegrains, fruit, vegetables and beans per day are among the lifestyle choices, as well as keeping a healthy BMI.

Also on the list are limiting fast food, red and processed meat and alcohol.

Closely following this advice was linked to a 30 per cent drop in gallbladder cancer risk, according to a Newcastle University study of more than 90,000 Brits.

Meanwhile liver and ovarian cancer rates drop by more than a fifth, results suggest.

Following a healthy diet, being physically active and having a healthy weight were among the key recommendations. Each one-point increase in adherence score was associated with a 10 percent lower risk of breast cancer, a 10 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer, an 18 percent lower risk of kidney cancer, a 16 percent lower risk of oesophageal cancer, a 22 percent lower risk of liver cancer, a 24 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer, and a 30 percent lower risk of gallbladder cancer (shown in graphic)

The study was conducted to examine whether seven recommendations set by The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) in 2018 were effective for reducing cancer risk.

The factors included being physically active for 10 hours a week, eating less than 500g of processed meat per week and cutting out alcohol or limiting it to less than 14 units per week — around six pints of beer or 10 small glasses of wine. 

Researchers tested the guidance on 94,778 Brits, aged 56, on average.

They used self-reported health data, including on diet, exercise, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.

Each participant was scored on their adherence to the recommendations out of seven.

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They also used cancer registry data to track cancer diagnoses during the eight-year study period.

They controlled for age, sex, socioeconomic deprivation, ethnicity and smoking status in their analyses. 

On average, participants scored 3.8 out of seven for adherence to the advice and 7,296 participants (eight per cent) developed cancer during the study.

Analysis revealed that greater adherence to the habits led to a lower cancer risk.

For every recommendation that patients stuck to, they lowered their cancer risk by seven percent.

They also found that each one-point increase in adherence score was associated with a 10 percent lower risk of breast cancer, a 10 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer, an 18 percent lower risk of kidney cancer, a 16 percent lower risk of oesophageal cancer, a 22 percent lower risk of liver cancer, a 24 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer, and a 30 percent lower risk of gallbladder cancer. 

People with a score of 4.5 or more had a 16 percent lower risk of all cancers combined, compared to those with an adherence score of 3.5 points or less.

However, those who most closely followed the advice saw their risk increase for some cancers, including head and neck tumours.

The researchers said the explanation behind this finding is ‘not immediately obvious’ but that head and neck cancer cases may not be caused by lifestyle factors

Meanwhile, fast food is associated with cancer because eating it in large amounts makes you more likely to overweight. Excess weight can trigger a host of hormonal changes that can cause tumours to grow. 

Red and processed meat contains compounds such as heme and nitrates, which when broken down in the body, forms compounds that can damage the cells lining the bowel, increasing the likelihood of cancer developing.

As for alcohol: it breaks down into a chemical called acetaldehyde, which can spark DNA damage that is linked to a host of cancers. 

The researchers highlighted that because their study is observational, they do not know for certain that the lower cancer risk was caused by adherence to the seven recommendations.

The findings were published in the journal BMC Medicine.

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