Prior to starting graduate school, I never thought much about cancer. Sure, I had a broad idea of what it was and have heard
stories about how invasive medical treatment could be, but I always thought cancer was just a disease that some people were genetically predisposed to. Come to find out, genetics only attributes to a fraction of cancer diagnoses. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society, one-third of the 572,000 cancer deaths that occur in the U.S. each year are attributed to poor lifestyle habits, more specifically lack of a proper diet and physical activity.
In other words, being overweight and eating unhealthy foods is the cause of over 190,000 cancer deaths each year.
To me, this is astounding. Not only does your diet and amount of time you spend moving affect things like weight and heart health, but also has a dramatic impact on the prevention of cancer. Every five years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) publishes guidelines to help Americans facilitate healthy behaviors in the hopes of preventing cancer, and as your healthy friend, it’s only right that I pass some of the main points on to you. If you’d like to read the guidelines in it’s entirety, click here. Continue reading
My Healthy Friend 