Regular exercise, as you have heard a hundred times before, can be a game-changer for your health. It brings a range of benefits to your body, including lowering your chances of developing cancer. So, exercise and cancer prevention is a real thing.
According to the American Cancer Society, being physically active can decrease your risk of several types of cancer, such as colon, breast and prostate cancer. So as you can see, it’s important to include exercise in your life!
Exercise and Cancer Prevention
Engaging in activity plays a significant role, in warding off cancer. By staying active you can manage your weight effectively enhance your immune system and lower inflammation levels. Physical exercise is also beneficial for maintaining hormone levels and promoting health and wellness.
It’s not just about appearance; it’s about prioritizing your health and minimizing the chances of developing cancer. Establishing a consistent exercise routine today can have an impact on your well being. Lets delve into the importance of exercise, in preventing cancer.
Keeping a healthy weight lowers your risk of 13 different cancer types. This includes two of the most common types of cancer (breast and bowel) and three of the hardest to treat cancers (pancreatic, oesophageal and gallbladder).
Cancer Research
How Regular Exercise Prevents Cancer
Let’s get a little deeper into some reasons that regular exercise works to lower your cancer risk, in particular.
Helps You To Control and Maintain a Healthy Weight
Exercise can help you manage your weight and keep it at a healthy level. Being overweight or obese is among the leading risk factors for developing cancer. So you may need to lose weight with a meal plan for cancer fighting and start exercising. When you exercise, your body burns more calories for energy. To help your body even further, lower your calorie intake too. Less calories ingested means less calories to burn.
Helps To Regulate Your Hormones
Hormonal imbalances are also a risk factor for cancer because they can encourage your cells to divide and multiply. For example, if you have high levels of estrogen and progesterone, breast cells might divide more often, increasing your risk of breast cancer. Exercise and cancer prevention includes physical activityies that can help regulate your hormones by influencing various hormonal systems in your body.
Helps To Support Your Immune System
Being physically active can help your immune system work optimally to prevent stress and cancer. Exercise triggers the release of certain chemicals and the production of cells that strengthen your body’s immune response. This means your body is better equipped to detect and deal with cells that can become tumors and cancer.
Helps To Improve Your Digestion
Regular exercise stimulates your digestive system and flushes out toxins faster, so that helps to keep your colon healthy. When you exercise, it improves your bowel movements as it strengthens your digestive muscles to expel waste more effectively. Too much sitting can clog your system up, so make sure you get moving so everything internally can too and keep a healthy gut!
Exercise also increases blood flow to the digestive system, which helps to maintain a balanced gut microbiome, and activates digestive enzymes to avoid constipation.
How Much Exercise Do You Need for Cancer Prevention
There’s no cancer-specific exercise prescription because your need for physical activity depends on your current health and what you want to achieve. In general, it is recommended that you do at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activities, at least five days per week.
The best physical activities are those that you enjoy and can fit into your routine so they won’t feel like a chore. You can try different exercises to find what suits you best or do a variety to make your exercise routines more interesting. If you hate exercising, at least go for a walk every day!
How to Start and Stay Physically Active Every Day
To get started you have to change your mindset about exercise. Many people don’t exercise because they think it’s tiring or hard to do. You have to see it as an opportunity to change your health for the better rather than an inconvenience that you want to avoid.
To incorporate exercise into your daily routine, why not walk or cycle to where you have to go, when you can, instead of taking your car? Instead of using the elevator, take the stairs.
You can also do simple things like your own gardening and housework.
You just have to start doing something. If your life is a sedentary one, then change that type of lifestyle right now! If not, how can you keep your health healthy and prevent illness and disease? Don’t forget to celebrate your progress, with each and every step that you take.
In Summary
Exercise and cancer prevention is often overlooked, but it is a well-known fact that regular exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s just as true that exercise can help lower your risk of cancer and a wide range of other benefits to your body. Start small and work your way up to a more active lifestyle and with consistency and patience, you can make exercise a part of your daily routine and enjoy a healthier, cancer-free life.