Is There Anything I Can Do to Lower My Risk of Colon Cancer?

Don't Buy Into the Myth That Colon Cancer Risk is Out of Your Control

True or False? There’s nothing I can do to lower my colon cancer risk.

There are plenty of things you can do to lower colon cancer risk. Health experts are beginning to unravel the connections between our everyday activities and our risk for many diseases, including colon cancer. Here are a few tips to get you started on a colon cancer risk-reduction plan right away:

• Move more. Regular physical activity is one of the best ways to lower colon cancer risk. Health experts note that regular exercise can reduce cancer risk by up to 40%, with the biggest benefits being seen for breast and colon cancers. All it takes is a walk. Regular, brisk walking is one of the best ways to reduce colon cancer risk. Even more exciting are new studies telling us that even after colon cancer, regular exercise may reduce the risk of recurrence (getting cancer again), by up to 50%.
• Eat low. Focus on foods that are low on the food chain. The closer a food is to its natural form, or what it looks like when it comes out of the ground or off the tree or vine, the more cancer preventive benefit it has. Stick to unprocessed items such as vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, whole grains, and beans (legumes), all of which are known cancer fighters.
• Go easy on the meat. Regular consumption of red meat, especially if it is cooked at high temperature, grilled, or charred, has been linked with increased risk of colon cancer. When the fat and protein in meat are heated to high temperature or char-grilled to black, this creates chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Heterocyclic amines (HCAs). PAHs and HCAs are carcinogenic, meaning they are known to cause cancer.
• Choose the right fats. Avoid processed items such as chips, crackers, cookies, donuts, pastries, and other convenience or fast foods. These contain trans fats, which have been linked to increased risk of colon adenomas, small growths in the colon that if left untreated, can develop into colorectal cancer. Instead go for healthy fats such as those found in fish, flaxseeds, walnuts and other nuts and seeds, avocados, and olive oil.
• Don't smoke. Most people think only of lung cancer when they consider the effects of smoking on cancer risk. But tobacco has negative effects on far more than just the lungs. Smokers have an increased risk of several other cancers as well, including colon and rectal cancers. If you smoke, quitting is one of the single most important things you can do to improve your health and reduce risk of many cancer types.

_{Kwak EL, Chung DC. Hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes: an overview. Clin Colorectal Cancer 2007 6:340-44.}

_{National Human Genome Research Institute. Learning About Colon Cancer. Accessed: January 25, 2009.
http://www.genome.gov/10000466}

_{Newton RU, Galvão DA. Exercise in prevention and management of cancer. Curr Treat Options Oncol 2008 9:135-46.}