Top 5 Ways to Reduce Your Cancer Risk

Here's a list you'll want to check twice: Five ways to slash your risk of cancer.

Doing just one of the anticancer steps is better than nothing. But do all of them and you're cancer risk could drop by as much as 30 percent.

1. Don't smoke (a no-brainer).
2. Limit red meat, alcohol, fat, and salt.
3. Eat fruit, veggies, and whole grains -- lots of them!
4. Exercise regularly.
5. Watch your weight. (Check your body mass index here.)

Pick and Choose, Just Pick
Although there is no surefire way to prevent cancer, making healthy choices in your daily life may reduce your risk. If you don't feel capable of following all the anticancer guidelines, at least choose to do the ones you know you have a good shot of sticking to. You can add a few more later, once you've made some progress. Baby steps are fine. And they're waaaay better than doing nothing. (Here's another food that might help fend off cancer.)

Did You Know?
Myth or fact: Cancer is not contagious. Get the answer here.

Adherence to the AICR cancer prevention recommendations and subsequent morbidity and mortality in the Iowa Women's Health Study cohort. Cerhan, J. R., Potter, J. D., Gilmore, J. M., Janney, C. A., Kushi, L. H., Lazovich, D., Anderson, K. E., Sellers, T. A., Folsom, A. R., Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2004 Jul;13:1114-1120.