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Making Good Choices for Good Health

Living a healthy, active lifestyle is probably the most important thing you can do for yourself. The choices you make — eating a well-balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising — will pay off in so many ways. Research has shown that the same healthy choices you make for your overall health can help reduce your risk of cancer.

Physical Activity
The first part of healthy living involves the energy you release from your body. Physical activity not only burns energy (calories), but can also help lower the risk of certain types of cancer. Here is all it takes to get started:

• If you have been inactive for a long time, are overweight, have
a high risk of heart disease or some other chronic health condition, see your doctor before starting an exercise program.

• Build physical activity into your daily routine. All you need is moderate (where you break a sweat) activity — like brisk walking for 30 minutes a day.

• Do whatever physical activity you enjoy most and gets you moving.

• After exercising, think about how good you feel about yourself and your body. Use that feeling as motivation for your next time out.

• If you are already physically active, keep up the good work. Physical activity may help lower your risk of breast cancer. This is because exercise lowers estrogen levels, fights obesity, lowers insulin levels and boosts the function of immune system cells that attack tumors.

Nutrition
What is the single most important reason to eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet? It’s simply good for you. Healthy eating can improve your overall health in addition to helping your body’s ability to fight off cancer. Here is a look at what a healthy and well-balanced
diet consists of:

• Fruits and vegetables. Strive to eat at least five servings per day.

• Whole grains and cereals. Whenever possible, choose whole grain breads, cereals, pastas and snacks.

• Fewer high-fat foods and sweets.

• A daily multivitamin with folate.

• Plenty of calcium. Aim for 1,000 mg each day. You can get it from lowfat milk or yogurt, fortified fruit juices, spinach, lowfat cheese, kale or calcium tablets.

Alcohol
The next part of healthy living is limiting alcohol intake. You may have heard about research studies which have showed that drinking one serving of alcohol (for example, a glass of wine) each day improves your health by reducing your risk of a heart attack. This is true, but many studies have also shown high levels of alcohol intake increase the risk of breast cancer. The key is moderation - less than one drink a day. In general, the more alcohol you consume, the higher your risk of developing breast cancer.

Weight Control
Maintaining a healthy weight will help keep you fit and feeling good, and can also help reduce your risk of cancer.

• Gaining weight after menopause increases a woman’s risk for breast cancer.

• Weight gain of 20 or more pounds after the age of 18 may increase your risk of breast cancer.

Smoking
If you don’t smoke cigarettes, don’t start. You have done your body a world of good by avoiding tobacco. If you do smoke, ask your doctor for help in quitting. Smoking has been linked to higher risks of many types of cancer. There are health benefits from quitting at any age! After five years of being smoke-free, the risk of developing diseases as a result of having smoked decreases.

Emotional Health
Keeping your body free from disease is a big part of healthy living, but it is also important to keep a healthy attitude. Here are some ways to help maintain your emotional health:

• Do things that make you happy and bring balance to your life. Pay attention to yourself and your needs. Go to the library and pick out a novel. Take a walk in the park. Have coffee with a friend.

• Have faith in yourself. Many things can help you be healthier and feel better about yourself. Learning to get in touch with the spiritual part of you through meditation or prayer may help you gain inner peace — in spite of what is going on in your life.

Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet.

Limit your intake of alcohol.

Maintain a healthy weight.

Do things that make you happy and bring balance to your life.

Source: Susan G. Komen for the Cure.®