The increasing incidence of cancer in today’s society is partly explained by the aging of the population, but also by a set of habits that increase the risk of suffering from this disease. Smoking is the most obvious, since the relationship between smoking and developing malignant tumors has been extensively documented in recent decades, but would we be able to identify which types of cancer have to do with lifestyle? Apart from lung cancer, what other tumors increase with smoking? Could we list the seven types of cancer preventable with an active life? To resolve these and other questions, Dr. Emilia Gómez Pardo, a doctor in biochemistry and molecular biology and scientific adviser to the CRIS Cancer Foundation, has written an entertaining and rigorous book on how to lead a healthy onco-healthy life.
In “More Life, Less Cancer” (Arpa editorial), the author focuses on the prevention of this disease that affects one in three people and raises five cancer-healthy premises: balanced diet, weight loss, regular physical exercise, quitting to smoke and eliminate alcohol. The five are known, but it is very difficult for her to fulfill them. And rarely has their incidence in cancer and why we should respect them been explained so clearly. After a research career at the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the Fundación Genoma in Spain, these are the five keys to leading an onco-healthy life according to Dr. Gómez:
1. Say goodbye to tobacco
Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemical compounds, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 70 to be carcinogenic. Enough reasons to pay attention to this habit, even if it is a bit complex, warns Gómez. “You have to be aware that smoking is one of the two behaviors that not only pose the greatest risk against cancer but also against all health, it is addictive and the damage is cumulative. It is always a good time to quit smoking, there is no time to start doing it”, emphasizes the author.
As Gómez explains in his book, it should not be forgotten that tobacco is responsible for more than 8 million deaths a year in the world. And, according to him, this habit is not only to blame for lung cancer, smoking is the risk factor for at least a dozen tumors such as those of the esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, bladder or kidney.
And if you smoke a small number of cigarettes a day, does it have the same effects as if you smoke excessively? As in everything, the amount affects, but you have to be very careful with this message because people quickly translate it in their favor: in fact, 30% of the Spanish smoking population thinks that less than 10 cigarettes has no harmful effects, he stresses Gomez. “But it is not true -says the expert-; a cigarette has 700 chemical molecules of which many of them are carcinogenic, which cause a mutation in the genome, therefore you can never say that your risk is zero when you are subjecting your cells to a mutagenic agent”.
The best form of prevention against smoking? As Emilia Gómez explains in the book, if you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you smoke, smoke less and consider quitting, the sooner the better.
2. The false ideal weight
Another risk factor against cancer is being overweight, which is directly related to diet and physical activity. Being overweight, according to Gómez, can influence thirteen types of cancer, such as those of the mouth and pharynx, esophagus, stomach, endometrium, prostate, postmenopausal breast… “and they will continue to add up. Therefore, the reason to change our habits is multiple. But to do so, it is important to identify what you are not doing well because information is abundant and we are not trained to manage abundance. You have to discern between what is true and what is not,” says the expert.
Gómez looks at two important concepts that tend to be confused, the healthy weight and the ideal weight. “The ideal weight does not exist, it is an absolutely harmful aesthetic concept: who defines what an ideal weight is?” questions the expert. “However – she explains – her, a healthy weight is being well nourished, giving your body what it needs so that all processes work perfectly. For each height there is a healthy weight range and it is not the same for everyone. Of course, you have to lead an active life because our body is designed for movement, eating well (the more times the better) and betting on maintaining a healthy weight ”.
Losing weight is not an easy task but it is worth doing, even a reduction of 5 to 10% -if achieved through a combination of healthy diet and exercise- is enough to reduce risk factors for cancer and other health problems, Gomez details. “Every day of healthy habits benefits health, even before weight loss results. Leading a healthy lifestyle is good for everything: skin, hair, healthy aging…”, adds the researcher.
The ideal is to maintain a healthy weight avoiding fluctuations, that is, the ups and downs, because as Gómez explains, these fluctuations can be harmful, especially for women in the menopausal stage in which there are changes in hormonal regulation or loss of muscle fat, hence the importance of trying to maintain a stable healthy weight that will also be key in preventing cancer.
3. A balanced diet with lots of vegetables
Eating is one of life’s great pleasures, but if we don’t do it properly it can become a great health risk, something you’ve surely heard a thousand times already. However, it should be remembered that “diet and physical inactivity are the third major risk factor when it comes to cancer in general,” emphasizes Gómez.
One of the great measures is to opt for an onco-healthy diet, mostly vegetables, which is also ideal for preventing other diseases, suggests the researcher. But… what exactly does it consist of? “Above all, it means that we must consume throughout the day many foods present in the plant world, which are not only green vegetables, but also fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, spices… and very little animal products” Gomez explains. It is not a vegetarian diet – which it very well could be – but it would be difficult for many people and they would not be willing to make the change, clarifies the author of ‘More Life, less cancer’.
As Emilia Gómez explains, the mostly onco-healthy diet does not eliminate meat, since it can perfectly include white meat, white or blue fish, eggs, dairy products and even red meat, of course the latter following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), which suggests 200 grams per week. “Yes, you can eat meat, what happens is that the proportion has to be much less than vegetable foods and in Spain now we are consuming it the other way around, that is, we have a diet that is called Western which is basically ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, processed meat, or lots of red meat. This diet is inflammatory, oxidizing, low in nutrition, ultra caloric and it has to be the opposite, a diet with lots of vegetables”, insists the author.
4. The silent pandemic of sedentary lifestyle
A sedentary lifestyle is a silent pandemic that will cause almost 500 million people to get sick by 2030, warns Gómez in his book. Hence the importance of leading an active life. If we talk about cancer, this habit, as science has shown, can help reduce at least seven types of cancer: colon, breast, endometrial, kidney, bladder, esophagus and stomach, the author details. “A sedentary lifestyle is as dangerous to health as smoking is,” adds Gómez.
It is not only important to know that physical activity is necessary, but also how much you have to practice it. “Many times we have the perception that they are big changes and they seem unapproachable to us and it is then that we sink into neglect. But, for example, if you are overweight and you manage to lose 5%, it already has a positive impact on your health. Moving is walking, getting up, little by little incorporating small goals into the routine, because each time you do it, it will have a positive impact on your health”, Gómez highlights.
And there are no excuses, Gómez clarifies forcefully. Moreover, the ideal is to start before the age of twenty. But after fifty, exercise also continues to be a good investment in health, the expert points out. “At any age you can start, it is never too late. Also, when we talk about cancer, an active life consists of exercising, but also not being sedentary. What does that mean? Well, it’s good to go to the gym but sometimes it’s better to be moving all day, walk, get up, have an active day. You have to flee from the life that we have currently led, which is spending eight hours in front of the computer, going home by car, arriving and lying on the sofa to watch television series ”, concludes Gómez. And she insists: “when we talk about cancer, movement is important, the more you move the better, since it will help to significantly reduce the risk of this disease”, she points out.
5. Do without alcohol
Is a glass of wine a day healthy? It is the million dollar question and a statement that has been repeated so many times that it has become true. It is not uncommon for studies to appear that ensure that drinking a glass of wine is heart-healthy. “But it is not true, or in the supposed case that it was, it should not be ignored that we are not only heart, our body is much more. So when we talk about alcohol it is important to remember that it is a neurotoxic, addictive and hepatotoxic substance. It is a carcinogen capable of producing DNA mutations, the first action that must occur for the development of cancer. Therefore, even small amounts can cause many types of cancers”, advises Gómez. “15,000 new cases of cancer each year in Spain caused by alcohol could be avoided,” says Gómez.
