What's the Cancer Connection?

Eat healthy foods.

Eating well is an important part of improving your health and reducing your cancer risk. Take a good hard look at what you typically eat each day and try these tips to build a healthy diet plan for yourself and your family:

Choose foods and drinks in amounts that help you get to and maintain a healthy weight.

• Read food labels to become more aware of portion sizes and calories. Be aware that “low-fat” or “non-fat” does not necessarily mean “low-calorie.”
• Eat smaller portions when eating high-calorie foods.
• Choose vegetables, whole fruit, legumes such as peas and beans, and other low-calorie foods instead of calorie-dense foods such as French fries, potato and other chips, ice cream, donuts, and other sweets.
• Limit your intake of sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, sports drinks, and fruit-flavored drinks.
• When you eat away from home, be especially mindful to choose food low in calories, fat, and added sugar, and avoid eating large portion sizes.

Limit how much processed meat and red meat you eat.

• Limit your intake of processed meats such as bacon, sausage, lunch meats, and hot dogs.
• Choose fish, poultry, or beans instead of red meat (beef, pork, and lamb).
• If you eat red meat, choose lean cuts and eat smaller portions.
• Prepare meat, poultry, and fish by baking, broiling, or poaching rather than by frying or charbroiling.

Eat at least 2½ cups of vegetables and fruits each day.

• Include vegetables and fruits at every meal and snack.
• Eat a variety of vegetables and fruits each day.
• Emphasize whole fruits and vegetables; choose 100% juice if you drink vegetable or fruit juices.
• Limit your use of creamy sauces, dressings, and dips with fruits and vegetables.

Choose whole grains instead of refined grain products.

• Choose whole-grain breads, pasta, and cereals (such as barley and oats) instead of breads, cereals, and pasta made from refined grains, and brown rice instead of white rice. 
• Limit your intake of refined carbohydrate foods, including pastries, candy, sugar-sweetened breakfast cereals, and other high-sugar foods.

If you drink alcohol, limit how much

People who drink alcohol should limit their intake to no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women. The recommended limit is lower for women because of their smaller body size and slower breakdown of alcohol. 

A drink of alcohol is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1½ ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits (hard liquor). In terms of cancer risk, it is the amount of alcohol, not the type of alcoholic drink that is important. 

These daily limits do not mean it’s safe to drink larger amounts on fewer days of the week, since this can lead to health, social, and other problems.

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/dietandphysicalactivity/diet-and-physical-activity