Cancer is among the most devastating plagues of the modern era: last year, the American Cancer Society reported 12 million new cases of malignancy diagnosed worldwide, with 7.6 million people actually dying from the disease. However, thanks to the ever-expanding range of research conducted into cancer, with every month that passes we learn more and more about the origins of this terrible disease and even about how to prevent it, or at least how to lower the chances of us getting one form of cancer or another. Conversely, we also get to know more about the risk factors that can make us more prone to developing a particular kind of cancer.

Representatives of the World Cancer Research Fund warn cancer is literally being fueled by obesity, coupled with binge drinking, lack of exercise and poor dietary habits. For example, womb cancer has been proved to be twice as common in the obese, and its incidence has risen by 20% over the past ten years. Cases of kidney cancer, which has also been connected to obesity, went up by 14%. What this means is that a healthy lifestyle with plenty of exercise and healthier choices when it comes to food can help us stay in shape and avoid exposing ourselves unnecessarily to the risk of getting cancer. Of course, there's no need to mention the destructive effects smoking has on our health, as they've all been presented in enough detail to be as convincing as possible.

The first thing that you need to do is stay as fit as possible. There's no need to overdo it, either, but at least half an hour of exercising every day will do the trick even for those of you who are not regular fitness fans. As far as food is concerned, have a quick look at the "Diets", "Tasty & Healthy" and "Stay Fit" sections of our page for a variety of tips and solutions for healthy eating and exercising. At the very least, you should always try to up your fruit, vegetable, and wholegrain intake, limit your alcohol consumption to one, maximum two drinks a day and cover your skin in the sun. Also, avoid processed meat as much as possible and limit your red meat intake to 18 oz (about 500g) a week, which is the equivalent of three steaks.