Surprising ways to reduce cancer risk: From drinking coffee to eating garlic

Cancer is the one disease we all fear, yet according to new figures there’s been a steep rise in rates of types that are caused by lifestyle factors – triggered by excess alcohol, smoking, obesity and exposure to sun.

While the numbers are shocking, the good news is these are cancers we can do something positive to try to prevent.

Below are tips from the latest research. Some may seem small and simple but taken together as part of a healthy lifestyle, they could help lower your risk of a variety of cancers.

1. Find your healthy weight

The World Health Organisation has termed obesity as the most important known avoidable cause of cancer after tobacco.

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This is because fat tissue in overweight people produces high levels of hormones, including oestrogen and insulin, which increase the risk of certain cancers such as breast, bowel and pancreatic.

Research shows that losing 20lb can slash your risk of all cancers by 10%.

2. Have a giggle every day

Laughter boosts the immune system, slashes stress hormones and has also been shown to stimulate the body’s production of killer T-cells, which help fight cancer.

What better excuse to meet up with friends for a good giggle or watch your fave comedy show?

3. Start wearing a hat when you’re outdoors

A report this month suggested that wearing sun cream alone was not a reliable way to prevent getting melanoma. This means covering up with clothing is vital – and in particular with a sunhat.

Although melanoma can appear anywhere on the body, researchers have found that people with skin cancers on the scalp or neck die at almost twice the rate of people with the same cancer on other areas of the body.

4. Have a beer... but make sure it’s just the one

Beer may help protect against the ­bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is known to cause ulcers and is possibly linked to stomach cancer, so when consumed in strict moderation it could have some health benefits.

But drinking more than one or two alcoholic drinks a day will increase your risk of mouth, throat, oesophageal and liver cancer.

5. Stop sitting still for long periods

Scientists last month warned we should all sit less to avoid cancer. Indeed, the risk of ­developing cancers, ­especially womb, bowel and lung, rises by up to 10% for every extra two hours sitting, according to a new review of studies by the University of Regensburg in Germany.

6. Feel free to quaff a coffee or five

People who drank five or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 40% decreased risk of brain cancer, compared with people who drank none, according to a 2010 British study.

And a similar level of coffee intake appears to reduce the risk of oral and throat cancer almost as much.

7. Keep dry cleaning to a minimum

Some of the chemicals used in dry cleaning have been linked to kidney and liver damage and cancer in animals that were repeatedly exposed to it in research.

Although any risk to humans is most likely to be with the people working daily with these chemicals, it’s easy and cheaper to buy clothes that don’t require dry-cleaning to be on the safe side.

8. Marinate meat before you eat

Chargrilling or frying meat at high temperatures creates a variety of chemicals that have been linked to cancer.

But researchers from the American Institute for Cancer Research found that coating the meat with a marinade prevented direct contact with the flames, reducing the amount of carcinogenic chemicals that were created.

For an easy marinade, mix the juice of a lemon with two tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of clear honey, a dash of soy sauce and a good dollop of Dijon mustard.

9. Drink plenty as long as it’s not lots of alcohol

Drinking lots of water and other liquids may reduce your risk of bladder cancer by diluting the concentration of cancer-causing agents in urine and helping to flush them through the bladder faster.

The easiest way to tell if you are drinking enough fluid is to check that you’re going to the loo regularly throughout the day, and that your urine is pale yellow, not dark.

10. Get your heart rate raised

Just 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day halves your risk of developing cancer, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.

And that half an hour doesn’t have to be spent at the gym – there are plenty of other ways to be active that can easily fit into your usual routine such as walking to work or doing the gardening.

11. Up the amount of garlic you eat

Garlic contains sulphur compounds that may stimulate the immune system’s defences against cancer.

In particular, studies suggest that garlic can make stomach cancer up to 12 times less likely. To up your intake, add garlic to soups, stir-fries and pasta sauces.