To ask how else I can reduce risk of cancer ?

[iloveshetlandponies]

I just recently had a minor cancer scare and - thank god - after a long wait I've just found out that I'm okay. But I am absolutely terrified of it . I know one in two get it in their life time and that stat is beyond fucking depressing . I realise some cancers are sheer bad luck and nothing you can do. But I know some is lifestyle related etc

so want to try my absolute hardest to minimise my personal risk

This is what I do already

Intermittent fasting (16:8 but I try and aim for 18:6)

Eat at least 5 different fruit and veg a day (I need to eat way more I know)

I run most days for at least half an hour plus do other exercise

I don't smoke ever (Altho I did used to gave up 15 years ago at 29)

I very rarely drink alcohol

Always have smears when due and check my breasts monthly or so and keep an eye on any moles

Keep slim (8 stone 7 and 5 foot 2)

Always wear spf50 (on my face every single day) and any exposed bits of my body between say May and September

And - Don't laugh - but very cold showers at the end of each shower as it's meant to boost immunity (it defo wakes me up at least!)

I also, luckily, have no family history that I'm aware of

Does anyone else do this ? Or am I weird. And if there's any drs / nutritionists / scientists on here can anyone suggest anything else ?

Annual mole check with a dermatologist, mammogram- I do both of these every 18 months. Would do it annually if I felt anxious. You can also get a full pelvic check and scan. All this would need to be private unless you have medical need.

1. Sleep - keep sufficient deep and rem sleep. Make sure you go to bed before 10pm as sleep quality is best before then. Make sure you get morning light to improve sleep quality.
2. Stress and cortisol - make sure you do some form of relaxation and breathing practice. Avoid mouth breathing. Don't overdo the running as this raises cortisol. Do some strength training.
3. Diet quality - don't eat upf. Fasting will help but don't overdo it as it can mess with female hormones. Eat microgreens and fermented food, 30+ fruit and veg a week with lots of fibre to support your microbiome.

Just copying and pasting the ingredients (all natural):

Organic Indigo tinctoria (indigo) powder, organic lawsonia inermis (henna) powder, organic cassia auriculata powder, organic embelica officinalis (amla) powder.

I use this one:
amzn.eu/d/4qj0QGj

There's too many names to tag, but I'm not saying it's a given that if you think positively you can cure your own cancer, I'm saying there's some research to suggest that stress/anxiety can affect your immunity and affect your response to illness. It's one of the reasons we're more susceptible to illness when we're feeling stressed.

Of course there will be many who can be the most optimistic people on the planet and still get incurable cancer.
So may as well not bother 'fighting' at all then?

You could also get genetic tests done- BRCA etc.

Olivia lived for 30 years after year first cancer episode, so that's quite impressive! Survived a second episode of cancer around 20 years later. She also lived a full life during that time, still doing live concerts, still globetrotting, still recording and releasing records, acting in TV shows and a couple of movies, singing live in the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, doing a sponsored walk on the Great Wall of China for fund raising for her Cancer wellness clinic in Melbourne. I think 30 years of relatively "normal" living after surviving cancer is pretty good actually! I can't imagine she ever thought she'd "beat" it and it would never return. For her it was all about living the best life she could live and do the most good she could, whilst she could. I've always found her to be very inspirational.

Dr Greger, Dr Klaper etc have lots of videos, podcasts etc to help reduce the risks of the 10 most common illnesses in the West. As you say they're all lifestyle illnesses.

Well, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer I was obsessed with what I must have ‘done wrong’ to have developed it…my oncologist said it was down to two things…

1. I’m a woman.
2. I have boobs.

So…🤷🏼‍♀️

OP I can understand your health anxiety because I have it myself and ended up with a clinical psychologist during my treatment. However, you are doing everything you possibly can physically to reduce the risk. We can all speak anecdotally of fit, healthy people we knew who still had a diagnosis, because unfortunately it happens. But I think the best thing you could do now is focus on your mental health surrounding this so it doesn’t consume you. You’re doing really great 😊

How does fasting affect female hormones?

Even the genetic tests are not 100% reliable. I work in this field. You are doing everything you can do. The only thing you didn't mention is getting enough sleep and trying to keep stress levels low. These are both general contributors to a healthy lifestyle, not cancer-specific.

You can do everything you can to live a healthy and content life. Cancer still may or may not happen. It's a horrible fact of life. I am surrounded by cancer all day long and my approach is to just try and live my life to the full.

I’ve had long discussions with my consultant about red meat.

Both my parents had colon cancer, one at 82 and survived one died from it at 40. I have the genetic markers for it, so have a colonoscopy every two years.

He said you have to remember that while red meat may have shown to increase colorectal cancers, the studies didn’t take into account what people were eating with that red meat. The burger buns, the seed oils, the processed food. The bacon, the sausages, all the crap, processed meat stuffed full of fillers and nitrates. and people who ate that sort of diet would tent not to be health conscious in other areas, drinking alcohol, being over weight.

I eat a lot of steak. But I eat no processed food, at all. No sugar. No man made carbs (easy as I am coeliac and I don’t want to eat gluten free subs as they are full of shit). I eat meat, fish, vegetables, Greek yogurt, kefir, lentils and nuts, herbs and spices, animal fats and coconut oil. I’ve been doing it 4 years and I am the healthiest I have ever been.

I worked for a cancer charity for 1 year alongside a colleague much more experienced.
She did talk a lot of shite mind you but she did see stress as a cause.

What about olive oil?

Prolonged fasting is very bad for people with hypothyroidism. Intermittent fasting is the most you should do.

O thank you,sadly I'm allergic to indigo .

But so happy that you could find an alternative that works for you

This is brilliant, thanks for sharing

@SoftPillowAllNight beware! As a pp said, those sources are not highly rated.

This op. Death comes for us all in the end. Obviously your doing the right things to not hasten it, but you could get run over by a bus on a run tomorrow or die in your sleep tonight.

Tomorrow is never promised. Have some counceling and enjoy your life.

Perhaps add in some mindfulness, yoga or meditation to calm the mind and reduce stress and worry. Adding in some counselling too as others have suggested - perhaps CBT for health anxiety?
Having your blood pressure and cholesterol checked is also sensible for general health.
You could look into having annual private health screening if that wouldn’t be too stressful.

I have incurable cancer. I've got two young children. I don't know what caused my cancer, maybe stress, maybe the fact I got pissed on the odd night out, maybe even the fact I went on the pill quite young to manage my horrendous periods. I won't live to ever be a grandparent or see my children graduate or get married and it really sucks, it really really does. But I can't regret anything I've done or not done in my life, these are the cards I've been dealt. So my advice? Stop stressing about what ifs and enjoy living :)

She suffered a lot of stress in the few years before her first diagnosis being:-

A traumatic birth of her daughter,
Miscarriages,
Collapse of her Koala Blue business, and
Legal case against her music publishers.

Her stress levels must have been through the roof with all that going on around the same time.

I do regular 36+ hour fasts for autophagy, try to limit meat/dairy, don't drink alcohol, and eat a ridiculous amount of vegetables and fruits.
Also take turmeric and other supplements.

Like you, I live in fear of cancer (my younger brother died when he was 28) so I have this underlying current of concern that I don't want my family or friends through watching someone else they love suffer through it. So I do what I can (and what scientifically reviewed studies recommend) in the hope that I'm lowering my risk.

And of course if I did develop cancer, I'd hope that I would be fit enough to recover from it.

Bioflavonoids are supposed to be good, and they are found in some common foods like broccoli, celery, parsley, and citrus fruits (in the white stringy bits, so don't throw them away.)

I've spent 2 decades surrounded by cancer experts in my professional life. I find it a fascinating field and have met a lot of inspiring people - professionals and patients. I've been in thousands of cancer MDTs, seen thousands of clinical trials, I've witnessed treatment evolution - tomotherapy, protons, haplo-identical allografts, immunotherapy, TKIs, CAR-T, the discovery of new syndromes, whole genome sequencing, novel targeted therapies, you name it I've worked with cancer professionals doing it.

But what I have never known is any cancer professional who thinks that turmeric, alkaline diets, fasting, seed oils, asparagus, oranges or any of this other stuff makes a blind bit of difference. And they do get asked, a lot - because everyone affected by cancer would like there to be a simple answer as to why, and a simple solution to fix it. There is nearly always neither. Eat well, exercise and stay fit, look after yourself in terms of avoiding tonnes of unnecessary stress, don't smoke or vape, don't drink to excess. Just normal healthy living stuff. Life is too short to do stuff you don't like which doesn't work.

Thank you for this, @nothingcomestonothing