Box 1.
World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) cancer prevention recommendations
| • Be a healthy weight - keep your weight within a healthy range (i.e., a body mass index [BMI] between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2) and avoid weight gain in adulthood |
| • Be physically active - walk more, sit less and be at least moderately physically active (i.e., increase your heart rate to about 60–75% of its maximum) every day |
| • Eat wholegrains, veg, fruits and beans - make wholegrains, vegetables, fruit and pulses a major part of your usual daily diet to consume at least 30 g of fibre with at least five portions of non-starchy vegetables and fruit per day |
| • Limit “fast foods” - particularly, limit consumption of processed foods high in fat, starches or sugars including fast foods, pre-prepared dishes, confectionary, snacks and bakery foods |
| • Limit red and processed meats - eat no more than three portions of red meat (i.e., any mammalian muscle) such as beef, pork and lamb and little processed meat per week |
| • Limit sugary drinks - do not consume sugar sweetened drinks (i.e., liquids sweetened by adding sugars such as sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrate) |
| • Limit alcoholic beverages - for cancer prevention, it is best not to drink any alcohol |
| • Do not rely on supplements - aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone rather than with high-dose dietary supplements (i.e., a product intended for ingestion that contains a “dietary ingredient” to supplement what is usually achievable through diet alone) |
| • Breastfeed your baby - for mothers, there is strong evidence that breastfeeding (i.e., exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months and then up to 2 years of age and beyond alongside appropriate complementary foods) helps protect against breast cancer in the mother and promotes healthy growth of the infant |
| • After cancer diagnosis - follow these recommendations, if you can, and check with your healthcare provider what is right for you. All cancer survivors (i.e., those who have been diagnosed with cancer and those who have recovered from the disease) should receive nutritional care and guidance on physical activity from trained professionals |