7 Steps to Prevent Cancer-

Cancer Prevention Step 1: Don't use tobacco

All types of tobacco put you on a collision course with cancer. Rejecting tobacco, or deciding to stop using it, is one of the most important health decisions you can make. It's also an important part of cancer prevention. Avoiding tobacco in any form significantly reduces your risk of several cancers, including:

• Lung
• Esophagus
• Voice box (larynx)
• Mouth
• Bladder
• Kidney
• Pancreas
• Cervix
• Stomach
• Acute myeloid leukemia

In the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for about 90 percent of all cases of lung cancer - the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. Every time you smoke a cigarette, you inhale more than 60 substances (carcinogens) that can cause your cells to become cancerous. In addition, the tar in cigarette smoke forms a sticky brown layer on the lining of your lungs and air passages. This layer traps the carcinogens you've inhaled.

Smoking cigars and pipes or chewing tobacco isn't safe either. Compared with nonsmokers, cigar and pipe smokers have higher rates of lung cancer, as well as cancers of the larynx, esophagus and mouth. Chewing tobacco also increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, cheeks and gums.

Even if you don't smoke, reduce your exposure to secondhand smoke. Each year, about 3,000 nonsmokers die of lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke.

Cancer Prevention Step 2: Eat a variety of healthy foods

Though making healthy selections at the grocery store and at mealtime can't guarantee you won't get cancer, it may help reduce your risk. About 30 percent of cancers are related to issues of nutrition, including obesity.

The American Cancer Society recommends that you:

• Eat An Abundance Of Foods From Plant-Based Sources- Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. In addition, eat other foods from plant sources, such as whole grains and beans, several times a day. Green and dark yellow vegetables, beans, soybean products and cruciferous vegetables - such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and cabbage - may help reduce your risk of colon and stomach cancers.
• Limit Fat- Eat lighter and leaner by choosing fewer high-fat foods, particularly those from animal sources. High-fat diets may increase your risk of cancers of the prostate, colon, rectum and uterus.
• Drink Alcohol In Moderation, If At All- Your risk of cancers, including oral, esophageal and other cancers, increases with the amount of alcohol you drink and the length of time you've been drinking regularly. Even a moderate amount of drinking - two drinks a day if you're a man or one drink a day if you're a woman, and one drink a day regardless of your sex if you're over 65 - may increase your risk.

Cancer Prevention Step 3: Stay active and maintain a healthy weight

Maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly also may play a role in cancer prevention. Obesity may be a risk factor for cancers of the prostate, colon, rectum, uterus, ovaries and breast. Physical activity can help you avoid obesity by controlling your weight. Physical activity on its own may also lower your risk of other types of cancer, including breast cancer and colon cancer.

Try to be physically active for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week. Y