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05.09.2018

A lifestyle that simultaneously makes you leaner and fitter protects against cancer

The lifestyle that protects men - and probably women as well - against cancer, makes you not fatter, but leaner as you grow older, while maintaining or increasing your fitness levels. This is evident from an epidemiological study involving some 14,000 men, which appeared in 2014 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Study
The researchers used the data from 13,930 men, who were collected between 1974 and 2002 in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. In that study, sports scientists twice determined the men's BMI and fitness levels. Then they kept track of which men died as a result of cancer. When the study started, all men were healthy.

Results
Men who became less fit were more likely to die as a result of cancer than men who maintained their condition or became fitter. Men who maintained their cardiovascular fitness, and simultaneously succeeded in getting leaner despite the climbing of the years, had the smallest chance of cancer.

Conclusion
"In conclusion, cardiorespiratory fitness change was an important predictor of cancer mortality in men", write the researchers. "Losing cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with a higher risk of premature deaths from cancer in men, regardless of BMI change."

"Improving or maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with a reduction in risk of cancer death. In addition, improving or maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness may attenuate some potentially negative effects of BMI gain on cancer mortality. Thus, more efforts need to be taken to maintaining or increasing cardiorespiratory fitness, which may also lead to a healthy lifestyle and longevity."

Source:
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014 Jul;46(7):1366-74.

More:
Being fit halves your chance of cancer 21.07.2017
One hour of exercise daily reduces the mortality risk of cancer survivors 23.01.2017
Cardio training protects smokers and ex-smokers against lung cancer 06.05.2010

Archives:
Cancer Prevention & Survival

'Physical activity should be a standard part of cancer care' "Many treatments may increase survival, but at a cost of quality of life; physical activity may not only extend life but may also enhance its quality. Given that physical activity is generally safe and has numerous other health benefits, adequate physical activity should be a standard part of cancer care."	Every intensive training session is a chemo lite Every time you do intensive exercise, your body produces substances that kill cancer cells. The effect of a single session is limited, but the effect of a lifestyle that has included intensive exercise several times a week for years on end is probably considerable.	When combined with other exercise, strength training boosts survival chances of cancer survivors Strength training enhances the survival chances of people who have been treated for cancer in the past. But they need to walk, jog or do some other type of aerobic exercise regularly as well.