How much sports do you need to avoid getting cancer

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Oncological diseases are treated for a long time, difficult and, alas, not always successfully. But everyone can try to prevent illness: quit smoking, improve nutrition and go for a run. And don't think that you have to work hard like a professional athlete. Training will not take too much time and effort.

Physical activity can be effective in preventing many types of cancer, including the most dangerous. Even a couple of hours of exercise per week reduces the likelihood of malignant tumors of the breast, colon and lungs. According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, it is these forms of cancer that are in the first lines in terms of the number of deaths among all cancers.

Sports enthusiasts, here's a powerful boost to your motivation: it looks like your cancer risk continues to drop as you increase your exercise volume. There is no obvious limit to this dependence.

This opinion is shared by Steven Moore, Ph. D. from the US National Cancer Institute. The scientist is sure that the more mobility, the greater the health benefits.

How exercise and cancer are related

Stephen and his colleagues drew attention to the fact that all cancer research focuses on specific forms of the disease and none of them summarizes all the available information. Therefore, a team of scientists combined information from 12 European and American studies: data on 1.4 million adults aged 19 to 98 were included in a single database. Ultimately, the scientists tracked the effect of exercise on the incidence of 26 cancers. The results are encouraging.

Physical activity is an excellent prevention of 13 cancers: leukemia, multiple myeloma, breast cancer, colon, lung, esophagus, liver, kidney, stomach, rectum, bladder, brain and neck cancer.

To put the exact figures, then playing sports reduces the likelihood of cancer of the esophagus by 42%, breast cancer by 10%, colon and lung cancer by 10 and 16%, respectively.

It should be noted that although the study found a parallel between exercise and a reduced risk of cancer, it did not prove a causal relationship. At the same time, scientists made a couple of assumptions:

Exercise regulates the production of hormones that have been linked to cancers. For example, exercise affects the levels of estrogen, insulin, and other biologically active substances.
With regular exercise, the cells of the body are less susceptible to oxidative (oxidative) stress. Moreover, the ability to repair damaged DNA is improved.

How much time to devote to training

How often do you go to the stadium or gym? Stephen Moore recommends 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five days a week or 25 minutes of vigorous exercise three times a week.

Which of the options is closer to you, now we'll figure it out. For this - some useful theory.

Physical activity is assessed using the Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET). The World Health Organization states:

MET is the ratio of a person's metabolic rate during physical activity to their resting metabolic rate. One MET is the amount of energy expended by a person at rest and is equivalent to burning 1 kcal / kg / hour.

Thus, moderate loads include activity in the range from 3 to 6 MET:

Walking or running at a speed of 5 to 7 km / h on a flat surface, indoors or outdoors.
Walking down stairs or downhill, hiking, rollerblading.
Cycling at a speed of 8 to 14 km / h on level terrain or low elevations, work on a bike station without much effort.
Yoga, gymnastics, jumping on a trampoline, strength exercises with light weights, punching a punching bag.
Table tennis, tennis in pairs, playing golf, hitting a bat, throwing a basketball basket, frisbee, curling, badminton, archery, downhill skiing, slow ice skating, surfing, water aerobics.

Intensive exercise includes activity over 6 METs:

Sports or aerobic walking at speeds above 8 km / h, jogging.
Climbing the mountain, mountaineering, rock climbing, roller skating at a high pace.
Cycling at speeds above 16 km / h, climbing uphill on a bike, energetic work on a bike rack.
Karate, judo, taekwondo, jiu-jitsu, jumping rope, sparring in the ring, wrestling.
Singles tennis, football, rugby, hockey, beach volleyball, handball, squash, speed skating, skiing, swimming, water polo.

However, physical activity is not limited to sports alone. Housework and family chores can also be a good exercise for your body. For example, outdoor games with children or watering the garden is a moderate load, and moving furniture or chopping wood is intense.

And the last from the doctors … An active lifestyle helps even if a malignant tumor has already been detected. Practice shows that physical activity reduces the likelihood of relapse and increases survival. Therefore, it is never too late to move towards your health.