Good health

Include fruit in your diet
Limit alcohol
Maintain a healthy body weight

Eating more fruit, reducing our intake of alcohol and maintaining a healthy body weight all contribute to our overall good health, and good health has an important role to play in reducing our risk of developing other cancers.

Include fruit in your diet

Fruit While fruit on its own has not been found to reduce the risk of bowel cancer, there is strong evidence that diets high in vegetables and fruits decrease the risk of many other cancers.

Eating fruit is also good for your overall health, generally being low in energy (kilojoules) and a good source of fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Try to eat at least two servings of fruit a day. One serving of fruit weighs 120–140 grams.

Fruit tips

Serve melons such as cantaloupe and honeydew for breakfast or dessert.
Add some dried or freshly stewed apricots to your cereal. Include an apple, banana or peach with your lunch.
An inviting bowl of fresh colourful fruits will draw your attention when you feel like a snack or something sweet between meals.
Nibbling a small amount of dried fruits is a good way to satisfy a desire for something sweet. They can be eaten as they are, added to cereal, with yoghurt or in bread.
In most cases, you should eat the skin of fruit which is full of vitamins and fibre.

Limit alcohol

A small amount of alcohol may decrease the risk of heart attack later in life, but too much alcohol can be harmful for your health and several studies have suggested that high alcohol consumption probably increases your risk of developing bowel cancer. Alcohol is also linked to cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver and breast. It is therefore wise to limit your consumption of alcohol.

Alcohol is high in energy (kilojoules) so drinking too much can also make it harder to manage your body weight.

Aim for at least one or two alcohol free days a week.

For men, the recommended limit is no more than four standard drinks a day. For women, two standard drinks per day is the recommended limit.

Tips

Eat some food when you drink.
Alternate alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic ones like mineral or soda water.
Dilute alcoholic drinks, for example, shandy, white wine and mineral water, spirits and low-calorie soft drinks.
Avoid binge drinking.

Maintain a healthy body weight

If you eat more vegetables, cereals and fruit and less fat, find time for regular physical activity and reduce your alcohol intake, you will already be on your way to maintaining a healthy body weight.

It is wise to avoid being underweight or overweight and to limit your weight gain during adulthood to less than five kilograms.

Be more active

Exercise Regular physical activity reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, non-insulin dependent diabetes, obesity and hypertension. It also helps with management of these conditions.

People also report that regular exercise helps them to:

Feel better
Be more relaxed
Sleep better

Find time for at least 30 minutes of exercise a day

For those who are relatively inactive, the latest scientific research shows that just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, like brisk walking, most days of the week will improve your health. More good news is that you do not even have to do the 30 minutes all at once: you can break it up into three 10 minute or two 15 minute lots.

It is even better if you can find time for an hour's brisk walk or similar activity every day, perhaps by walking or cycling to work.

Tips for being more active

Walk wherever you can: to the shops, the bus stop, around the block, with the dog
Organise to walk with friends on a regular basis
Gardening is healthy and enjoyable
Cycling is a social activity the whole family can enjoy
Wash your car instead of taking it through the car wash
Give swimming a go
Vary your exercise routine
Take up tennis, golf or bowls
Fly a kite or throw a frisbee with your children or grandchildren
Take the stairs instead of the lift.

Start now

Even if you currently do little or no exercise, it is never too late to start. Significant health benefits are to be gained by being moderately active most days of the week even if you have previously been inactive, but talk to your doctor first.