A new study from the American Cancer Society found that about 40 percent of all new cancers and nearly half of all cancer deaths can be prevented through lifestyle changes.
“These are things that people can practically change how they live every single day to reduce their risk of cancer,” said
Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer with the American Cancer Society.
Released in July, the comprehensive study analyzed the risk of cancer and death from 30 types of cancer to adults aged 30 and older. The study authors found that 18 modifiable risk factors were linked to 40 percent (713,340 of
1,781,649) of all cancers (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers) and 44 percent (262,120 of 595,737) of all cancer deaths in 2019.
The study correlated 18 lifestyle factors with cancer, including cigarette and second-hand smoke; excess body weight; drinking alcohol; eating red and processed meat; not eating enough fruits and vegetables, fiber, or calcium; lack of
exercise; sunlight exposure; and seven carcinogenic infections.
“Cigarette smoking was the leading risk factor contributing to cancer cases and deaths overall (19.3% and 28.5%, respectively), followed by excess body weight (7.6% and 7.3%, respectively), and alcohol consumption (5.4% and
4.1%, respectively),” the study’s authors stated.
Cancer a Growing Concern
Cancer is a growing problem in countries all over the world. According to the
World Health Organization, an estimated 20 million new cancer cases were diagnosed worldwide in 2022.
Nearly 10 million died from cancer. About 1 in 5 people develop cancer, and approximately 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women will die from it.
Though cancer deaths have decreased in the United States over the past 30 years (primarily due to less smoking and better detection and treatment programs), the rate of new cancers is increasing. For the first time,
new U.S. cancer cases are expected to top 2 million in 2024. That’s nearly 5,500 cancer diagnoses per day. The increase is due
to an aging population, poor health habits, and a rise in six of the ten most common cancers—breast, prostate, endometrial, pancreatic, kidney, and melanoma.
A Bright Spot of Hope
Cancer begins to grow when cell DNA becomes damaged. This may happen because of a copying error that occurs when cells divide, often linked
to toxin exposure or poor lifestyle habits. Sometimes, inherited traits also cause DNA damage.
The inherited nature of some cancers can make it seem as though getting cancer is inevitable. But this new study is a bright spot of hope because lifestyle factors “explain a significantly larger share of cancer cases and deaths than
any other known factors,” says Kamal.
“With cancer, it oftentimes feels like you have no control,” Kamal adds. “People think about bad luck or bad genetics, but people need to feel a sense of control and agency. … Cancer is something your body fights every single day as
your cells divide … so the reduction of the risks can benefit you every day.”
As followers of the Creator of all life, we should not be surprised that God would design our bodies so that our choices affect our health. Long ago, God told the Israelites, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do
what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).
God’s Original Health Plan
The study points out several important lifestyle choices that each of us can make to reduce our risk of getting cancer:
- Don’t smoke or drink alcohol
- Maintain a healthy body weight
- Eat a whole-foods plant-based diet
- Get plenty of exercise
These are not new lifestyle principles. God’s Word teaches every one of them because He desires that we “prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2).
We find God’s health plan in the very first chapters of the Bible. Our Creator placed the first two humans in a garden where they would naturally get physical activity in the fresh air and sunshine as they cared for the plants that
provided them with food. He also provided them with the perfect diet: “I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food” (Genesis
1:29). Harmful, addictive substances were unknown. Daily and weekly rest were built into the rhythm of their lives.
If humans had continued to live in harmony with God’s plans, we would never have known the pain of cancer or sin. Yet God did not leave us to suffer the consequences of our twisted appetites. Instead, He promised a Redeemer who would be
“wounded for our transgressions” and by whose “stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Lifestyle Change Is Possible
Lifestyle habits are modifiable risks that we can control. Yet many of us struggle to have the self-control needed to overcome habits that we know are hurting us. We may enjoy the way we feel after consuming alcohol, tobacco, or another
drug, or we simply don’t stop after two cookies. We need a power outside of ourselves to set us free.
Praise God, there is hope for every one of us who struggles with destructive appetites. “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16 NASB).
If we are willing to give ourselves entirely to God, He will fill us with the Holy Spirit and change our desires so that they line up with His perfect health plan. As we surrender to His leading, we will lose our taste for harmful
substances and learn to enjoy the foods and activities of Eden once again. Our bodies and minds will be more prone to heal, and we will come to delight in the radiant health He designed for us.
Cancer may still happen, of course, for we still live in a sinful world where there are many risk factors are out of our control. But as science is recognizing, living by God’s health laws will truly lower our risks.
To learn more about God’s health plan, watch this video with Pastor Doug or read our
free online Bible study on health.