When it comes to diseases, prevention is always the best first-line of defense. Avoiding stomach cancer means continuously making proactive choices to live a healthier lifestyle. Here’s a list of ways to prevent stomach cancer to get you started.
What are the Best Ways to Prevent Stomach Cancer?
Limit alcohol intake
Avoiding cancer, in general, involves making changes towards a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. In terms of ways to prevent stomach cancer, one of the best actions is to limit alcohol intake.
Only drinking moderately during social situations, and avoiding binge drinking completely are ideal. This will also help you avoid a lot of health complications in the future.
Do not use tobacco
Smoking can cause many different health issues, but is specifically linked to an increased risk of stomach cancer.
Avoid smoked, pickled, or salted foods
As time progressed, stomach cancer cases have lowered since we’ve stopped relying on using preservative methods such as salting, smoking, and pickling and transitioned to using refrigerators.
These food preservation methods introduce substances, such as nitrates, that could irritate the stomach lining and make you more likely to get stomach cancer.
Maintain a healthy weight
Stomach cancer more commonly occurs in people who are overweight. So weight management is one of the best ways to prevent stomach cancer.
In general, keeping your weight at a healthy level through a well-kept exercise routine and a proper diet can lower your risk for many health issues including several forms of cancer.
Eat fresh fruits and vegetables
Making good dietary choices is one of the best ways to prevent stomach cancer.
Not incorporating fresh produce like fruits and vegetables in your diet could cause a deficit in nutrition.
A diet rich in beta carotene and vitamin C, acquired through foods such as garlic, green tea, and citrus fruits, may help lower your risk for stomach cancer.
Go for whole grain alternatives
Choosing healthy alternatives is one of the simplest ways to prevent stomach cancer.
Consider substituting your carbohydrates for whole-grain alternatives.
These are richer in nutrients and will help more with weight regulation by providing a better source of high-quality carbohydrates.
Follow a healthy eating pattern
It’s also important to follow a healthy eating pattern. This applies to your dietary choices as well as your schedule. Pay close attention to meeting your daily caloric intake. Ensure that your weight is maintained within a healthy range.
Consistently eating a wholesome, balanced diet will ensure that you get the right amount of vitamins or minerals. This, in turn, will keep you safe from potentially hazardous health conditions, including stomach cancer.
Consider dietary supplements
A study shows that beta carotene, vitamin C, and selenium supplements lowered the number of deaths related to stomach cancer. However, these people’s diets were not accounted for, so there could have been a pre-existing deficit in the patients who were studied.
Although this method is not as established as the rest of the recommendations in this article, dietary supplements can address nutrient deficiency if you are guided by professionals such as your dietician and doctor.
Cut down on painkiller use
Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories and painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen are linked to stomach and colon irritation that could put you at high risk of stomach and colon disorders including stomach cancer.
Genetic testing and risk assessment
A proper risk assessment done by cancer specialists could be a good way to avoid stomach cancer and other diseases in general. Genetic testing is one of the methods this is done.
You may want to consider genetic testing if you have anyone in your immediate family who has been diagnosed with stomach cancer or if you have Type A blood or any related conditions like familial adenomatous polyposis, hereditary non-polyposis cancer, and Li-Fraumeni syndrome.
Hereditary nonpolyposis cancer, also known as Lynch syndrome if it occurs in the colon and rectum, is linked to high cancer risks not just in the stomach but also in ovaries, small intestines, and urinary tract. Li-Fraumeni syndrome is a hereditary disorder that could make its carrier more likely to develop cancer.
Treating related conditions
One of the best ways to prevent stomach cancer is to treat related conditions that could increase your risk.
The first related condition is the Helicobacter pylori infection, which is caused by the bacteria of the same name. This infection can affect the stomach lining and cause ulcers.
If you have stomach ulcers, it would be best if you get tested for H. pylori to rule out the possibility of bacteria-induced stomach cancer.
The second related condition is intestinal metaplasia where the cells that make up the intestinal linings replace those that are found in the stomach lining. This causes irritation issues and possible growth in the stomach similar to that of intestinal cancer.
Chronic atrophic gastritis, which involves frequent inflammation in the stomach causing the stomach lining to grow thinner.
Pernicious anemia that is caused by a deficiency of vitamin B12 in particular. Lastly, gastric polyps may also contribute to the risk of stomach cancer. And so it is a condition that should be addressed.
Key Takeaways
Whether or not you are at risk of developing this condition, it’s important to know the ways to prevent stomach cancer. In doing so, you not only reduce the risk of cancer, but other related conditions as well. What’s more, being intentional about living a healthy lifestyle can boost your overall well being.
Learn more about stomach cancer, here.
