• Diet
• Lifestyle

Much research in the last few years has shown that the way people eat has a lot to do with how healthy they are - and how healthy they stay. This research has also shown that eating a healthy diet, low in fat, high in fiber, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, may help to lower cancer risk.

One way to incorporate healthier eating habits is to eat more fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables taste great and it's easy to eat more of them. Most fruits and vegetables are also low in calories and fat. There are other things that make them special, too.

The fiber, vitamins, or other components in fruits and vegetables may be responsible for this protective effect. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of many nutrients. Some examples are included in the table below. Eat a variety of vitamin-rich foods, including fruits and vegetables, rather than relying on vitamin and mineral supplements to help protect yourself against cancer.

High in Vitamin A High in Vitamin C High in Fiber or Good Source of Fiber apricots apricots apple cantaloupe broccoli banana carrots Brussels sprouts blackberries kale, collards cabbage blueberries leaf lettuce cantaloupe Brussles sprouts mango cauliflower carrots mustard greens chili peppers cherries pumpkin collards cooked beans and peas romaine lettuce grapefruit (kidney,navy,lima,pinto, spinach honey dew melon lentils, black-eyed peas) sweet potato kiwi fruit dates winter squash mango figs (acorn, hubbard) mustard greens grapefruit orange kiwi fruit orange juice orange pineapple pear plums prunes patato with skin raspberries spinach spinach strawberries strawberries bell peper sweet patato tangerines tomatoes watermelon

Note: Nutrient definitions based on FDA Food Labelling Nutrient Content Descriptors

Lifestyle

One of the most harmful lifestyle choices you can make is to begin smoking. Smoking cigarettes is an addiction and tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a drug that can make it very hard, but not impossible, to quit.

Smoking greatly increases your risks for lung cancer and many other cancers. Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers and others who breathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke.

If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke than a young person whose parents are both non-smokers. In households where only one parent smokes, young people are also more likely to start smoking.

Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to deliver babies whose weights are too low for the babies' good health. If all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about 4,000 new babies would not die each year.

Quitting smoking makes a difference right away and cuts the risk of lung cancer, many other cancers, heart disease, stroke, other lung diseases, and other respiratory illnesses.

For more information about quitting smoking, please visit the "No Smoking" section of LungCancerOption.com.