Cancer prevention guidelines say to skip booze, red meat

Skipping a beer and red meat may be a good choice as you resume dining in your favorite restaurant. That’s according to updated cancer prevention guidelines released by the American Cancer Society.

The updates, which appear in the American Cancer Society’s peer-reviewed journal, “CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians,” call for reduced consumption of alcohol and red meat, and increased exercise.

The ACS guidelines are based on contemporary science that shows it’s not specific foods and nutrients but how you eat that is important in increasing general health and reducing the risk of cancer.

Guidelines call for people to eat a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables and to consume whole grains, such as brown rice. Sugar intake, highly processed foods and refined grains should be reduced or eliminated from the diet. Limits should be placed on eating beef, pork, lamb and processed meats, including deli meats, bacon and hot dogs, or they should be avoided.

The organization also says it’s “best not to drink alcohol. But if you do, women should have no more than 1 drink per day and men should have no more than 2. A drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.”

Adults should aim for 150300 minutes of moderate physical activity per week. They could also do 75-150 minutes of vigorous physical activity or a combination of moderate and vigorous exercise.