Upping your cancer-fighting powers

Christina Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, at age 36. She had a double mastectomy and has been cancer-free since then. One reason, according to a Danish lab study published in elife, may be her exercise routine. The vegetarian actress and breast cancer activist does a combination of cardio, weight training and a core workout for at least two hours a day, five days a week.

According to the researchers, consistent physical activity boosts the ability of the immune system’s cytotoxic T cells (specialized white blood cells) to KO cancer cells. It does that by increasing circulating levels of naturally occurring molecules and metabolites that are produced in muscle while you are working out. They help activate cancer-fighting immune cells. This appears to slow tumor growth and may prevent recurrence of cancer.

If you are one of the estimated 1.8 million Americans diagnosed with cancer this year, you can do a great deal to make your fight against the disease more effective. Making sure you - with the advice of your doctors - begin a daily workout routine is one important way.

Another self-help tool: adopting an anti-inflammatory diet, free of red and processed meats and added sugars and syrups, and loaded with seven to nine servings of fruits and veggies daily. It’s estimated that up to 33% of cancer cases could be prevented with adoption of such a healthful diet. And a metastudy in the journal Nutrients found that the Mediterranean diet appears to promote survival after cancer diagnosis.