Four ways to reduce your risk of bowel cancer at any age

With the alarming news that bowel cancer rates are rising more sharply among under-50s in England than anywhere else in Europe, the questions that many of us are asking this week is why – and what can we do to prevent it? The answer to the second question may be simpler than you think: look at what’s on your plate – and start moving more.

Around 2,600 new bowel cancer cases are being diagnosed here each year among those aged 25 to 49. It marks a rise of 52 per cent since the early Nineties, and is up 3.6 per cent in a year.

In France and Italy, that figure was 2.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively; in Spain, rates fell compared to the year prior.

And, according to a study published in The Lancet Oncology last week, our diet is playing a large part – in particular: “A considerable shift from traditional diets, rich in low fat and high fibre foods, to increased consumption of red or processed meat, sugars and ultra-processed convenience foods has probably contributed, at least in part.”

If you’ve spent the past two decades mainlining sausages and red wine, shifting behavioural habits now is a case of better late than never, rather than a complete reset. “You can’t change what you have done in the past, so you just can’t worry about that,” says Giles Yeo, a professor of molecular neuroendocrinology at the University of Cambridge, and author of Gene Eating. “If the damage [to cells and enzymes] has already occurred, then you can’t reverse it. But if the damage or at least a threshold of damage has not been reached, then you can prevent it from happening.”

In other words, better late than never, and it’s never to late to change your lifestyle for the better to reduce your risk of bowel cancer. Here are four things you can do:

1. Ditch ultra-processed foods

Much research, including a crossover study published in September in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, has shown that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) – from junk food to cereals, pasta sauces and yogurts – lead to weight gain. Obesity is a particular risk factor for bowel cancer, explains Vanash Patel, colorectal surgeon at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals. “As the population becomes more obese, bowel cancer rates will increase because obesity leads to polyps [growths in colon or rectum lining] forming in the bowel, and these polyps can eventually turn into cancer.”

It doesn’t matter when you start, he adds – cutting UPFs from your diet and lowering your weight “is going to help not only in reducing your bowel cancer risk, but also reducing your risk of other cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases.”

2. Up your fibre intake, and eat less red meat

“Eat as much fibre as possible,” Yeo advises – most of which is derived from plants and fruit, pulses, wholegrain breads and high-fibre cereals.

According to Cancer Research UK, increasing fibre consumption reduces bowel cancer risk by encouraging more regular bowel movements, increasing the size of what we pass and diluting their contents, meaning harmful chemicals spend less time in the bowel. Fibre entering the bowel leads the bacteria to make butyrate, which keeps cells healthy, minimising the chance of tumours developing.

The other dietary diktat to live by, Yeo adds, is eat less red meat.”Red meat, and processed red meat in particular, are the ones that are very powerfully linked to bowel cancer.” A study in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that those who consumed 79g of processed and red meat a day – the equivalent to three slices of ham – were 32 per cent more likely to develop bowel cancer than those eating less than 11g per day.

3. Cut back on the booze

Drinking can damage the cells in the bowel lining, increasing the potential for cancer to develop. NHS guidance suggests 14 units of alcohol (a large glass of wine contains 2.3; there are 2.2 in a pint) with at least two booze-free days each week, but studies have shown that colon cancer risk can increase with each glass consumed. According to Drink Aware, the alcohol charity, drinking causes one in every 17 cases of bowel cancer in the UK.

4. Get moving

If you are a couch potato, now is the time to change your ways – even moderately.

“There is strong evidence that physical activity is associated with a lower risk of bowel cancer,” says Sam Orange, senior lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at Newcastle University. “People who are highly active reduce their lifetime risk of bowel cancer by approximately 20 per cent compared to those who do little or no activity,”

But evidence suggests that even brief, vigorous activity performed as part of daily routines – like climbing the stairs, or walking briskly to the bus stop – could cut cancer risk by 20 per cent. “This is promising,” says Orange, as it indicates that simple everyday tasks “could also help lower bowel cancer risk”.

However, there are benefits to stepping things up beyond day-to-day movement. According to Orange’s research, even a single bout of exercise “can release cancer-fighting molecules into the bloodstream, which may directly inhibit the growth of bowel cancer cells.”

He advises following current NHS exercise guidelines, which recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.

If you want to really make an impact, celebrity trainer Matt Roberts suggests kicking things up a gear, particularly if weight loss is the goal. “You’ve got to recognise that you need to be moving five days per week and the benchmark is to do each of those movements for 45 minutes minimum.” He suggests “zone two cardio stuff: fast-paced walking, it can be sitting on the bike at a medium pace” – with the idea being to sweat, and get your circulation going.

How exactly physical activity reduces bowel cancer risk is still being studied, but Orange says that one possible explanation is that it lowers levels of inflammation and insulin, which are linked to cancer development.

The great news is that it’s never too late to start. “Even after decades of inactivity, becoming physically active can still bring significant benefits, including lowering bowel cancer risk and improving other aspects of health in middle and older age,” says Orange.