Brisk walk each day 'may cut risk of death from cancer'

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: “These preliminary findings add to the increasing body of evidence suggesting that exercise could improve the chances of survival for people diagnosed with breast cancer. The researchers concluded: “ cancer patients with a healthy body weight who engaged in physical activity, ate a diet high in whole grains, vegetables, and fruits and low in red/processed meats, and drank moderate alcohol had longer disease-free survival and overall survival than patients who did not engage in these behaviours.” Erin van Blarigan, associate professor in University of California San Francisco department of epidemiology and biostatistics, who worked on the study, said it was thought that exercise may affect cancer by lowering levels of insulin and insulin resistance. “Brisk walking is a great exercise for everyone.” Dr Vicky Coyle, a Cancer Research UK scientist at Queen's University Belfast, said: “Patients with advanced bowel cancer could benefit from keeping a healthy weight, being physically active, and eating a healthy diet, as this study suggests. “Evidence is stronger and more consistent for some lifestyle factors than others, physical activity being one of the stronger links.” Sarah James, sports nutritionist and health information manager at the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “These exciting findings emphasise the importance of being physically active, not just for preventing cancer but for increasing cancer survival too.