The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) recently released a plan to help reduce cancer risk. This 10-step plan advises cutting back on both alcohol and processed meats in an attempt to reduce cancer rates, which are expected to rise by almost 60 percent by 2035.

The WCRF guidelines are updated every 10 years, and after gathering research data from more than 50 million people, the organization has created a prevention plan that might just be the “blueprint” to beat cancer. 

Much of the new plan focuses on preventing obesity and being overweight, which are projected to increase as people continue to live sedentary lifestyles and consume foods high in unhealthy fats and sugar. 

The problem with overweight and obesity is that it can increase cancer rates. The report says, “If current trends continue, overweight and obesity are likely to overtake smoking as the number one risk factor for cancer.”

The WCRF identified 12 cancers linked to obesity and being overweight: “liver, ovary, prostate, stomach, mouth and throat, join bowel, breast, gallbladder, kidney, oesophagus, pancreas and womb.”

However, the report also states that 40 percent of cancer cases are, in fact, preventable. And diet and lifestyle choices play a big role in preventing cancer. 

Therefore, the report advises individuals to “eat little, if any, processed meat”, which includes hot dogs, bacon, deli meats, etc. 

Drinking alcohol is also discouraged and should be limited, while tobacco should be avoided in all of its forms. 

Instead, the report says that “Appropriate diet, nutrition and physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight, have the potential over time to reduce much of the global burden of cancer.”

In fact, the director of research funding for WCRF, Dr. Giota Mitrou, described the 10-step plan as a “package of lifestyle behaviors” that might be a “blueprint for cancer prevention.”