The Power of Prevention: Simple Nutrition and Lifestyle Steps to a Healthier You

Healthy living starts with the choices you make every day. Eating nutritious foods, staying active, and avoiding harmful habits can make a real difference over time for your health and well-being. These habits can help lower your risk of many health problems, including breast cancer and other chronic diseases.

Start With What’s on Your Plate

One simple place to start is by eating more high-fiber foods. Try adding:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Beans
• Whole grains 

These foods provide important nutrients, help support a healthy digestive system and stronger immune system, and can help protect your body from disease and inflammation.

You don’t have to completely change the way you eat. Try starting small, like adding one more serving of vegetables a day, or swapping in whole grains for other bread or potatoes.

Move Your Body in a Way You Enjoy

Experts recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week to help lower the risk of many chronic diseases. You can break this into smaller amounts of time throughout the week. Whether it’s walking, biking, swimming, or dancing, finding activities you enjoy can help you get and stay active.

Give Your Body the Support It Needs

Your body’s hormones play an important role in weight, metabolism, hunger, fullness, and how your body stores fat. Four key hormones—insulin, cortisol, leptin, and ghrelin—help regulate blood sugar, appetite, and your body’s response to stress. 

You can support your overall health and hormones by focusing on the basics:

• Eat balanced, nutritious meals.
• Move your body regularly.
• Get enough sleep, and good sleep.
• Find healthy ways to manage your stress.

Avoid Tobacco, Limit Alcohol

Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, and contributes to more than 490,000 deaths each year. Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States.

Small steps can make a big difference with your health. Taking care of yourself and building healthy habits doesn’t have to be overwhelming. And you don’t have to change everything at once. Start small: Add in more fruits or beans. Take a walk. Dance to your favorite music. Skip the drink with alcohol. Small, consistent changes can have a lasting impact. Every healthy choice you make today is an investment in a healthier future.