Lifestyle change can help with cancer prevention

Presented by YKHC Diabetes and Prevention Department

Life in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta involves planning and preparing for the next season. We use necessary tools to help influence our decisions in preparation for our subsistence tasks, including weather forecasts, tide charts, and shared knowledge from our elder’s and community members.

As we transition from the busy summer into the fall season, let’s take some time to our most indispensable tool—our health.

If you haven’t checked in with your healthcare provider since last year, now is a good time to make a plan to do so. Schedule your annual checkups and prescription refill appointments. Make sure to you are up-to-date on your list of recommended cancer screenings. Cancer screening tests are an important tool that can help find cancers early when treatments may be more successful.

In addition to screenings, lifestyle changes can serve as tools to reduce the risk for a long list of cancers.

• Quit using tobacco. There is free support for you; you do not have to do this on your own. Call YKHC’s Tobacco Cessation Program at 907-543-6312 or the Alaska Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

• Avoid secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is dangerous for everyone, especially for kids. Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to breathing conditions including cancer.

• Maintain a healthy body weight. Having obesity is connected to many health risks including several cancers.

• Avoid excessive alcohol. Alcohol can damage your body in many ways, some that can even cause cancer.

• Wear sunscreen. Too much ultraviolet radiation (sunlight) can cause cancer. Covering your skin when you will be in the sun for a long period of time and using sunscreen on skin that is exposed may help you prevent damage caused by the sun. This is true year-round in Alaska.

• Be active. Not only will movement help you maintain a healthy body weight, but being active is associated with a lower risk for several types of cancer. Being active is also a great way to help manage stress. Lowering or managing stress has been connected to reducing the risk of some cancers. Move more. Sit less.

• Eat a healthful diet that is rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans/lentils.

• Limit unhealthful foods such as highly processed foods, fast foods, and sugary drinks.

• For mothers, breastfeed if you can. There are benefits for both you and baby.

To learn more about free programs for Alaskans who want to improve their health, visit Freshstart.alaska.gov.

Food is the fuel for our bodies, so make your fuel the best quality! You can try this recipe for whole wheat blueberry pancakes. You can use some of the blueberries you recently picked and whole wheat flour to make delicious, healthy pancakes. Even better, take a walk to deliver some to a friend, relative, or village elder. You will add some activity to your day and put a smile on someone else’s face!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 1/3 cup fat free milk

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 1 tablespoon canola oil

• 1 cup whole blueberries, fresh or frozen

• Cooking spray

Preparation:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon.

2. In another mixing bowl, beat milk, egg, and oil.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until combined.

4. Add blueberries and stir gently.

5. Coat a skillet with cooking spray.

6. Heat skillet over medium-high heat.

7. Pour ¼ cup batter onto the hot skillet and cook until browned.

8. Flip and brown on the other side.

Notes:

• Whole wheat flour is recommended. Other types of flour will work in this recipe.

• Fat free milk is recommended. Milk that contains fat, as well as alternative milks, will work in this recipe.

Adapted from – https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/whole-wheat-blueberry-pancakes/rcp-20122256