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Interesting news about cancer survivors…

At first glance, you might think that people who get cancer and survive, eventually die of that or a similar cancer. But a new national study shows that nearly 50% of cancer survivors die from other conditions. And the leading condition they die of? Heart conditions.

The report, which has not yet been subjected to peer review, was presented at the 2012 American Association for Cancer Research Meeting in Chicago on March 31-April 4.

The National Cancer Institute reports that there are approximately 12 million cancer survivors in the U.S., of whom two-thirds are 5-year survivors. The most common cancers they suffered from were breast, prostate, lung and colorectal. Over a period of seven years, the patients were followed by the researchers, and during that time, 776 of the survivors died.

According to the study, 51% died from cancer, while 49% died from other causes. Of the latter, the leading cause of death was heart disease, the number one cause of death in the United States. In fact, heart disease accounted for almost two-thirds of the non-cancer deaths.

The longer people lived after being successfully treated for cancer, according to the report, the more likely they were to die from a non-cancer disease. This trend increased as the patients grew older.

What this brings up, of course, is the kind of life styles that cancer survivors may want to consider after completion of treatment. The study underscores the importance of living a heart healthy lifestyle that includes proper diet and adequate exercise.  It’s tempting for some, in the relief and euphoria that comes with a cancer-free diagnosis in the years after treatment, to go overboard in terms of food choices, dieting, and daily activity levels. Hitting the local buffets and gorging on pastries just won’t pay off in the long run.

In like manner, watching the world go by from  your living room couch won’t take you anywhere, either. A better path would be to follow a lifestyle that, ironically, might have prevented the cancer in the first place. That would include giving up all forms of tobacco, exercising regularly, eating only the most healthy foods and reducing alcohol intake.

Imagine how dramatic the effect would be on the nation’s health statistics if virtually everyone switched over to the same healthy lifestyle. Not only would cancer stats drop sharply, but so would the number of deaths from heart disease and other major killers of the U.S. population.

It all comes down to choice. Make the right ones, and your chances of living to a ripe old age increase considerably. Something to think about.

What’s the right time to snack? When you’re hungry and not yet ready for a full meal! So that can mean just about any time morning, noon or (early) evening.

By definition, a snack is any small meal eaten between regular meals. Snacks can be an important part of your diet regimen, helping you to avoid binges that come when one is “too hungry” at regular dining times and feels compelled to eat at other times.

Snacks used to be prepared in our own kitchens, and were composed of things we had stored up in the fridge or pantry. Remember that chocolate cake leftover you had in the middle of the night? That’s a snack. But probably not a very healthy one.

Snacks absolutely can be healthy, however. You don’t really have to place your health in the hands of leftovers or processed goodies from the store. Keep these principles in mind: try to eat something at least once every 3 hours, keep it low in calories and high in nutrition.

Always keep 3 main meals as part of your daily schedule—never skip breakfast, by the way. It’s the fastest way to a bulging waistline we know of. Make breakfast your largest meal of the day, followed by lunch and a light dinner. Never eat anything—not even a snack—after 8 pm if you can avoid it. The reason in simple: food taken into your stomach late at night is not digested as efficiently as food consumed in earlier parts of the day. So you absorb fewer nutrients from it…and retain more calories.

Incidentally, even a healthy breakfast can create a spike in the blood sugar that raises insulin sharply…and that spike drops dramatically an hour or so later. That’s when you should be ready with a healthy snack such as a piece of fruit or some nuts. Try to keep your shelves stocked with for higher protein, high fiber snacks such as almonds, cashews or pecans, an apple or other fruit with an ounce of cheddar cheese, small cups of yogurt, vegetables such as carrot sticks, celery, hard boiled eggs, canned tuna or salmon, etc.

Avoid conventional (and potentially fattening) choices like pretzels, muffins, cereal, dried fruit bars, bagels, most energy bars, popcorn and rice cakes.

One last piece of advice: snack between meals even when you don’t feel hungry. Make it part of your routine and you’ll find yourself eating less at regular meals and more consistently losing weight over a long period of time.