This means you could live up to 10 years longer.

The number of cancer cases in Germany is still high. Expert Yurdagül Zopf from Erlangen gives tips that can prolong life for years.

As a cancer expert in Erlangen, Yurdagul Tsopf deals intensively with the effects of diet and exercise on the development of cancer. She heads the Hector Center for Nutrition, Exercise and Sport at the University Hospital Erlangen and holds a professorship in Integrative Medicine with a focus on Nutritional Medicine at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU). In conversation with inFranken.de I have already explained which foods increase the risk of cancer.

Now the 50-year-old offers tips for a healthy lifestyle that will allow you to live up to ten years longer.

Erlangen Cancer Researcher Offers Advice: These Foods Prevent Cancer

First you have to look at body composition: This includes, among other things, body fat, muscle mass and the intestinal mucosa, explains Zopf. “Too much body fat promotes inflammation, which leads to tumor diseases,” says the cancer researcher. On the other hand, sufficient muscle mass promotes immune stability, and supporting the intestinal mucosa through adequate food intake also reduces the risk of cancer. To positively influence body composition, Zopf recommends following the Mediterranean diet.

Dietary diversity plays a crucial role in the Mediterranean diet: you should, among other things, eat three handfuls of “colourful vegetables” a day. Just eating a salad is not the answer – there should be many other vegetables such as broccoli, leeks, romanesco, fennel, cabbage, savoy cabbage and more on the menu. The fibre in vegetables also provides you with additional fibre. Dairy products such as yoghurt, yogurt or similar are “very positive for the gut bacteria”, but should be enjoyed in moderation.

You can also eat a “small amount” of red or white meat throughout the week for protein, but here too the following applies: only in moderation. 300 to 600 grams per week – depending on the person’s size and weight. Many people go well beyond this guideline and eat more than a kilo of meat per week, says Zopf. These are the effects on your body if you eat meat every day. At the same time, oils such as olive oil and rapeseed oil have a “good fat content” and can also be used for a healthy diet. “I use rapeseed oil in everything,” says Zopf.

Cancer expert explains: Mediterranean diet means regional diet

The Erlangen cancer expert emphasizes: The Mediterranean diet also means a regional diet. You don't have to buy food from Italy or special “superfood” products. Regional products are quite sufficient and good for implementing a healthy lifestyle.

Packaged foods should always be avoided if possible. You should also take your time when eating and stick to regular meal times. Zopf also recommends cooking for yourself and gives an example: The human body can absorb the plant material from cooked tomatoes fried in rapeseed oil, for example, better than if the tomatoes were just eaten raw.

If you eat enough plant matter and protein and drink enough – but no sugar – it has a positive effect on your body composition, explains the cancer expert. And pooping works better.

Building Muscle: What to Consider When Exercising

In addition to a healthy diet, don't forget to exercise to build muscle mass, Zopf emphasizes. Strength training is crucial—on training equipment, thermal bands, or the like. Endurance training like running is good for your cardiovascular system and more, but you can't build muscle with this exercise. At best, she recommends doing strength training twice a week and endurance training two to three times a week.

But Zopf knows that there is often no time for that. In this case, one must “take advantage of every opportunity to do seemingly unspectacular movements faster” in order to ensure that they can be implemented in small units in everyday life. “I always climb the stairs and try to run as fast as I can,” the cancer researcher gives as an example.

In short, says Zopf: Sufficient muscle mass, little body fat, a healthy intestinal mucosa – all this “reduces the tendency to inflammation in the body” and thus the risk of cancer. You have to see the Mediterranean diet and exercise as a way of life. “This means you can live ten years longer.” The “planetary health diet” is also known to prolong life. You can read more news from Erlangen-Höchstadt in our local section.