Exercise is the best medicine

Active people are less likely to die prematurely, both from cancer and cardiovascular disease. This connection has been demonstrated in numerous studies. Those who exercise little are more likely to be overweight, have type 2 diabetes and other ailments. Those with breast cancer also recover faster and are less likely to relapse. There is no clear explanation for this, but large studies all point in that direction. Recently, Canadian researchers collected and analyzed all studies that examined the effect of lifestyle factors in women with a breast cancer history. Included were studies on the effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, weight, dieting and exercise.

From their analysis, exercise emerges as the best thing you can do yourself to prevent relapse after breast cancer: the risk of dying from breast cancer decreases by 40% if women exercise at least 150 minutes a week at moderate intensity. Specifically, you can, for example, walk briskly for half an hour 5 times a week or take longer walks on weekends and a few short ones on weekdays. It doesn't matter how you spread the 150 active minutes throughout the week, provided you walk briskly, sweating lightly and getting your heart rate up. So window shopping is not one of them, nor is walking from your desk to the coffee machine.

Physical activity has a greater impact on your recovery and risk of relapse than healthy diet and moderate alcohol consumption. Although it must be said that not all women after or during breast cancer treatment are able to take long walks. It's really not abnormal to not immediately reach the recommended 150 minutes per week. Fatigue, lymphedema and other symptoms can interfere. That's why it's good to enlist the help of a walking coach to get you started, a service offered by Pink Ribbon and Wandelsport Vlaanderen.

More resilience

Much research also exists on the impact of exercise on mental health. Typically, those studies point to a beneficial impact. For example, nearly 50 studies find a link between an active lifestyle and a lower risk of depression. Another very large follow-up study, involving more than 1.2 million adult Americans, confirms that regular exercise, 3 to 5 times a week for 30 to 45 minutes, clearly improves mental well-being. Moreover, that effect is similar for all sports, regardless of intensity. Walking is just as good for mental toughness as cycling or running.

Walking reduces your risk of breast cancer

Those who walk every day are at lower risk of breast cancer. So concludes the American Cancer Prevention Study, which followed 73,615 post-menopausal women (average age 62.7 years) for 17 years (1992-2009). The researchers saw a link between exercise and a decrease in breast cancer risk. An average of 1 hour of walking a day was enough to reduce cancer risk by 14%. Physically highly active women even had a 25% lower risk of breast cancer. Based on their results, the researchers suggest that exercise has a beneficial impact on hormone levels, weight, sugar metabolism, insulin sensitivity and inflammation, all factors that play a role in the development of breast cancer after menopause. Recreational walking is a very accessible form of exercise that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine. For those who do not enjoy other sports, it is even a dream alternative. If you don't know how to get started, enlist the help of a walking coach.

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