We all know that exercising and staying active has numerous benefits, from keeping your body and mind healthy, maintaining healthy weight, immune system as well as preventing illness like cancer. So how does exercise and being active help to prevent cancer? Bellow we have collected some proven scientific researches for you.

Reducing hormone levels 

Both being active and the amount of fat you have can affect the levels of some types of hormones in the body. Hormones are chemical messages that move around the body to tell different parts what to do.

Oestrogen and insulin are hormones that could encourage breast cells to divide more often. If cells divide too much and grow out of control this can lead to cancer.

Keeping a healthy weight and exercise regularly can reduce the levels of oestrogen and insulin in the body, which prevents cancer cells from developing.

Boosting the immune system

Being very active can give your immune system a boost, which makes it work more effectively. This means the body gets better at spotting cells which could progress into cancer. It can then remove these cells before they cause any harm.

Physical activity also changes the metabolism of the immune system's cytotoxic T cells and thereby improves their ability to attack cancer cells.

Reducing inflammation

Inflammation is a normal way our bodies respond to damage. But if there’s too much, it can cause our cells to multiply more often, increasing cancer risk.

Keeping a healthy weight reduces the risk of many cancer types. One of the reasons for this is that having less body fat can reduce inflammation levels around the body. Keeping fit helps to prevent bowel cancer directly by reducing levels of inflammation in the bowel.

Physical activity slows down the growth of cancer cells

Researchers also found that exercise has the ability to stop the growth of malignant tumors. They found that exercise causes muscles to secrete a special protein – myokine that slows down the growth of cancer cells. Myokines are released by skeletal muscle cells in response to exercise. They determine a number of functions in a healthy body, and able to suppress tumor growth. Myokines affect cancer cells indirectly: they send signals to T-lymphocytes (immune cells) that it is time for them to attack cancer cells, which once again highlights the importance of maintaining muscle mass in the fight against this aggressive type of cancer.

Exercise rejuvenates cells, extending lifespan

On a cellular level, exercise can improve muscle health and helps the body to keep the body cells strong.

Exercise improves muscle health by renewing its cellular powerhouse: the mitochondria. Mitochondria are crucial to the good functioning of our bodies, as well as to our overall health and longevity. These tiny parts of the cell turn the food we eat into energy. Mitochondria transform proteins, fats, and sugars into the fuel that the body needs to live, the process by which damaged or defective mitochondria are selected and removed, usually after a period of stress. Aerobic exercise removes damaged mitochondria in skeletal muscle. If you do it repeatedly, you keep removing the damaged ones and repeatedly clean your body allowing it to rejuvenate faster. Better muscle mass allows you to build better mitochondrial quality.

With all this in mind

You don’t need to become a marathon runner overnight, or join the gym to be more active – you don’t even have to leave your home. Whether you are a complete beginner or advanced, enjoy to exercise in the studio or prefer at home workouts, like private training or group exercise – we, at Ballet Body Sculpture, have it all covered for you! Check out our classes here.

Keep fit & healthy!