The Big C. Such a scary word. When the doctor gives you that look, you know that the lump which you had been feeling and you had tried to dismiss as nothing was not as innocent as you had led yourself to believe. And then the diagnosis came and you've never been so afraid and hopeless in your entire life. That's how it is when you come face-to-face with cancer. Age hardly matters. When you're diagnosed with cancer at a young age (and the cases are getting younger nowadays), you dread about what the future holds. When you're old when you got the diagnosis, you wonder about the wrong you've done early on in your life to deserve such a pitiful ending to your life. Either way, a diagnosis of cancer is never easy to take.

But for the millions who are still in the peak of health, here's the good news: Cancer is preventable. And the way towards cancer prevention is the same as the usual method we use to lose weight. Exercise and a well-balanced diet go a long way towards helping you avoid the devastating news that any diagnosis of cancer brings and associated uncertainties and discomfort that comes with modern cancer treatment modalities.

The role of exercise in cancer prevention largely stems from the optimum functioning of the whole body made stronger through a regular workout program. When you exercise, your heart and lungs are encouraged to pump harder to supply freshly-oxygenated blood throughout the body's organs and systems. Your body releases hormones that make you feel good and inhibits stress-inducing ones. In recent studies conducted, it has been shown that taking 10,000 steps a day greatly prevents certain types of cancers. A combination of cardiovascular workouts and resistance training will work towards strengthening your heart, lungs, muscles and bones. When you exercise, you keep yourself strong at the cellular level and help your body become more resistant to disease.

Eating antioxidant-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables also prevent cancers. Blueberries, strawberries and blackberries are known as cancer-fighters because of their rich anti-oxidant content. Green leafy vegetables are also effective in fighting oxidative stress that leads to mutations that cause the development of many types of cancers. Other vegetables like carrots are full of beta-carotene that also work to fight free-radical damage that further increases cancer risk.

Finally, you can make your cancer prevention and workout plan more effective if you observe a healthy lifestyle marked by managing your stress. While some stress is good for you, chronic stress isn't. When you can't handle stress properly, you lose sleep, feel fatigued and experience all sorts of muscular and systemic pain. This causes a tremendous toll on the immune system and often, disease results as a consequence. Stress is not called the silent killer for nothing. It is not uncommon to hear of many seemingly healthy individuals who got a diagnosis of the Big C out of nowhere. They don't smoke, don't do drugs and best of all, they eat health foods. Why cancer? Look at the stress they deal with everyday and you'll readily know why. So eat, exercise and live right. That's cancer prevention in a nutshell.