First off - fuck cancer. That can never be said enough. It's a horrific disease that claims way too many lives, often of people who are in the prime of their life.
And while developments are constantly being made to improve the lived who suffer from it - and maybe even develop a cure for it - it seems we're a long way off from being able to dismiss cancer as something that used to happen.
According to a major new study of over 50 million people however, cutting out both booze and bacon could help reduce your risk of cancer by up to 40 percent. Now while booze and bacon are two of the greatest pleasures in life, if that turns out to be true, that's clearly a wonderful thing.
That information is part of what's being called a 'blueprint' to beat cancer outlined in World Cancer Research Fund guidelines, which are updated once a decade.
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The 10-point plan issued by the global authority on cancer explains how even small amounts of processed meats and booze increase the risk of a number of cancers.
It also warns that being obese could overtake smoking as the 'number one risk factor for cancer' within a decade, explaining that that is now strong evidence linking excessive weight to the cause of at least 12 cancers. That's five more than in 2007, when the last WCRF recommendations were last published.
This time around, there are separate recommendations that urge people to limit their consumption of processed foods - to help control calorie intake - and soft drinks, urging people to instead 'drink mostly water and unsweetened drinks'.
The authors of the report said that approximately 40 percent of cancers are actually preventable, but despite that the number of new cases is expected to rise by 58 percent to 24 million globally by 2035. The reason for that? More countries adopting Western lifestyles, according to the report.
So while we wait for a cure, it turns out we have to actually look after our bodies, and that, in turn, will help reduce the risks of cancer.
"Avoiding tobacco in any form, together with appropriate diet, nutrition and physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight, have the potential over time to reduce much of the global burden of cancer," the report said.
"However, with current trends towards decreased physical activity and increased body fatness, the global burden of cancer can be expected to continue to rise until these issues are addressed, especially given projections of an ageing global population.
"If current trends continue, overweight and obesity are likely to overtake smoking as the number one risk factor for cancer."
Featured Image Credit: FlickrTopics: Food, News, Alcohol, Cancer, Bacon, Health