Charlyn Fargo, Contributor

Looking for ways to cut your risk of developing cancer? Karen Collins, registered dietitian with the American Cancer Research Institute shared some recommendations at the recent annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association:

1. Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight. Don't just look at the scale, check your waist measurement as a crude indication of your abdominal fat, Collins says. She recommends that men's waists be no larger than 37 inches and women's waists be 31.5 inches or less.

2. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day. You can break that into 10- to 15-minute blocks, and even more activity may be better, notes Collins.

3. Avoid sugary drinks and limit consumption of energy-dense foods. It's not that those foods directly cause cancer but they could blow your calorie budget if you often overindulge, notes Collins. She suggests filling up on fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

4. Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans. Go for a variety of colours (like the deep greens of spinach, deep blues of blueberries, whites of onions and garlic and so on). Most Americans, says Collins, are stuck in a rut of eating the same three vegetables over and over.

5. Limit alcoholic drinks to two for men and one for women per day. And watch portion size of drinks, they are often poured liberally, Collins said. The pros and cons of moderate drinking is something women may particularly need to consider, weighing the heart benefits and increased breast cancer risk from drinking.

6. Limit red meats (beef, pork, lamb), and avoid processed meats. Limit red meats to 18 ounces per week, says Collins. Use chicken, seafood or legumes in place of red meat. Red meat doesn't have to be given up completely, just eaten in moderation.

7. Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with sodium. Try to stay under 2,400 milligrams per day, using herbs and spices instead, says Collins. She adds that processed foods account for most sodium intake nowadays - not salt added when cooking or eating.

8. Don't use supplements to protect against cancer. It's not that supplements are bad, they may be 'valuable' apart from cancer prevention, but there isn't evidence that they protect against cancer, except for vitamin D, says Collins.

9. It's best for mothers to breastfeed babies exclusively for up to six months and then add other foods and liquids.

- American Dietetic Association.

Winning recipe

This recipe for pineapple coffee cake is from Eating Well's new Comfort Foods Made Healthy cookbook. The coffee cake uses yoghurt instead of sour cream and can be served for breakfast.

Pineapple coffee cake

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup non-fat plain yoghurt

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fresh or canned pineapple chunks, blotted dry and coarsely chopped

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an eight-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, half cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg, yoghurt, oil and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add the dry ingredients, and stir until blended. Do not overmix. Fold in pineapple. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Combine pecans and the remaining two tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the batter. Bake the cake until the top is golden, about 50 to 55 minutes. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm. Makes nine servings.

Per serving: 253 calories, 38g carbohydrate, 5g protein, 9g fat, 24mg cholesterol, 2g fibre, 476mg sodium.

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Eat a variety of foods such as the whites of onions and garlic.