There is no need to go down the gym to cut your risk of cancer.
An hour a day of ‘vigorous’housework – such as scrubbing the floor, vacuuming the stairs or polishing the furniture – is as good as a session on the treadmill at reducing the chance of colon tumours, a study shows.
A survey of 413,000 people from ten European nations – including 74,000 Britons – found active people were 22 per cent less likely to develop colon cancer.
The risk of tumours developing on the right side of the colon dropped by 35 per cent for active people, while it was even lower for people with a healthy body mass index of less than 25.
An hour’s strenuous exercise or two hours of moderate exercise would significantly lower the risk of colon but not rectal cancer, the research concluded.
Bowel cancer – either colon or rectal – is the third biggest cancer in men and the second most common in women.
Dr Lesley Walker, from Cancer Research UK which part funded the study, said: ‘This should remove any doubt about the benefits of exercise.
‘If regular brisk walking or going for a run does not appeal, you can try some strenuous housework.’
Dr Walker said scientists did not know why exercise had an effect on cancers in the right side of the colon. But she said physical activity stimulated muscles which increased the movement of waste and possible cancer-causing agents.
The findings are published by scientists from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.