A recent study in Finland has found a correlation between intense physical exercise and the reduction of the risk of certain cancers. The study which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine comprised of 2,560 healthy men and spanned over 17 years.  None of the participants in the group had cancer at the beginning but by the end of the study 181 had died from the disease.

The men kept daily diaries of their activities and the researchers discovered that after taking into account variables such as smoking, fat and fiber intake the one common factor that seemed to reduce the likelihood of cancer in this group was exercise. The men who jogged regularly for at least 30 minutes a day had a fifty percent reduction in the chance of developing cancer.

Another article published in the British Journal of Cancer website concluded that physically active people were less likely to become afflicted with colon cancer than less active people regardless of body weight or diet. A study conducted in the United States also supports this theory: highly active women over 30 were found to have a drastically reduced risk of developing breast cancer than their less active counterparts.

While it is still largely unknown why this is so, all research points to the fact that the more intensely you work out on a regular basis, the less likely you are to develop certain kinds of cancer such as lung cancer and cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. Genetics, the increase of sex hormones resulting from intense exercise and the panting that results from strenuous activity have all been considered as possible factors for this correlation between reduced cancer risk and physical activity. Another factor that may contribute to this is that regular exercise helps improve bowel movement which may accelerate the removal of carcinogens in the colon, thereby reducing the risk of colon cancers.

With all the well known benefits of regular exercise, this is yet another reason for you to get those running shoes out of the closet and start using them. Apparently it's possible to outrun cancer by jogging for 30 minutes a day. Even walking briskly five or six hours a week can help protect you from developing this terrible disease. Regular exercise seems to be the single best thing you can do not only to keep healthy and reduce your likelihood of developing cancer but it also prevents depression and mood imbalances.