RED January encourages people to move every day to boost their mental and physical health. But did you know regular exercise also plays a significant role in reducing cancer risk? In this article, we explore seven science-backed ways daily movement helps protect your body, from regulating hormones to reducing inflammation, making RED January not just a mental health initiative, but a powerful step in cancer prevention.
January is a great time to reflect on the past year and start building good habits. The Run Everyday in January (RED January) campaign encourages people to be active every day through January for their mental and physical health. This doesn't mean running a marathon or training for the Olympics, even a small amount of movement every day has been shown to have great benefits1. This article will give you 7 great benefits of regular exercise and what it can do for your health.
7 Ways Exercise Supports Cancer Prevention
Regular exercise significantly reduces the risk of 13 types of cancer, including the two most common types (breast and bowel), and three of the hardest to treat (pancreatic, oesophageal, and gallbladder)2. How exercise reduces risks of specific cancers isn't known, but it is thought to involve effects on body weight, hormones, and the immune system.
In general, exercise improves your overall health. Experts say that even small, regular stints of movement add up over time and provide huge health benefits.
1. Regulates Hormone Levels
Exercise can help regulate different hormones in the body and ensure that they stay within an ideal range. Key hormones like cortisol, oestrogen, and insulin have all been shown to be affected by exercise.
Oestrogen is a hormone that plays a key role in women’s reproductive health. Fat is very important for hormone production, so having excess fat may lead to higher levels of oestrogen in the body. This increased level of oestrogen has been linked with increased risk of breast and bowel cancer. Even low levels of exercise have been shown to improve weight management and even help regulate oestrogen levels directly, therefore, reducing the risk of these cancers3,4.
After menopause, there is a reduction of oestrogen in the system, which can lead to some unpleasant symptoms like hot flushes, night sweats, and the thinning of bones (osteoporosis). Regular exercise helps make these symptoms manageable and can improve bone health5,6.
Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone. High levels can affect your mental and physical health. Chronic stress can actually dampen your immune system and make you more vulnerable to illness. Exercise can help manage stress, and regular, short walks are extremely beneficial for lowering cortisol7–9.
Insulin is a hormone that helps you regulate your blood sugar by moving the sugar from the blood into the cells that need it for energy. If insulin stops working, the sugar stays in the blood, and you can develop type-2 diabetes. Exercise can make your body more sensitive to insulin and can even reverse a pre-diabetes diagnosis, along with a better diet10,11.
2. Reduces Inflammation
Inflammation is the body’s natural way of fighting infections and healing injuries. However, if the immune system is overactive (chronic inflammation), it can cause damage to cells and increase the risk of certain diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes12,13.
Chronic inflammation can be caused by stress, poor diet, inactivity, alcohol, or some long-term diseases like arthritis. Regular exercise can help reduce key inflammatory markers by encouraging the muscles to help clear inflammatory cells and waste products more effectively14,15.
3. Helps Maintain a Healthy Weight
Obesity is linked to at least 13 different types of cancer, such as breast, bowel, and liver. It is associated with chronic inflammation and excessive hormone production from fat tissue. Extra body fat is thought to increase insulin and oestrogen activity, both of which can increase the risk of cancer4,13.
Exercise can support healthy weight management by burning calories, building muscle, and improving metabolism. Even light activities like daily walks, yoga, or gardening can help manage weight and reduce health risks10.
4. Boosts Immune Function
Your immune system constantly patrols for abnormal cells that could become cancerous. Exercise strengthens this defence by improving circulation and cell communication. One important type of cell is called a Natural Killer (NK) cell. They are types of white blood cells that can directly attack cells that are cancerous or have been infected with a virus by punching holes in them4,15.
30 minutes of moderate exercise, like a brisk walk or a swim, can improve NK cell activity by around 175 percent. Excessive sitting or lying down can reduce immune surveillance through the circulation and allow cells to escape detection. This means that your body is less likely to spot and deal with these threats before they can potentially develop into an infection or cancer13.
5. Improves Gut Health
Regular movement keeps digestion smooth and can support healthy gut bacteria (microbiome). Both of these can help reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer, which is the 4th most common cancer in the UK16.
Exercise increases blood flow to the gut lining and helps good bacteria thrive. Exercise also speeds up the movement of waste through the digestive system. This limits how long potentially harmful toxins from your diet stay in contact with your gut17.
Exercise also boosts microbiome diversity towards protective, anti-cancer types of bacteria. These can produce short-chain fatty acids, like butyrate, which help feed healthy gut cells, reduce inflammation, and help your gut to thrive18.
6. Enhances Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin works like a signal to help cells take up blood sugar to use for energy. When cells ignore this signal, sugar builds up in the blood and can lead to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Both increase the risk of cancer19.
High insulin levels from poor sensitivity act as a growth signal that can help cancer cells multiply. This has been shown in both breast and bowel cancers4,19. Regular exercise can improve this by making your body respond better to insulin and help you manage your blood sugar more effectively.
During exercise, muscles can take up more blood sugar without needing too much signalling from insulin. Exercise can maintain this sensitivity for a day or two after you stop exercising. This means that less insulin is needed overall, and steady habits can help lower cancer risk long-term4,19,20.
7. Lowers Risk of Recurrence
For cancer survivors, regular exercise can reduce the risk of cancer returning, particularly for breast and colon cancer, by up to 30-50 per cent according to some studies21,22.
Exercise lowers chronic inflammation, balances hormones like insulin and oestrogen, and boosts immune surveillance so immune cells can better detect and eliminate stray cancer cells.
Major organisations, including the World Cancer Research Fund23 and the NHS24 recommend 150 minutes of moderate activity weekly, like brisk walking, as essential survivorship care.
Making It Work During RED January
The goal of RED January isn't intense workouts; it's about little bouts of movement every day that add up over time. Consistency is key, and it's about building good habits over time25.
Particular examples include 20-minute daily walks, gentle stretching, yoga flows, simple home bodyweight workouts, or even dancing to your favourite music. Any movement counts, even if that means taking the stairs, cleaning your house, walking while on the phone, or getting yourself a glass of water every hour or so.
The key to success is setting small, realistic goals. If a daily 20 minute walks seems daunting, start with 15 minutes of movement every day. Using RED January’s structure to integrate exercise into your routine as a non-negotiable health habit, like brushing your teeth, alongside a balanced diet and stress management.
Pairing these lifestyle changes with preventative health screening, like a general health check-up with your general practitioner (GP) or a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan, can offer the most comprehensive approach to catching potential issues early before they become serious.
Conclusion
RED January offers more than mental health benefits; it’s a powerful cancer prevention strategy backed by science. From hormone regulation and inflammation reduction to immune boosting and gut health, daily movement works through multiple pathways to lower cancer risk and support survivors. Start small, stay consistent, and pair exercise with preventive screenings for comprehensive protection that lasts far beyond January.
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References
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