BC Cancer Screening and Prevention

12/23/2025

Not sure what to bring to the holiday potluck?

This is one of my go-to winter salads—and the best part? You can make it the day before. The kale softens and soaks up all the flavour overnight… a much-needed time saver during the busy season! ✨

Nutrition spotlight:
🥬 Kale is loaded with vitamins K, C, and beta-carotene (which your body converts into vitamin A).
🍚 Quinoa provides all essential amino acids, making it a complete protein.
🍎 Kale, quinoa, and apples team up to deliver plenty of fibre—helping keep you satisfied and supporting a healthy gut all holiday season.
🌰 Almonds add protein, fibre, and are an excellent source of vitamin E. Serving at a potluck? Keep nuts on the side to stay allergy-friendly!

A dish that’s festive and nourishing—win-win! ✨

12/19/2025

Most people can get colon screening by using an easy at-home test called the FIT.

Talk to a health care provider and if you're eligible they will give you an order form for a free FIT kit.

Use that form to pick one up at your local lab.

Do the test at home, no need for changes in diet or any special prep.

Bring the test back to your local lab within seven days of collecting your sample.

Learn more: screeningbc.ca/colon

12/18/2025

Celebrating the season while taking care of ourselves ✨

Going alcohol-free doesn’t have to be boring—mocktail recipes have come a long way, and I’m sharing a few of my favourites here.

Quick note: These aren’t “health drinks” (they’re definitely on the sweeter side!), but holidays are about balance and enjoyment. Listen to your body and feel good choosing an alcohol-free option.

Pro tip: Not in the mood to play mixologist? Same. Luckily, there are tons of ready-made zero-proof cocktails and mixers available now. Check your local grocery store to see what festive newcomers have hit the shelves this season! 🎄✨

- Eleah, Cancer Dietitian

12/16/2025

From office parties to festive dinners, alcohol is often part of holiday celebrations. Whether you're going dry, damp or somewhere in between, how you celebrate is up to you.

Every step toward drinking less brings health benefits, including reduced cancer risk.

If you do choose to drink, consider alternating with water, eating before or while sipping, swapping in mocktails, or setting a limit that works for you.

Visit bccancer.bc.ca/prevention/alcohol for more tips.

12/14/2025

Give the gift of health this holiday season.

12/13/2025

Happy holidays! 🎄✨ With celebrations in full swing, it’s the perfect time to lean into our December nutrition focus: enjoying the season while limiting alcohol intake.

Remember—risk exists on a continuum. More alcohol = higher risk, less alcohol = lower risk. Any step toward reducing intake counts.

Cheers to mindful celebrating! 🥂

What’s your favourite way to cut back?

12/12/2025

Join us next week for a virtual nutrition class - Eating Well on Your Cancer Journey - led by a BC Cancer Registered Dietitian!

Available to anyone with cancer, regardless of where or if they received treatment
Information is most appropriate for anyone at low or moderate risk of malnutrition
Family or friends of people with cancer looking for nutrition information can also register.

📅 When: Wednesday, Dec. 17 from 1:30-2:30 PM PST
🔗 Register here: https://ow.ly/XZPv50WJeLH

Can't make it? Future classes will be offered on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from 1:30-2:30 PM PST in January and February.

12/11/2025

Not all standard drinks look the same. Understand how much you're drinking so you can make an informed choice.

12/09/2025

Join us tomorrow for a virtual nutrition class, Food Choices to Manage Bowel Changes, led by a BC Cancer Registered Dietitian! Most appropriate for patients with tumours located in the colorectal, gynecological and prostate areas.

Class content will focus on:

◾Food choices to manage bowel symptoms such as diarrhea, cramping, bloating, gas, constipation and discomfort
◾Managing treatment side effects of the bowel through diet
◾Preventing or reducing risk of a bowel blockage


📅 When: Wednesday, Dec. 10 from 2:30-3:30 PM PST
🔗 Register here: https://ow.ly/lhlG50XG2Wb

Stay tuned! A future class will be offered in January.

12/09/2025

If you ask Myrna about mammograms, she’ll tell you that she hates them – they’re cold and uncomfortable.

But when she overheard a group of women debating whether to get one next to the BC Cancer booth at the Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show, Myrna didn’t hesitate to encourage them to do it. Why? Because a mammogram saved her life.

Myrna was due for breast screening in the winter of 2017. She’d always stayed on top of getting mammograms, but she was in the middle of selling her real estate business, so she put it off. She didn’t have any lumps, and she felt fine. By the summer the dust had settled, and she was able to go for her mammogram.

What she couldn’t feel, but the mammogram was able to spot, was cancer growing in one of her breasts. A biopsy confirmed it. Luckily it was caught early so it had not spread, and Myrna was able to have surgery to remove it. She jokes she had breast cancer lite since she didn’t need chemo or radiation.

Still, it wasn’t a walk in the park and Myrna needed her friends, family and breast cancer support group to help her get through it. Now that she’s cancer free Myrna is so grateful to the community that supported her.

When asking Myrna about how she’s doing now she explains “I’d rather not have these scars, I’d rather have my breasts as they were, but I’m still alive. I got to hike 418 km last fall that I might not have got to do if I didn’t get that mammogram.”

It’s no surprise Myrna was at the Vancouver Adventure Show! The kayaker, rower and skier has done four Caminos (walking trails) through Europe. Her favourite? The Porto route which follows the Atlantic coast.

Though she’ll return to do more Caminos, she’s now looking for trails to explore here in Canada. Life is an adventure, and thanks to her mammogram, she gets to keep living it.

Learn more about what to expect during your mammogram: screeningbc.ca/breast/how-it-works

​​​Screening mammograms are available to most women, and many Two-Spirit, trans and non-binary individuals, 40 years and older with no symptoms.  

12/06/2025

The more you're around air pollution, the higher your risk for certain cancers. There are steps you can take to reduce your risks and make your air cleaner.

Learn more: bccancer.bc.ca/prevention/air-quality/air-pollution

12/05/2025

You saw hundreds of posts about cancer prevention and our four provincial screening programs this year. But can you guess your number one?