The American Heart Association has offered seven tips it says can cut the risk of cancer in half.

A study of 13,253 U.S. men and women found those who stuck to six or seven of the association's so-called Life's Simple 7 cut their risk of heart disease and cancer compared to those who didn't.

The tips:

— Being physically active

— Keeping a healthy weight

— Eating a healthy diet

— Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels

— Keeping blood pressure down

— Regulating blood sugar levels

— Not smoking

"This adds to the strong body of literature suggesting that it's never too late to change, and that if you make changes like quitting smoking and improving your diet, you can reduce your risk for both cardiovascular disease and cancer," lead author Laura Rasmussen-Torvik, an assistant professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a statement.

The study is published in the journal Circulation.