How Obesity And Diet Increase Cancer Risk
The more overweight you are, the greater your risk for developing cancer — especially cancer of the breast, colorectum, endometrium, kidney, oesophagus, and pancreas.
According to a new report from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), you should keep your Body Mass Index (BMI) within the 20 to 25 range to minimize your cancer risk.
Most people have a BMI higher than this range.
The researchers also found that gaining weight can increase your risk of cancer even if you’re in the healthy BMI range.
So they advise you to avoid weight gain as an adult if you’re in the healthy range and lose weight if you’re already overweight.
Here are some of the other dietary conclusions they reached:
1. Alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancers of the breast, colorectum, larynx, mouth, oesophagus, and pharynx.
It also causes cirrhosis which is linked to liver cancer.
2. Eating processed and red meats significantly raises the risk of developing colorectal cancer.
People who eat the most processed or red meat have a 30% higher risk when compared to those who eat the least.
Processed meats include bacon and ham.
3. For new mothers, breastfeeding exclusively during the first six months protects you from breast cancer.
It also reduces the chance of your child becoming obese later in life.
4. Foods high in folate may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer.
5. Diets rich in calcium may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
The researchers didn’t believe that dietary supplements were useful in preventing cancer.
They also didn’t find a protective effect from eating fruits and vegetables.
Even so, they recommend that people eat at least 5 portions of fruits and vegetables each day.
Technorati Tags: obesity, diet, dieting, lose weight, weight loss, cancer
November 5th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
There are a lucky few who never gain weight in adulthood. But I don’t know many women who dont gain weight with pregnancies and keep some of it on after or who manage to stay slim in middle age. These researchers are being unrealistic.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
I luv bacon and I’m fat. Oh no.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
How much of the risk is from being overweight vs. how much of the risk is from eating the wrong foods that made us overweight? They should have looked into that, but I guess it would be pretty hard to figure out after the fact.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Tammi has a good question. Maybe it’s not being fat that increases our risk for cancer, but the foods we ate to make us fat that increased our risk for cancer.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Hey you’re back. I thought you deserted us after the Halloween post. Sugar rush or something…
November 6th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
The information keeps coming out about how bad being overweight is for your health. With the holidays coming up, it’s hard to see how I can lose weight right now. This is always a bad time of the year for me weight-wise.
November 6th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I didn’t know calcium was good for colorectal cancer. I think you wrote about milk being good for breast cancer, so this is just one more reason to get my 3 glasses a day. Or is it 4?
November 6th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Don’t depress me with stuff like this right before the holidays. I’ve got enough fat guilt already.