Cancer is a major health problem that can destroy human life. After poring over more than 200 medical studies, a distinguished team of international researchers is warning that being overweight or obese increases the risk of 11 types of cancer, including colon, rectal, uterine, breast, ovarian, kidney, pancreatic, esophagus, stomach, liver, and bone.
Overweight and obesity now affect two-thirds of adults. Carrying excess weight not only increases your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease (hypertension, heart attack, stroke), and Alzheimer’s disease, being heavy is second only to smoking as the leading preventable cause of cancer.
Conventional treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery) can be effective in Stage 1 and 2 cancers, and some Stage 3 cancers, but sadly, little progress has been made in the treatment of Stage 4 cancers in the past twenty years. Tragically, most people are not diagnosed until Stage 3 or 4, and by then it may be too late. Therefore, prevention must be the focus!
The most disturbing trend all, the researchers found, is the massive increase in colon cancer in young people, ages 22-37. In fact, young people are four times more likely to develop colon cancer than previous generations.
If you have children or grandchildren between the ages of 22 and 37, and if they are too heavy, I implore you to talk with them. And if you or your spouse are too heavy, you need to take it very seriously. It has been said that “age is just a number.” That’s only true if you are in good health. There is no reason to let cancer take that all away from you or your offspring. Life is too short not get the best of it.
The best way to determine if you are too heavy is not by your body-mass index or BMI. Rather, it is by your waist-to-height ratio. At the widest point, your waist circumference should never be more than half of your height. For instance, if you are 5 foot, 8 inches tall (68 inches), your waist circumference should be 34 inches or less.
Everything you or your doctor may believe about losing weight and keeping it off is probably wrong. The thing to know is that weight gain and obesity are driven by hormones, not by excess calories and/or lack of exercise. Your body’s own insulin is the key to controlling your weight. Once you understand the effects of excessive insulin production and insulin resistance, you can finally achieve lasting weight loss. For more information on the subject, I recommend reading The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung.
