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PrintWarning: Do Not Feed Cancer
Excess body fat can increase your risk for cancer
It’s no surprise that excess body fat is dangerous to your health. Extra weight increases your risk for a number of conditions, like diabetes, heart disease and joint complications such as gout and osteoarthritis. As the national obesity rate climbs each year, more awareness is being promoted to help clean up our lifestyles and health. What you may not know is that having too much body fat dramatically increases your risk for a number of cancers. Some experts believe obesity has replaced smoking as the number one preventable cause of many common cancers. The need to improve our health is growing as the waistlines of Americans expand. It’s estimated that being overweight and/or obese causes approximately 20 percent of all cancer cases.
Studies have found that excess body fat contributes to cancers of the breast, cervix, uterus, ovaries, colon, rectum, kidneys, esophagus, gall bladder, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, pancreas, liver and in men, the stomach and prostate. Not only can being overweight increase your risk for developing certain cancers, if you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, excess fat tissue can actually interfere with treatment. The morbidly obese can be complicated to operate on and be harder to plan radiation treatments for. It can be complex to decide the right chemotherapy dose for someone who is obese, because fat tissue can absorb the chemicals. Obesity also even makes cancer difficult to diagnose in the first place, as it can be harder to see or feel lumps and bumps.
Too much body fat can influence cancer and cancer-related deaths in many ways. It increases the amount of estrogen in your blood, increasing the risk of cancers to the female reproductive system. It increases the risk of acid reflux, which can cause cancer of the esophagus. It raises levels of insulin, prompting your body to create a hormone that causes cells to reproduce quickly, which can be very dangerous when it’s a cancer cell that’s multiplying.
Eating processed foods for convenience will get you nowhere in life. You may save time by picking up some fast food for dinner, but all those conveniences may be taking years off your life, which makes you wonder: why save the time today when tomorrow may never come? Knowing which foods to avoid could provide the knowledge you need to make small, but effective, food choices.
Cancer cells thrive on sugar, so by eating sugary foods, you’re loading your bloodstream with the chemical energy needed for cancer cells to proliferate. Avoid foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, sucrose, enriched bleached flour, white rice, white pastas and white breads. As more manufacturers are getting cleverer with marketing, they invent new names for sugar and other harmful ingredients, so check labels carefully and research any term you’re not familiar with.
Watch out for hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, which turn into trans fats. Trans fats encourage heart disease and disrupt your metabolic process. Excess belly fat, which can be caused by excessive consumption of hydrogenated oils, can strain and/or crowd surrounding organs, including your heart.
Another known carcinogen is sodium nitrite. This additive is used to make meat look pink, making you think it’s fresher. Avoiding hot dogs, bacon and processed lunchmeat can limit your exposure to this toxin and unwanted weight. Also avoiding doughnuts, French fries, chips, crackers, cookies, soda and dairy products will help maintain a proper weight, while decreasing your risk for developing certain cancers.
To maintain a healthy weight or to help shed some pounds, you should try eating raw fruits and vegetables; dark greens or anything that is a bright color is the optimal choice, because they are rich in antioxidants. Grapes are loaded with resveratrol, another potent antioxidant. Whole grains should be a staple in just about every diet. Antioxidants, fiber and phytoestrogens are all compounds found in whole grains and can help decrease the risk of developing most types of cancer.
Preventing cancer can be relatively straightforward. Even the World Health Organization says that more than 40 percent of all cancers can be prevented with simple changes in diet and lifestyle. By making healthy choices today, you increase your chances of a better tomorrow.
Investing time and money in a quality diet now is much better than spending time in doctor offices and even more money on expensive prescription drugs later in life. Some medical conditions can make it hard to lose weight. Visiting with a physician can help you address stubborn weight issues or provide insight to the right foods.
Paul Stallone, NMD founded the Arizona Integrative Medical Center located at 8144 East Cactus Road, Suite 820, in Scottsdale. Dr. Stallone combines natural/alternative/conventional treatments to best fit and benefit each individual patient’s needs. For more information visit DrStallone.com or phone at 480-214-3922.
