Is Cancer Prevention A Reason to Lose Weight?
- Aug 26, 2016
- 2 min read
When compared to fitting into a smaller size or looking as good as someone who is slimmer, GOOD HEALTH may not be the best motivator to lose weight.
After all there are many obese people who think their health is not compromised and convincing them to lose the excess lies elsewhere.
At the same time many research reports have been conducted and published to show that obesity is a risk factor for cancer. Being overweight or obese put you at risk for other chronic diseases too. Because of these findings, there is a health warning out to shed excess weight in order to live a healthy life.
Is this warning really important?
A recent report shows that obesity causes cancer, not one but up to about 8 types. For this report researchers looked at 1000 studies involving men and women around the world.
Some of the studies used the body mass index(BMI) to assess excess weight and some used waist circumference. Both methods are acceptable but the BMI is more widely used with health professionals.
According to the report researchers identified 8 cancers associated with excess weight, they are cancer of the:
Stomach
Liver
Gallbladder
Pancreas
Ovary
Thyroid.
Meningioma, cancer of the brain
Multiple myeloma, cancer of the blood
The researchers concluded that "the absence of excess body fatness lowers the risk of most cancers, perhaps by keeping hormone production and inflammation in check."
The bottom line is prevention is better than cure when it comes to cancer and keeping excess weight off is one way to do it.
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