Unfortunately, obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is recognized as a major cause of cancer worldwide.  It has been estimated that approximately 20% of all cancer deaths in men and women can be attributed to excess body weight and overeating.  Obesity is associated with a variety of cancers such as colon, breast, endometrial, kidney, esophageal, pancreatic, colorectal, as well as gallbladder carcinoma.  In addition, a study from 2003 considered that more than 900,000 U.S. adults found that non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, and multiple myeloma are also associated with obesity.  As early as the 1940s and 1950s, an association of obesity and overeating indicated a causative factor between obesity and cancer.  In animal studies, underfed animals lived twice as long as overfed animals of the same breed.  When animals were allowed to eat unlimited quantities of food, they had a higher incidence of cancer.  The researchers reported that these obese animals developed spontaneous mammary tumors earlier than non-obese controls.

Studies in the 1970s published the first significant evidence that excessive weight or obesity increases the risk of mortality from cancer.  In addition, for all cancers combined, the population of males and females with the highest BMI (Body Mass Index) have death rates that are 52% and 62% higher respectively than those of populations with normal weight.  Therefore, not only is being overweight making us feel out of shape, tired and unable to do our daily activities, but it significantly increases the risk of developing and dying from cancer and a causative factor for many other diseases.  Excessive weight is associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma in both sexes; thyroid; renal cancers in men, and endometrial gallbladder and renal cancers in women.  While the current emphasis is on drug research to locate a cure for cancer, the real emphasis should be on educating Americans on how to prevent cancer.  Billions of dollars are earmarked for cancer research.  We are encouraged to donate for cancer research through various events while the majority of the cancers are actually caused by the lifestyles of the Americans who believe that by giving donations for drug research that we will find a cure.  There will never be a drug to cure cancer.  In this blog, I’ve been sharing statistics that prove excessive weight causes cancer.  This is only one lifestyle choice that we can change to prevent cancer; lose weight, reduce the amount of calories consumed daily, stop smoking, eat a healthy diet based on good proteins and healthy fats, yes, including saturated fats, avoid carbohydrates, sugar, soft drinks and excessive alcohol.

I believe you and I would have a better chance to prevent and cure cancer than all the billions of dollars spent on cancer research.  30 to 45% of Americans are obese with an additional 35% overweight based on eating an additional 500 calories daily than compared to 10 years ago.  The lack of prevention and education is what causes cancer.  I believe these will be the cure for cancer.  It’s interesting that people who undergo gastric bypass have been found to have a decreased cancer risk of 24% and the risk of death from cancer by 46%.  This has even a bigger impact on women for whom this bypass surgery decreases the overall risk of cancer by 42% especially with a large impact on breast and endometrial cancers.  The cancer risk is significantly higher in women due to excess weight.  The Million Women Study developed in the UK, which also included a 5.4 year follow up for cancer incidence and a 7 year follow up for cancer mortality, revealed a significant increase in cancer incidents and mortality risk with increasing weight gain for 10 of 17 cancers that were examined in women 50 years of age or older.  Not only for good health but, for the prevention and the treatment of cancer and many other diseases, weight loss is one of the best treatments that can easily be adopted by everyone.

There are no magic pills or potions to lose weight.  Weight loss comes from adopting a diet that emphasizes proteins and healthy fats with a severe reduction of carbohydrates and sugar.  Cancer cells thrive and spread based on the quantity of glucose (sugar) consumed.  A number of researchers are now advocating the ketogenic diet for health improvement to prevent and treat cancer as well as many other metabolic diseases such as MS, Parkinson’s, and ALS.  For more information on the ketogenic diet go to www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com and www.DrPerlmutter.com.

I would also recommend reading, Cancer As A Metabolic Disease by Thomas Seyfried.