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Bob Wilcher: Increase in Body Fat Increases Risk of Cancer
A study released recently and sent to me by a friend on Medscape links excess body weight to an increased risk of many cancers.
The study used Body Mass Index (your weight in kilograms divided by your height squared in meters) to assess the risk of cancer. It was shown that with an increase of 5 in your BMI, the risk factor doubles for many cancers. For someone with a BMI of 23, that would mean weight gain of about 30 pounds for both men and women.
The study concluded that there was an increase risk for many types of cancers. Here is a list of them:
» Women: postmenopausal breast cancer, pancreatic, colon, gallbladder and endometrial cancer
» Men: thyroid, renal, rectal and malignant melanoma
» Both sexes: esophageal adenocarcinoma, leukaemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
I’m sure the list goes on.
If I told you to beat your head against the wall for 24 hours, would I need to also tell you that you’ll probably have a headache, bruise and stiff neck? I hope not. I think it’s great that we have such diligent scientists and researchers putting in all this effort to find out that being fat increases your risk for cancer. If you think that being fat is just as healthy as being fit, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Doesn’t it just make sense that having excess fat surrounding all of your organs can’t be very healthy? Every aspect of the body and its functionality operates less efficiently when there is excess fat. A little bit (five to 10 pounds in excess) is probably not going to make a huge difference, but after that, the more fat you have the more you are rolling the dice.
Let’s remember that in order to get all that fat to deposit throughout your body, you have to live a sedentary lifestyle. So the answer is not to go get liposuction because the fat is just a reminder that you’re sitting too much. If you artificially lose the fat through surgery, then you’re still as unhealthy as before — only with less fat in your can or tummy. But it will come back if you don’t change your ways and you don’t do anything about the fat surrounding your organs — the most dangerous fat.
There are no guarantees in life, but I hope you see the importance of living an active lifestyle. It’s just more fun. You can all do it.
I probably believe in you more than you do because I know you can get there if you really want to.
— Dr. Bob Wilcher is a chiropractor and personal trainer in Santa Barbara. He owns Killer B Fitness, a personal and group training studio also located in Santa Barbara. Contact Wilcher at www.killerbfitness.com or 805.448.2222.
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» on 01.29.10 @ 04:13 PM
Interesting article, however what is an ideal body mass? What good is the article if it does not give you enough information?
» on 01.30.10 @ 11:10 AM
According to your BMI calculater, a man thats 6ft 4inches and 210 pounds is overweight. That probably means that every player in the Super Bowl is overweight, the linemen being obese.
Enough of the stupid calculaters.
» on 02.16.10 @ 08:20 AM
What a great resource!
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