When I say we’re eating ourselves to death, I mean it quite literally.
Obesity is a death sentence. And that’s not just my opinion — it’s a cold, hard fact. A fact that continues to take a fatal toll on the world’s population at an increasingly breakneck speed.
The most recent report is about as grim as it gets: It appears that cancer is on the rise among adults under 50. And research suggests that skyrocketing obesity rates are probably to blame.
In fact, public health officials are warning us to brace ourselves for what they’re predicting to be an “explosive increase” in obesity-linked cancer among this population.
To make matters worse — and this is something that a lot of people don’t realize — obesity doesn’t just raise your risk of cancer. It’s also associated with a worsening prognosis in patients facing the disease.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg, really. Because other than my loyal readers and my patients, it’s far from common knowledge that obesity is linked to the “big C.” Estimates suggest that only half of the public is aware of this deadly connection. And who knows how many doctors fail to discuss this with their patients?
It’s high time word got out — and fast. Because awareness surrounding obesity’s link to heart disease, diabetes, and even arthritis clearly isn’t doing much to stem the tide. But maybe if more patients knew they were putting themselves in cancer’s crosshairs, it might finally convince them to make some changes.
Because as this research shows, the danger sets in a lot sooner than you might think.
This latest meta-analysis examined data from more than 100 other studies exploring the connection between obesity (defined as a BMI over 30) and cancer in young adults. And it found that common age- and obesity-related cancers (colon, rectal, thyroid, esophageal, pancreatic, and kidney cancers in men — and breast, colon, kidney, endometrial, esophageal, and gallbladder cancers in women) are occurring in younger and younger patients, now more than ever.
Once again, I’m talking about adults younger than 50, who should otherwise be in the prime of their lives.
This review also highlights the numerous ways that obesity fuels cancer — all of which bear repeating:
- It fosters chronic, low-grade inflammation, and oxidative stress
- It increases levels of hormones and proteins that promote cancer growth, like insulin, insulin-like growth factor, and leptin — while reducing levels of adipokines that help to control cancer growth, like adiponectin.
- It alters your sex hormones and heightens estrogen levels
- It disrupts your gut’s microbiome in ways that contribute to tumor growth.
- It leads to conditions like hiatal hernia or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) — which, as you may recall, have their own direct links to cancer.
So just how great is the impact? Well, one study of over 1.1 million Israeli men showed that obesity during the teen years raised the risk of a colon cancer diagnosis before age 48 by 1.5 fold.
I have been ringing this alarm for as long as I can remember. But my most recent in-depth discussion was in the January 2018 issue of my monthly newsletter Logical Health Alternatives.
In that article, I explained just how serious the obesity-cancer connection really is. And more importantly, I gave some important tips for how to “cancer-proof” your diet.
Subscribers have access to that article (and more) in my archives. (Simply log in to the Subscribers section via www.DrPescatore.com). And if you haven’t signed up yet, please — slam the brakes on this vicious cycle before it starts, and consider doing so today.
PS. Speaking of cancer, I’m putting the finishing touches on a cutting-edge, step-by-step protocol that incorporates ALL of the safe, natural strategies I use with my own patients to help them prevent and reverse this devastating disease. I’ll let you know here in the Reality Health Check as soon as it’s ready. So stay tuned!
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