The deadly consequences of waiting to lose weight

I realize I write about obesity a lot. But it’s not because I have it out for obese people. (Remember, I used to be one myself.)

It’s because it’s crystal clear that excess weight is the root cause of most health problems plaguing the U.S. today. And yet, it seems no one wants to do anything about it. (Despite having no problem going after easier targets, like drinking.)

No one likes being told what to eat (or more accurately, what not to eat). So I can understand the hesitance to jump into the fray. But at some point, someone (other than me) is going to have to start doing it. Because as a new study featured in PloS Medicine shows, the problem is getting more titanic by the year.

This research found that, the longer you’re overweight as an adult, the higher your risk of developing cancer. More specifically, researchers found a seven percent increase in risk for every 10 years of being overweight or obese.

But the outlook was worse for certain types of cancer. Risk of endometrial cancer and kidney cancer rose by 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, rates of breast cancer rose by 5 percent per decade of being overweight.

And when researchers accounted for the amount of excess weight in addition to duration, the risks rose even higher.

Surprisingly, they didn’t find significant associations between, rectal, liver, gallbladder, pancreatic, ovarian, or thyroid cancers. But this is just one study. And I’d hardly be shocked if future research revealed further links.

It’s also worth mentioning that this study only looked at women. So there’s no saying whether the same lethal trend applies to overweight and obese men, as well — although I think it’s a pretty fair bet.

Regardless of this study’s limitations, I can appreciate the fact that at least someone made a serious attempt to clearly quantify the toll that the escalating obesity crisis is taking on people’s health.

And I’m hoping that these findings will finally hammer home the message that excess body weight is far from a vanity issue. Sure, everyone wants to look and feel their best. But the real advantage to weight loss is that it could quite literally save your life.

Clearly, this is a message that both patients and their doctors need to hear, over and over again, until it really sinks in. Because I can’t even tell you how often I hear from my patients that I’m their only doctor that even asks them about what they eat — let alone counsels them on the dangers of being overweight and obese.

So I sincerely hope some of these other doctors saw this study, too. Because it’s a wake-up call, if there ever was one. Especially in this day and age, when so many people are growing up obese and staying that way for most, if not all, of their lives.

But it’s not to late to make a change for the better. My complete Metabolic Repair Protocol can help set you on the path to a healthier weight — and, in turn, reduce your risk of cancer…and a whole host of other deadly diseases, to boot. You can learn more about it, or enroll today, by clicking here.

Source:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/867654


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