Weight Loss And Breast Cancer

We hear it all the time…lose weight for your health. Few people
however, realize the extent to which a healthy body weight is
critical to their physical and mental well-being and ultimately,
their life expectancy. Just how does obesity lead to disease and
death?

At the risk of oversimplifying a complex set of interactions,
the typical Western diet – high in saturated fats, sugar and
refined flours – which may lead to obesity; may also act to
stimulate the growth of cancer cells.

The interaction of diet and the development of cancer is an
active field of research and Dr David Heber, M.D., Ph.D. and
author of “What Color is Your Diet”, says “It appears that diet
has its most significant effects after the cancer has already
formed, acting to inhibit or stimulate the growth of that
cancer”.

Women who are obese after menopause have a 50% higher relative
risk of breast cancer. This is just one of the notable
documented links between obesity and cancer.

It is never too late to improve your health through healthful
eating and adopting a more health-giving lifestyle. Here are
simple steps to follow which can make an immediate improvement
to your health and vitality.

1. Check your Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine if weight
has become health risk. A sijmple search on the net will
bring up a number of sites offering a body mass index.

2. Match your diet to your body’s requirements. If you
eat and drink more calories than your body requires you will put
on weight. Learn to control calories and portion sizes, make
recipes leaner, and eat infrequently from fast food restaurants.
Also learn how to snack with healthful choices.

3. Color your diet with a large variety of colorful,
cancer-fighting fruit and vegetables. There are seven
different color ranges of both fruit and vegetables and by
choosing between 5 to 9 daily serves from a wide range of fruit
and vegetables, we are extending our consumption of cancer (and
other disease) fighting nutrients.

4. Eat lean protein with every meal. Protein provides a
powerful signal to the brain providing a longer sense of
fullness. The right source of protein is essential to
controlling your hunger with fewer calories and necessary to
maintain your lean muscle mass. Choices of protein should be
flavored soy shakes with fruit; the white meat of chicken and
turkey, seafood such as shrimps, prawns scallops and lobster and
ocean fish or vegetarians may prefer soy based meat substitutes.

5. Rev up your metabolism with activity. If you want to
enjoy a lifetime of well-being, exercise is a key ingredient.
Adults should do something for 30 minutes each day that takes as
much effort as a brisk walk. It is also helpful to build
physical activity into your daily routine: use the stairs
instead of the escalator or lift at work, park your car in the
parking bay furthest from the super marketing and don’t use the
remote control to change TV channels.

6. Get support to ensure you develop a healthful eating plan
and reach your goal weight. Whilst a small percentage of
people possess the discipline to lose weight, you may respond
better to some form of consistent encouragement and coaching
from a professional weight loss coach.

Being overweight or obese has been identified next to smoking,
as the most preventable major risk to developing cancer. Even
small weight losses have been shown to have beneficial health
effects. So it’s never to late to start and you can never be too
young or too old to be concerned about your health and do
something about achieving a more healthy weight.

(c) Kim Beardsmore

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