Been overweight a while? Beware of cancer

Ditch the pounds to dodge cancer

Ladies, I hate to break it to you, but time isn’t on your side.

If you’ve been overweight for a while, your body is a ticking time bomb.

And it’s not just the aching knees… the heart disease risk and blood sugar spikes… or even the sedentary lifestyle that could kill you.

Because a new study shows that the more time you spend battling obesity, the greater chance you’ll get cancer.

In fact, data from 74,000 senior women collected by the Women’s Health Initiative showed that the risk of cancer — primarily breast, endometrial, kidney and colon cancers — increases 10 percent for every 10 years spent obese.

This doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook if you’re only “overweight” and not “obese” — because then, your risk climbs seven percent for every decade spent with extra poundage.

This isn’t “body-shaming” and it actually has nothing to do with the way that you look or how your clothes fit. It’s just plain biochemistry, pure and simple.

You see, extra body fat lifts your levels of estrogen, which increases the risk of breast and endometrial cancers.

Extra weight also causes chronic inflammation in your body, which can actually feed tumors, helping them grow and spread.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, if there’s a lot more of you to love and you do get cancer, you may not survive it. Excess weight contributes to nearly 20 percent of ALL cancer DEATHS.

That’s true even if you don’t smoke… don’t eat a lot of junk… and don’t have diabetes.

But that being said, if you don’t already smoke, don’t start. And if you’re not diabetic, make sure you stay that way.

When it comes to your weight, there’s really no good reason to delay getting it under control. And the longer you’ve been overweight, the more urgent it is to do something about it… NOW.

Because the funny thing about weight is, it doesn’t seem to take very long to pack on the pounds… but unpacking them can take a lot longer. Your metabolism slows down as you get older, so it can get more and more difficult to shed any weight at all.

If you’ve already ditched the carbs and sugars by going Paleo and you’re still struggling to lose weight, you may be able to “tip the scale” in your favor by:

Go to bed earlier: According to a study last year, weight gain has been linked to later bedtimes.
Exercise: It not only burns calories while you’re doing it, but it can also jumpstart a sluggish metabolism. And maybe you’ll be so tired, you’ll want to go to bed early.
Take a probiotic: Your gut controls your metabolism, and the right balance of “good” versus “bad” bugs is essential to successful weight management.
Stop stress eating: If you suffer from chronic stress, the Indian herb ashwagandha can actually help change HOW you eat and WHAT you crave.
Check your thyroid function: This critical gland can stimulate metabolism if it’s working properly — but if it’s not, it can lead to weight gain.

Source:
Women’s Cancer Risk Rises With Years Spent Overweight
(medlineplus.gov)