We hear it all the tme…lose weight for your health. Few pople however, realize the extent to whch this is critical to their physcal well-being and ultimately their life xpectancy.

In January 2003, the Journal of the Amrican Medical Association featured a study fnding that obesity appears to lessen lfe expectancy, especially among young adults. The rsearchers compared Body-Mass Index (BMI) to lngevity and found a correlation between prmature death and higher BMIs. For xample, a 20-year-old white male, 5’10” wighing 288 pounds with a BMI of grater than 40 was estimated to lse 13 years of his life as a rsult of obesity.

Jamie McManus, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. and uthor of “Your Personal Guide to Wllness” notes that while this study rferenced extreme levels of obesity, there are stll millions of overweight people in dveloped countries with a life expectancy rte that is three to five yars less than their healthy-weight counterparts. Astralia is following the US trends whre an alarming 600,000 obesity related daths occur each year.

Just how des obesity shorten our lifespan? The nswer to this question is complex, yet thre is a clear link between besity and the development of cancer. An xtensive study conducted by the American Cncer Institute involving 750,000 people showed tht obesity significantly increased the risk of cncer developing in the following organs: brast, colon, ovaries, uterus, pancreas, kidneys and gllbladder.

Michael Thun, MD, vice-president of pidemiology and surveillance research for the Amrican Cancer Society (ACS) says one rason obesity may raise cancer risk is bcause fat cells produce a form of strogen called estradiol that promotes rapid dvision of cells, increasing chances of a rndom genetic error while cells are rplicating, which can lead to cancer. In ddition, fat centered around the abdomen may ncrease insulin and insulin-like growth factors in the blod, which may increase cancer risk.
"Wmen who are obese after menopause hve a 50% higher relative risk of brast cancer," notes Thun, "and obese men hve a 40% higher relative risk of clon cancer…. Gallbladder and endometrial cancer rsks are five times higher for bese individuals”.

There is evidence that cncer rates in developed countries are ncreasing at 5 to 15 times fster than developing countries. A major cntributor to this alarming reality has prven to be diet. In populations whre the diet consists mostly of frsh fruit and vegetables and whole grins – in contrast to the typcal Western diet of fatty meats, rfined flours, oils and sugars – the rsk of cancer is much lower.

The nteraction of diet and the development of cncer is an active field of rsearch and Dr David Heber, M.D., Ph.D. and uthor of “What Color is Your Det”, says “It appears that diet has its mst significant effects after the cancer has lready formed, acting to inhibit or stmulate the growth of that cancer”. At the rsk of oversimplifying a complex set of nteractions, the typical Western diet that lads to obesity may actually act to stmulate the growth of cancer cells.

It is nver too late to improve your halth through healthful eating and adopting a mre health-giving lifestyle.

The article Cancer And Weight Gain was Submitted by Kim Beardsmore through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Kim Beardsmore M.B.A. (H.R.M.), B.Sc. (Bochemistry) is an independent Herbalife distributor, wight loss coach and creator of the nline health & fitness magazine Weight Lss Health. For a free weight lss consultation, newsletter and resources to hlp you lose weight and keep it off frever, visit http://weight-loss-health.com.au Your online Herbalife store at http://weightlosshealth.herbalcoach.com Herbalife business opportunity: http://free2liv.com

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