Breast Cancer and Weight Issues Linked

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and she told me that not a lot of the people she knew were aware that being overweight was one of the risk factors that can lead to breast cancer. I told her I knew weight loss is a balanced diet and exercise was good for your health, but really didn’t know the extent of the cancer link.

I don’t feel too bad because I read a global survey by the International Union against Cancer (UICC) that found around 40 per cent of people in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and West Asia do not know about the link between weight and cancer. In other regions such as Africa and South East Asia, the survey revealed that awareness is even lower, with respectively 41 and 49 per cent of people saying there is no link between weight and cancer.

I later found out that there are estimates that suggest cancer will soon become the leading cause of deaths, and that weight plays an important role in this. I thought the US was mainly concerned about obesity trends, but it seems almost every other country is worried also.

This survey interviewed 40,000 in 39 countries and found that those who are most at risk from some cancers minimize their own risks. What this means that 25% of those who drink and smoke daily think that smoking cigarettes does not increase the risk of cancer. The same is true of people who are already obese or overweight.

What I was not aware of is that the author of the report, Terry Slavin stated that "Thirty to 40 per cent of cancers could be preventable if people led healthier lives, tackling overweight and obesity."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) an estimated 22 million children under five are overweight today, and the problem is growing.

"Overweight and obesity are part of the causal chain for many cancers," Professor David Hill, the president of the UICC said in a news release to launch the initiative.

This is well established in science but not adequately understood in the community. In fact, current lack of public understanding of the link between body weight and cancer probably parallels our attitudes to smoking and cancer in the late 1950s."

Another report from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007 showed that cancer will become the leading cause of death worldwide by 2010, more than heart disease. Cancer is also rising in developing countries, the World Health Organization reported.

This may be because developing countries are copying the eating habits of developed countries. Where they used to eat a lot of plants and fruits, but the shift towards technology and fast foods is increasing the number of cancers. This brings up the issue of how do we teach these countries not to take the examples of developed countries? Surely not by our example so far.

Healthy breakfast = Healthy All Day

What mom’s have known and preached forever has been corroborated by science. A recent study determined that a good breakfast may be the most important meal of the day. Reuters Health reported this last week.

When researchers looked at the results of American adults they found that people who ate lower calorie foods for breakfast tended to have a higher quality diet overall. This was reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 2008.

When broken down further, men who ate a healthy breakfast generally weighed less, and women who ate breakfast, seemed to weigh less than those who skipped the morning meal.
This reinforced other studies that found out that breakfast eaters are less likely to be overweight, and eating a healthy breakfast rather than pastry, is the key.

So if you have a high fiber cereal for your morning meal rather than a ham and three cheese omelet or even skipping the meal altogether you are off to a better day already.
The thing that was different in this study was the suggestion that low calorie breakfast foods seem to lead to better food choices for the rest of the day. This in may help people to control their weight better.

For example, fruits, vegetables and high-fiber whole grains, are low in energy density, while a Cheese Danish, or jelly doughnuts have a high energy density.What struck me about this research was what my mom and grandmother used to tell me back when I was about 10. “Eat a good breakfast if you want to be healthy”

So now I am reminded again to eat a low energy dense breakfast, and my wife should also eat breakfast, and in addition choose low energy density foods throughout the day.

Balance Is A Big Part of Weight Management

There are no easy answers when dealing with the health issue of managing your weight. It’s a complex problem, and there are a number of factors to consider. Some of the causes of people being overweight and obese include our behavior, the environment we live in, and genetic factors.

Overweight and obesity result from an energy imbalance. This simply means that we eat too many calories and do not get enough physical activity.

Body weight is the result of genes, metabolism, behavior, environment, culture, and social or economic status.

Our behavior and our surroundings play a big part in causing overweight and obesity. These are the greatest areas for prevention and treatment also.

When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight for a lifetime, I think it’s all about balance. The tug of war is between the number of calories you consume verses with the number of calories your body uses or burns off.

Calories are defined as units of energy supplied by food. It doesn’t matter where they come from, they still count. If I eat carbohydrates, fats, sugars, or proteins, all of them contain calories.

Look at caloric balance like a scale. To remain in balance and maintain your body weight, the calories consumed (from foods) must be balanced by the calories used (in normal body functions, daily activities, and exercise).

If you are maintaining your weight, you are in balance. You are eating about the same number of calories that your body is using. Your weight will remain stable.

If you are gaining weight your caloric balance status is in excess. You are eating more calories than your body is using. You will store these extra calories as fat and you’ll gain weight.

If you are losing weight the caloric balance status is in deficit. You are eating fewer calories than you are using. Your body is pulling from its fat storage cells for energy, so your weight is decreasing.

Genetics and the environment may increase the risk of weight gain, but our choices in what we eat and our activity level also contribute to overweight.

Science shows that genetics plays a role in obesity. Genes can directly cause obesity in disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome.

However genes do not always predict future health. Genes and behavior may both be needed for a person to be overweight. In some cases multiple genes may increase one’s susceptibility for obesity and require outside factors; such as abundant food supply or little physical activity.

People may make decisions based on their environment or community. I may not walk to the store or to work because of a lack of sidewalks or traffic. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity 2001noted that it is important to create environments at home, in the school, at work, and in our communities that make it easier to engage in physical activity and to eat a healthy diet.

Some illnesses may lead to obesity or weight gain. These may include Cushing's disease, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Drugs such as steroids and some antidepressants may also cause weight gain.

A doctor is the best source to tell you whether illnesses, medications, or psychological factors are contributing to weight gain or making weight loss hard.

If you are looking for nutritional supplements or weight loss or diet pills to assist your efforts click here and you will find what you need.

Half of Overweight Adults may be Heart-Healthy

Last week there was an AP story about weight and heart attacks. In a nutshell you can look great in a swimsuit and still be a heart attack waiting to happen. And you can also be overweight and otherwise healthy.

A new study suggests that about half of overweight people have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while an equally startling number of trim people suffer from some of the ills associated with obesity. The first national estimate of its kind bolsters the argument that you can be hefty but still healthy, or at least healthier than has been believed.

Stereotypes about body size can be misleading, and even "less voluptuous" people can have risk factors commonly associated with obesity, said study author MaryFran Sowers, a University of Michigan obesity researcher.

In the study, roughly 36 million people nationwide, had mostly normal levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, blood fats called triglycerides and blood sugar. Almost one-third of obese adults, or nearly 20 million people, also were in this healthy range, meaning that none or only one of those measures was abnormal. But around 25% of adults in the recommended-weight range had unhealthy levels of at least two of these measures. That means some 16 million of them are at risk for heart problems.

It's no secret that thin people can develop heart-related problems and that fat people often do not. But that millions defy the stereotypes will come as a surprise to many people, Sowers said.

There is now debate about how accurate the standard method is of calculating whether someone is overweight. Health officials rely on the body mass index (BMI), a weight-height ratio that does not distinguish between fat and lean tissue. The limits of that method were highlighted a few years ago when it was reported that the system would put nearly half of NBA players in the overweight category.

A number of experts say waist size is a more accurate way of determining someone's health risks, and the study results support that argument. This new research may help dismiss some of the generalizations that are sometimes made about weight and health.

Study co-author Judith Wylie-Rosett emphasized that the study shouldn't send the message "that we don't need to worry about weight." That's because half of overweight people do face elevated risks for heart disease, explained Wylie-Rosett, a nutrition researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

But, for those without elevated risks, losing weight "might be important only from a cosmetic perspective," she said.
To arrive at the estimates, scientists analyzed nationally representative government surveys involving 5,440 people age 20 and over, and extrapolated to calculate nationwide figures.

The new study, appearing in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, used government surveys from 1999 to 2004 that included lab tests and height and weight measurements. Participants reported on habits including smoking and physical activity.

In all weight categories, risk factors for heart problems were generally more common in older people, smokers and inactive people. Among obese people who were 50 to 64, just 20 percent were considered healthy compared with half of younger obese people. The results highlight how important exercise is for staying healthy, even for people of healthy weight, Wylie-Rosett said.

The authors noted that fat tissue releases hormones and other substances that affect things like blood vessels, cholesterol and blood sugar. The results suggest this interaction varies among overweight and obese people, the authors said.

The results also add to mounting evidence that thick waists are linked with heart risks. Among people of healthy weight in the study, elevated blood pressure, cholesterol and other factors were more common for people with larger waists or potbellies. This often signals internal fat deposits surrounding abdominal organs, which previous research has shown can be especially risky.

Also, among overweight and obese adults, those in the "healthy" category tended to have smaller waists than those with at least two risk factors.

Dr. Lewis Landsberg, a Northwestern University obesity expert, noted that the research didn't look at heart disease, and that not everyone with high risk factors develops heart problems. Still, he said, the study shows that waist measurements can help assess health.