Can your diet reduce your cancer risk?

This week the World Cancer Congress meets in Melbourne. Just last week the international World Cancer Research Fund released a new blog post on Cancer and Obesity. This has been well reported in The Conversation (free-to-read online journal).

Here’s my take…

I wonder if the relationship between obesity and increased cancer is either:

1. causal – meaning being overweight or obese leads to increased risk of some cancers
2. contributory – meaning that it may add to the risk burden for those who are genetically pre-disposed
3. associative – meaning that the things that lead to weight gain may also lead to increased cancer risk (some cancers like breast cancer)
4. or a mix of the above
   I’m one of those who believe that community weight gain won’t be explained by simplistic energy balance theory “eat less and exercise more”, and that it is more about the hormonal response to our high-carb, high-sugar food supply laced with unnatural manufactured polyunsaturated seed oils.

So many dietflex clients had tried “every diet” and “exercising until the cows came home” and were pleasantly surprised when they lost weight on our program, without being hungry. Most say “It was easier than I thought it would be” and “this is easy to stick to”.

Back to the cancer issue…

Could the things we know that lead to weight gain like: continued high blood sugar levels, and/or high insulin levels, also be a contributor to increased cancer risk? Here’s some research that looks at that question.

There is little doubt that fat cells probably increase release of cancer-friendly hormones but it could well be that high blood sugar and high insulin levels might be a contributor as well.

We’d like to think that our clients on our weight loss/maintenance program are doing a bunch of things that may reduce their risk of (some) cancers. Those things include 7 good outcomes:

1. Normalising and stabilising their blood sugar levels through a personalised dietary change
2. Minimising insulin levels. This step and the one above may also help reduce risks of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, non-fatty liver disease and some inflammation-affected conditions
3. Reducing fat weight. Please note that the traditional “eat less and exercise more” programs may work (if you can stick to them) but typically lead to greater loss of lean muscle tissues as well, thereby pre-disposing the person to weight re-gain
4. Increasing daily intake of so-called “anti-cancer” veggies like green leafy veggies
5. Increasing physical activity
6. Improving sleep quality and sense of wellbeing
7. Decreasing the stress of worrying about being out of control about your health and body

If you’re thinking about “getting on the program” contact your nearest dietflex coach today

Have a great day.

Jamie