According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
lowering the risk for breast cancer includes maintaining a healthy diet.
In theory, it sounds simple enough. (Not to mention totally logical.) Unfortunately, it seems too few of us are heeding this advice. The CDC’s information page on breast cancer includes tips for prevention, one of which reads, “Control your weight and exercise.
Make healthy choices in the foods you eat and the kinds of drinks you have each day. Stay active. Learn more about keeping a healthy weight and ways to increase your physical activity.”
The American Journal of Preventative Medicine published a 2010 report entitled, “Does the Burden of Obesity Overweight the Burden of Smoking?” About 10 years ago, American deaths from obesity began to outnumber smoking-related deaths.
The study’s authors note that “The total health burden of obesity surpassed the total health impact of smoking,” due to the amount of people who have quit smoking and the number of Americans who continue to tip the scale from overweight to obese.
Unfortunately, when it comes to a healthy diet, Americans are notorious for their poor eating habits.
Fast Food, Obesity and Cancer
Eric Schlosser, the author of the best-selling Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal also writes that obesity has been linked to heart disease, colon cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, infertility and strokes.
When Nation hit bookstores in 2001, the buzz was overwhelming. Most of us had always suspected that fast food wasn’t good for us, but until Schlosser spent two years researching the industry behind McDonald’s et al., we simply did not realize how bad the league of drive-thru burger joints had truly become.
Even if fast food didn’t include additives, the oils and meats and sauces and breads found in fast-food chains are all very fattening.
The Cancer Research UK reports that “we may be able to prevent as many as 9 out of every 100 cancer cases (9%) by changing our diets.
But it is difficult to be exact about this. Research also suggests that about 5 out of 100 cancers (5%) could be avoided by maintaining a healthy body weight.”
Don’t Know What’s In It? Best Not to Eat It?
One aspect that Nation details is the chemicals added to our favorite cheeseburgers, chicken fingers and milkshakes. Artificial colors and flavors, as well as some “natural” colors and flavors are all flavor enhancers. CBS’ 60 Minutes recently reported on these products, noting that additives are produced in multiple countries globally, and used by fast-food chains as well as almost every commercially produced and processed food stuffs to make it all taste better. Much better.
It is here that you have to stop and wonder what these additives are doing to our bodies. Enhancing the taste to make us want to eat more. We eat more, and as many of us know fast food is generally higher in calories, so we gain weight.
Also, these chemicals make it harder for our bodies to metabolize our food properly. A poor metabolism mean our bodies are holding on the the food longer, which leads to increased weight gain.
Start With What You Can Control
Maintaining a healthy way of life is an important part of staying ahead of getting sick and running down your immune system. CNN recently reported that less than 10 percent of cancer appears to be genetic. Lifestyle, however, accounts for a much higher percentage.
CNN spoke with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Sally Scroggs, MS,RD,LD, and Clare McKinley, RD,LD. Anderson is a global leader among cancer hospitals, and Scroggs and McKinley note that the risk of breast cancer could be decreased by up to 38 percent through lifestyle factors that include maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet.
Fix It!
It seems as though we all have a mother, sister, aunt, cousin or daughter who has fallen prey to the disease that is breast cancer. Every bit of knowledge we gain in order to combat the disease is worth taking in and utilizing for better lives. Eating healthy and staying fit is just the first step.
In theory, it sounds simple enough. (Not to mention totally logical.) Unfortunately, it seems too few of us are heeding this advice. The CDC’s information page on breast cancer includes tips for prevention, one of which reads, “Control your weight and exercise.
Make healthy choices in the foods you eat and the kinds of drinks you have each day. Stay active. Learn more about keeping a healthy weight and ways to increase your physical activity.”
The American Journal of Preventative Medicine published a 2010 report entitled, “Does the Burden of Obesity Overweight the Burden of Smoking?” About 10 years ago, American deaths from obesity began to outnumber smoking-related deaths.
The study’s authors note that “The total health burden of obesity surpassed the total health impact of smoking,” due to the amount of people who have quit smoking and the number of Americans who continue to tip the scale from overweight to obese.
Unfortunately, when it comes to a healthy diet, Americans are notorious for their poor eating habits.
Fast Food, Obesity and Cancer
Eric Schlosser, the author of the best-selling Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal also writes that obesity has been linked to heart disease, colon cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, infertility and strokes.
When Nation hit bookstores in 2001, the buzz was overwhelming. Most of us had always suspected that fast food wasn’t good for us, but until Schlosser spent two years researching the industry behind McDonald’s et al., we simply did not realize how bad the league of drive-thru burger joints had truly become.
Even if fast food didn’t include additives, the oils and meats and sauces and breads found in fast-food chains are all very fattening.
The Cancer Research UK reports that “we may be able to prevent as many as 9 out of every 100 cancer cases (9%) by changing our diets.
But it is difficult to be exact about this. Research also suggests that about 5 out of 100 cancers (5%) could be avoided by maintaining a healthy body weight.”
Don’t Know What’s In It? Best Not to Eat It?
One aspect that Nation details is the chemicals added to our favorite cheeseburgers, chicken fingers and milkshakes. Artificial colors and flavors, as well as some “natural” colors and flavors are all flavor enhancers. CBS’ 60 Minutes recently reported on these products, noting that additives are produced in multiple countries globally, and used by fast-food chains as well as almost every commercially produced and processed food stuffs to make it all taste better. Much better.
It is here that you have to stop and wonder what these additives are doing to our bodies. Enhancing the taste to make us want to eat more. We eat more, and as many of us know fast food is generally higher in calories, so we gain weight.
Also, these chemicals make it harder for our bodies to metabolize our food properly. A poor metabolism mean our bodies are holding on the the food longer, which leads to increased weight gain.
Start With What You Can Control
Maintaining a healthy way of life is an important part of staying ahead of getting sick and running down your immune system. CNN recently reported that less than 10 percent of cancer appears to be genetic. Lifestyle, however, accounts for a much higher percentage.
CNN spoke with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Sally Scroggs, MS,RD,LD, and Clare McKinley, RD,LD. Anderson is a global leader among cancer hospitals, and Scroggs and McKinley note that the risk of breast cancer could be decreased by up to 38 percent through lifestyle factors that include maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet.
Fix It!
It seems as though we all have a mother, sister, aunt, cousin or daughter who has fallen prey to the disease that is breast cancer. Every bit of knowledge we gain in order to combat the disease is worth taking in and utilizing for better lives. Eating healthy and staying fit is just the first step.
0 comments:
Post a Comment