"Fat" is just one word, and it causes 13 types of cancer! The latest research shows that different fat distributions lead to different cancer risks for men and women. Please eat and exercise like this

There is one word that 13 types of cancer love, and nearly half of the Chinese people are affected by it, that is "fat"! The "Report on the Nutrition and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents (2020)" shows that the situation of overweight and obesity among adults in my country is serious, with more than half of adults being overweight or obese, and the overweight/obesity rates of children and adolescents aged 6-17 and under 6 reaching 19% and 10.4% respectively. Obesity can cause various health problems, including cancer.

A major study recently published in Cancer Cell, a well-known journal in the field of oncology, evaluated the impact of fat accumulation and distribution on cancer risk in women and men. Nearly 450,000 people were tracked for 13 years. The study revealed important details that have been overlooked in "obesity causing cancer". The impact of obesity on men and women is actually different!

Overweight and obesity are very clear risks of cancer, and are also one of the most extensive cancer risks. The National Cancer Institute of the United States found that obesity is closely related to more than ten types of cancer, including breast cancer, kidney cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, endometrial cancer, etc. Among all malignant tumor deaths, 14% and 20% of men and women respectively are caused by overweight and obesity. In order to let you see the contribution of overweight and obesity to cancer more intuitively, we have drawn their relationship. After reading it, are you shocked?

Note: This figure is translated from cancer.gov/obesity-fact-sheet

"Obesity causes cancer" is different for men and women

The Cancer Cell study prospectively studied 442,519 UK Biobank participants for 19 cancer types with an average follow-up of 13.4 years.

The researchers found that all cancer types except brain, cervical and testicular cancers were associated with at least one fat trait in either men or women. In women, both fat accumulation and distribution-related traits were associated with gallbladder cancer, while the fat accumulation trait had a stronger association with thyroid cancer and gynecological cancers.

In contrast, no association with thyroid cancer was observed in men, whose fat signatures had stronger associations with bladder, stomach, oral, and colorectal cancers and melanoma. These data suggest that fat accumulation and distribution are differentially associated with cancer and have different effects in men and women.

In addition, the distribution of fat in different parts of the body is an important factor in the risk of obesity-related diseases. Compared with subcutaneous fat, fat stored in the abdomen is considered to be more pathogenic. Studies have found that a higher proportion of abdominal fat in women is associated with an increased risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, but this is not the case in men; a higher overall fat content in men is associated with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, but this effect does not exist in women.

Surprisingly, the effects of obesity on cancer risk differed not only between men and women, but also between postmenopausal and premenopausal women. Most notably, obesity is a risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer, likely due to changes in estrogen secretion after menopause. In addition, smoking and drinking are risk factors for multiple cancer types. Among men, the effect of body fat accumulation on oral cancer incidence is more pronounced in heavy drinkers than in those who never drink.

How does obesity promote cancer?

You may have overlooked a cruel fact: obesity itself is a disease.

Not only does it shorten people’s life expectancy by an average of 6 to 7 years, it also causes metabolic disorders, putting the body in a state of chronic inflammation. Over time, accumulation may cause DNA damage, making it easy to cause cancer.

Under the chronic stress and inflammation of obesity, the body produces abnormal immune responses, which is undoubtedly a major hazard to health. Little is known about the mechanism by which obesity promotes tumorigenesis. Currently, the focus is on systemic chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, adipose factor imbalance, sex hormone imbalance, immune system changes and intestinal flora imbalance after obesity. Among them, the most widely accepted theory of "obesity promoting cancer" is the "chronic inflammation theory."

Obese people are prone to various chronic inflammations. Many studies have shown that chronic inflammation significantly increases the risk of cancer. On the one hand, during this process, tissues are repeatedly damaged, and cells are constantly stimulated to divide and grow, which greatly increases the probability of DNA mutation. On the other hand, some immune cells may directly stimulate the growth of cancer cells, causing increased stress in the body. In the long run, this chronic inflammation is harmful to the body.

In addition, adipose tissue can produce estrogen, resulting in relatively high estrogen levels in obese people. This may increase the risk of gynecological tumors such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Obesity may weaken the effect of insulin in controlling blood sugar, resulting in so-called "insulin resistance", and long-term imbalance may affect tumor occurrence.

This study provides guidance for personalized cancer prevention strategies. For most cancers, an increased tumor incidence is associated with increased body fat accumulation and abdominal fat. Therefore, both men and women need to pay attention to body fat, especially to preventing the occurrence of excess visceral fat.

For women, they should focus on losing weight all over their body, which may help prevent a variety of cancers, including thyroid cancer and gynecological cancer. In addition, losing abdominal fat can help reduce the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. For obese or overweight men, not drinking alcohol on top of losing weight can effectively prevent oral cancer.

How to tell if you are fat?

I recommend a simple tool to determine whether you are fat or not, which is the body mass index (BMI).

You can measure your height and weight. Substitute into the formula: BMI (kg/m²) = weight (kg) ÷ height² (m²).

For Chinese adults (regardless of gender), BMI ≥ 24 is considered overweight and BMI ≥ 28 is considered obese.

In addition, waist measurement is also very important. You can combine it with the "waist-to-hip ratio" to conduct self-assessment. Waist-to-hip ratio (i.e. the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference) is an effective indicator for determining central obesity. Combined with BMI, it can more accurately determine the weight health of adults. If you want to measure whether your abdominal fat is excessive, quickly calculate it!

“Control your mouth and move your legs”, how can you stick to it?

You must have heard the saying “control your mouth and move your legs”, but why can’t you lose weight even though you know so many great principles?

If you are just starting to lose weight, listen to me, don’t set such a big goal for yourself at the beginning, that is, control your diet and exercise.

You can make gradual adjustments in terms of diet and exercise so that your body can accept it happily.

The correct way is:

1. Adjust your personal diet, such as reducing the intake of fats, sweets, and beverages, and adjusting the ratio of meat to vegetables, but keep the total energy intake unchanged;

2. At this stage, it is enough to increase the amount of exercise by moving your legs, and it is enough to increase the consumption of 200-300 kcal per day;

3. Stick to exercise and develop exercise habits. After your body adapts, you can reduce your dietary calorie intake appropriately. That is, start "moving your legs" and reduce 200-300 kcal per day.

Follow this method step by step, gradually develop good habits, and you can avoid the situation of not being able to stick to it as much as possible. Control your diet scientifically, move your legs, and tell your family quickly, let's lose weight and prevent cancer together!

Source: Chongqing University Cancer Hospital

Author: Chen Mengting

Audit expert: Yu Huiqing

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