You may have heard obesity is a risk factor for health conditions like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, but did you know obesity can also raise your cancer risk?
“It’s not a direct correlation – like the link between smoking and lung cancer – but there’s an indirect correlation between obesity and cancer,” says Samantha Schlitt, M.S., R.D., a registered dietitian at Henry Ford Cancer. “To what degree it raises your risk, we’re not sure.”
Several cancers have been specifically associated with obesity: pharynx/larynx, liver, kidney, stomach, colorectal, advanced prostate, post-menopausal breast, gall bladder, pancreatic, ovarian and endometrial. Why obesity raises your risk of these cancers isn’t definitively known, but there are a few theories:
- Data shows having a large amount of fat tissue can make your body produce too much estrogen (as fat promotes estrogen production) and excess estrogen leads to a higher risk for post-menopausal breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers.
- Carrying too much body fat produces proteins called cytokines. When you’re sick, cytokines help your body mount an immune response to ward off illness, but they’re also inflammatory. This isn’t an issue in the short-term, but if your body is in a chronic state of inflammation, your cancer risk increases. “Cancer occurs when cellular growth becomes corrupted—and living in a constant state of inflammation creates more opportunities for cellular growth to become corrupted,” says Schlitt. Plus, an unhealthy diet filled with processed sugars is inflammatory, which can also lead to chronic inflammation.
- Fat also produces proteins that increase hormones like insulin (one reason why obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes) along with growth hormones, which prompt cells to divide more frequently. The more often cells divide, the greater the chance a mutation will occur and develop into a tumor.
Weight Management At Henry Ford
Is There A Weight ‘Threshold’ That Increases Your Risk For Cancer?
What is considered healthy can differ based upon someone’s ethnicity/race, age and sex. “There’s no magic number that says you’re healthy or that automatically puts you at risk for cancer, but the longer you are obese and the more obese you are, the higher your risk,” says Schlitt. “Visceral fat (or belly fat) along with significant excess fat in general increases your risk.”
In fact, research shows that a sedentary lifestyle itself may increase someone’s risk for colon, endometrial and lung cancer.
Any time you can make a positive lifestyle change, it helps to reduce your risk for a myriad of health conditions, including cancer. Start slowly. “For example, eliminate pop for a month and then make another healthy lifestyle change,” says Schlitt. “Go for daily walks, incorporate salads into your diet. Eating healthily and exercising can reduce inflammation and are habits that are good for your overall health. Aside from not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight throughout life is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself from cancer.”
Reviewed by Samantha Schlitt, M.S., R.D., a registered dietitian at Henry Ford - Cancer who sees patients at Henry Ford Hospital, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital and Henry Ford Medical Center - Columbus.
