Weight loss could help you prevent different cancer types, based on a study. It is general knowledge that losing weight could benefit a person. However, a recent research has revealed that it could help save a person from getting deadly diseases.
The results of the study showed that the risk of obesity-related cancer is decreased when one person loses weight. The National Cancer Institute noted the types of cancers that are included in the list. They are cancers of the colon, kidney, pancreas, liver, breast, gallbladder, thyroid, and more.
2 weight-loss plans
The research team had 4,859 adults with an age range of 45 and 76 as their subjects. These people never had cancer before. The researchers followed their subjects' weight loss for more than 11 years. They randomly assigned one of two weight loss plans to each study subject.
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They had the adults undergo intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) for one plan. With this plan, the adults had to reduce the number of daily calorie intake. They had them meal replacement products. Apart from that, they also asked the subjects to increase their exercise to around 175 minutes per week.
The second group followed a plan called Diabetes Support and Education (DSE). For three years, the subjects had three support meetings about exercise, diet, and encouragement per year. After that, they had meetings once a year.
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Results after 11 years
In the follow-up after 11 years, the research team found that about 14 percent of the subjects were diagnosed with cancer. It is equivalent to 684 people. Fewer people got cancer after doing ILI than those who followed DSE. Subjects who followed the ILI plan saw that they had a decrease of 16 percent chance of getting obesity-related cancer.
The corresponding author of the study and associate professor at John Hopkins University, Hsin-Chieh "Jessica" Yeh, Ph.D., explained their findings. She said that healthcare workers should provide counseling to their patients with obesity on how to manage their weight.
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Yeh also said that the healthcare staff could refer their patients to intervention programs to lose weight. She noted that the foundation of obesity and cancer prevention is to provide easy access to healthy food and physical activities.
People are aware that weight loss could help improve one's health concerns. Losing weight could not only lower your risk of a heart attack but also improves your metabolism and lowers your blood pressure. Scientists believe that eating nutritious foods, exercising, and having a healthy lifestyle could help reduce your risk of certain types of cancer.
