Downing High-Calorie Foods Can Increase Cancer Risk In Women

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Polishing off that massive burger and a side of fries in one sitting does more than just make you feel like you have the world’s largest food baby. It could be increasing your risk of developing cancer down the line, according to new research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The observational study from the Women’s Health Initiative included more than 92,000 post-menopausal women from the United States between the ages of 50 and 79. They mapped their dietary choices along with their risks of cancers often related to obesity (breast, colon, ovarian, kidney and endometrial cancers). Surprisingly, researchers found that women who ate more high-calorie, low-nutrient foods but weren’t overweight had a 10 percent higher chance of developing one of these cancers than the other women observed in the study.

The researchers expected to see obese women in the study present higher risk factors for cancer, but when the results presented the opposite information, they realized how much riskier this association can be when it comes to public health in general. Most women of normal weight naturally think they are safe from obesity-related cancers, but if they maintain a nutritionally poor diet and often over-consume calories when they sit down to a meal, they do have something to worry about.

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“This finding suggests that weight management alone may not protect against obesity-related cancers should women favor a diet pattern indicative of high energy density,” lead investigator Cynthia A. Thomson, PhD, RD said in a statement. The good news, at least, is that the foods you choose to eat are easily modified in daily life. Clearly, the quality of your diet — not just the quantity in it — matters a great deal when it comes to your overall health and it’s worth re-evaluating every once in a while.

Since this study was limited to post-menopausal women, more research is needed to understand the relationship between calorie-dense, but nutritionally-poor diets and obesity-related cancer risks in men and younger women. Researchers would also need to look into whether weight matters for these groups more than it did for the one observed here.

Either way, know that you should probably be looking at what’s on your plate in addition to the numbers on the scale if you want to live a long and healthy life.