We’re all guilty of it on occasion.
Taking a second—or even a third—helping when one would have been plenty. Or opening a bag of snacks and realizing two hours and a movie later you’ve downed the entire bag.
If it only ever happens once in a blue moon I’d chalk it up to being human.
But chronic overeating can stand in the way of your health in far too many ways to count. And now we have a new… and frightening… consequence to add to the list.
Colon cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the US
According to a team of researchers at Thomas Jefferson, Harvard University and Duke Medical School, eating too much could be putting you right smack dab in the direct path of colon cancer.
And with skyrocketing obesity rates it’s really no surprise that colon cancer is the third most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer death here in the United States.
In other words, our fight isn’t just against obesity anymore it’s a fight against a killer cancer.
The researchers made the connection between overeating and colon cancer by looking at the intestinal lining of obese lab rats, according to the study published in the journal Cancer Research.
Overeating clicks the off-switch on a key hormone
They found that overeating acted essentially like an off switch for a critically important hormone called guanylin. Guanylin helps to protect us against cancer by jumpstarting special receptors in our intestines that discourage tumors from forming.
But when guanylin production is switched off those anti-cancer receptors just sit silently by.
According to the lead researcher Dr. Scott Waldman there’s around 80 percent less guanylin activity in extremely obese people than their thin counterparts.
Which helps explain, at least in part, why you have a 50 percent greater risk of developing colon cancer if you’re obese.
Put down the fork, close the bag and step away from the table
It’s time to get serious about overeating. Make a commitment, starting today, to be more mindful whenever you eat.
Don’t take more than you need or accidentally overeat out of boredom or stress.
By far, the easiest way I’ve ever found to both curb over-eating and lose extra pounds is to switch to a healthy low-carbohydrate diet such as the Paleo Diet. Full of filling animal and nut proteins—and plenty of low-sugar veggies and fruits—it will leave you both healthy and feeling satisfied.
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