Sweetness, Food Addiction, And Overweight: A Study Denying A Connection?

Here is a paper from several years ago that goes against "conventional wisdom" arguing that:

...sugary foods contribute minimally to 'food dependence' and increased risk of weight gain. Instead, they are consistent with the current scientific notion that food energy density, and the unique individual experience of eating, plays an important role in determining the reward value of food and promoting excessive energy intake.

I think we need to look at additional studies for conformation or refutation, considering the importance of sugar in the American diet and American obesity.  No doubt of course "high food density" is the most important thing and a combination of high fat and sweetness - indeed identified in this study as a problem - may be a particular "villain" here.

Dietary Lapses

What is the frequency and predictors of dietary lapses?  A paper from several years ago looks into this, abstract:

BACKGROUND:

Adherence to dietary prescriptions is critical for successful weight loss and weight loss maintenance. However, research on specific instances of inadherence (lapses) is limited, and findings regarding the frequency, nature, and causes of lapses are mixed. Additionally, no studies have examined lapses over the course of a weight loss program.

PURPOSE:

In the context of a reduced calorie diet prescribed as part of a behavioral treatment, we aimed to characterize lapse occurrence, examine lapse frequency across treatment, examine predictors of lapses, and assess the relationship between lapses and weight loss.

METHODS:

Adults (n = 189) enrolled in a 12-month behavioral weight loss program completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) at baseline, mid-treatment, and end of treatment. At each EMA survey, participants indicated whether a lapse had occurred, and responded to questions assessing situational, environmental, and affective states.

RESULTS:

Lapse frequency showed a curvilinear relationship over time, such that frequency first decreased and then increased. Lapse frequency at baseline was negatively associated with early and overall weight loss. Lapses most often occurred at home, in the evenings, on the weekends, and entailed eating a forbidden food. Greater overall levels of assessed affective and environmental triggers predicted lapses, and greater momentary hunger and deprivation, and the presence of palatable food, also prospectively predicted lapses.

CONCLUSIONS:

In addition to characterizing lapse frequency, the current study identified prospective predictors of lapses across treatment. These findings support the importance of lapses to weight control and provide insight for potential targets of intervention to prevent lapse occurrence.

One point I would raise in response to: "Lapses most often occurred at home, in the evenings, on the weekends, and entailed eating a forbidden food. Greater overall levels of assessed affective and environmental triggers predicted lapses, and greater momentary hunger and deprivation, and the presence of palatable food, also prospectively predicted lapses" is to suggest that a pre-planned cheat meal (for those more overweight) or cheat day (or those who cab be more flexible, who have less weight to lose) may alleviate some of these problems.  The key is discipline, not to "cheat" all week.  "Cheating" may help reset metabolism and leptin levels and avoid the slowing of metabolism that accompanies dieting (although this requires more evidence).  The psychological benefits are obvious.

Primary Cilia And Energy Metabolism

One can only imagine the new excuse: “I’m fat because of my primary cilia.”  Abstract:

Obesity has become a common healthcare problem worldwide. Cilia are tiny hair-like organelles on the cell surface that are generated and anchored by the basal body. Non-motile primary cilia have been considered to be evolutionary rudiments until a few decades, but they are now considered as important signaling organelles because many receptors, channels, and signaling molecules are highly expressed in primary cilia. A potential role of primary cilia in metabolic regulation and body weight maintenance has been suspected based on rare genetic disorders termed as ciliopathy, such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Alström syndrome, which manifest as obesity. Recent studies have demonstrated involvement of cilia-related cellular signaling pathways in transducing metabolic information in hypothalamic neurons and in determining cellular fate during adipose tissue development. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about cilia and cilia-associated signaling pathways in the regulation of body metabolism.

Fad Diets Not Necessary

More support for the ides that “fad” diets – like low carb – are not necessary for weight control and dealing with metabolic syndrome. Take home point: “any diet type resulting in reduced energy intake will result in weight loss and related favorable metabolic and functional changes.”  Abstract:

In the past, different types of diet with a generally low-carbohydrate content (< 50-< 20 g/day) have been promoted, for weight loss and diabetes, and the effectiveness of a very low dietary carbohydrate content has always been a matter of debate. A significant reduction in the amount of carbohydrates in the diet is usually accompanied by an increase in the amount of fat and to a lesser extent, also protein. Accordingly, using the term "low carb-high fat" (LCHF) diet is most appropriate. Low/very low intakes of carbohydrate food sources may impact on overall diet quality and long-term effects of such drastic diet changes remain at present unknown. This narrative review highlights recent metabolic and clinical outcomes of studies as well as practical feasibility of low LCHF diets. A few relevant observations are as follows: (1) any diet type resulting in reduced energy intake will result in weight loss and related favorable metabolic and functional changes; (2) short-term LCHF studies show both favorable and less desirable effects; (3) sustained adherence to a ketogenic LCHF diet appears to be difficult. A non-ketogenic diet supplying 100-150 g carbohydrate/day, under good control, may be more practical. (4) There is lack of data supporting long-term efficacy, safety and health benefits of LCHF diets. Any recommendation should be judged in this light. (5) Lifestyle intervention in people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while maintaining a relative carbohydrate-rich diet, results in long-term prevention of progression to type 2 diabetes and is generally seen as safe.

Don’t Blame Your Genes

It’s not your genes, it’s your appetite and eating habits.

But weight loss averaged about 13 pounds over a year, regardless of genes, insulin levels or diet type. Also, some people lost as much as 60 pounds and others gained 15 pounds — more evidence that genetic characteristics and diet type appeared to make no difference.

What seemed to make a difference was healthful eating. Participants on both diets who consumed the fewest processed foods, sugary drinks, unhealthy fats and ate the most vegetables lost the most weight.

The results suggest that "precision medicine is not as important as eating mindfully, getting rid of packaged, processed food" and avoiding unhealthy habits like eating while watching television, said lead author Christopher Gardner.

So, excuses about “it’s my genes” do not justify BMI realities, and fad diets are a waste of time, if key essentials are met: “Participants on both diets who consumed the fewest processed foods, sugary drinks, unhealthy fats and ate the most vegetables lost the most weight."

I for one cut out sugary drinks – including orange juice and other fruit juices – cut back on saturated fats, cut back on foods with lots of added sugar, eat a bit less “packaged food,” while increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grain as opposed to white.

Inflammation, Immune Cells, And Liver Cancer

Chronic inflammation due to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease alters immune cells, resulting in more cells that produce factors that suppress anti-cancer immunity, therefore increasing the risk for liver cancer.  Note that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with metabolic syndrome, which is itself associated with being overweight/obese.  An association between poor weight control and liver cancer>  You do the math. Abstract:

The role of adaptive immunity in early cancer development is controversial. Here we show that chronic inflammation and fibrosis in humans and mice with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is accompanied by accumulation of liver-resident immunoglobulin-A-producing (IgA+) cells. These cells also express programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and interleukin-10, and directly suppress liver cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes, which prevent emergence of hepatocellular carcinoma and express a limited repertoire of T-cell receptors against tumour-associated antigens. Whereas CD8+ T-cell ablation accelerates hepatocellular carcinoma, genetic or pharmacological interference with IgA+ cell generation attenuates liver carcinogenesis and induces cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-mediated regression of established hepatocellular carcinoma. These findings establish the importance of inflammation-induced suppression of cytotoxic CD8+ T-lymphocyte activation as a tumour-promoting mechanism.

BMI, Metabolic Syndrome, And Pancreatic Cancer

Here is study linking higher BMI, and higher fasting insulin levels (metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance), with an increased risk for pancreatic cancer.  The burden of morbidity and mortality caused by overweight/obesity is staggering, something to keep in mind when reading all the popular stories on the Internet that attempt to normalize obesity and rant about “fat shaming” and “body shaming.”  Being overweight is literally killing people, why normalize it?  Abstract:

BACKGROUND:

Risk factors for pancreatic cancer include a cluster of metabolic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. Given that these risk factors are correlated, separating out causal from confounded effects is challenging. Mendelian randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables, may facilitate the identification of the metabolic drivers of pancreatic cancer.

METHODS:

We identified genetic instruments for obesity, body shape, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes in order to evaluate their causal role in pancreatic cancer etiology. These instruments were analyzed in relation to risk using a likelihood-based MR approach within a series of 7110 pancreatic cancer patients and 7264 control subjects using genome-wide data from the Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (PanScan) and the Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Consortium (PanC4). Potential unknown pleiotropic effects were assessed using a weighted median approach and MR-Egger sensitivity analyses.

RESULTS:

Results indicated a robust causal association of increasing body mass index (BMI) with pancreatic cancer risk (odds ratio [OR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09 to 1.65, for each standard deviation increase in BMI [4.6 kg/m2]). There was also evidence that genetically increased fasting insulin levels were causally associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.05 to 2.63, per SD [44.4 pmol/L]). Notably, no evidence of a causal relationship was observed for type 2 diabetes, nor for dyslipidemia. Sensitivity analyses did not indicate that pleiotropy was an important source of bias.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our results suggest a causal role of BMI and fasting insulin in pancreatic cancer etiology.

Fat Tails And Cell Signaling

Cell signaling pathways responsible for fat deposition have been studied in fat-tailed sheep, a breed characterized by an appearance associated with its name.  These findings may have relevance to the human condition.  Of course, the major reasons for fat deposition in humans is diet and inactivity, but research into the problem can be useful.  Abstract:

Adipose tissues are phenotypically, metabolically and functionally heterogeneous based on the sites of their deposition. Undesirable fat deposits in the body are often detrimental to animal and human health. To unravel the potential underlying mechanisms governing accumulation of adipose tissues in various regions of the body, i.e., subcutaneous (SAT), visceral (VAT) and tail (TAT), we profiled transcriptomes from Tan sheep, a Chinese indigenous breed with notable fat tail using RNA-seq. Upon comparison, we identified a total of 1,058 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the three adipose types (218, 324, and 795 in SAT/VAT, SAT/TAT, and VAT/TAT, respectively), from which several known key players were identified that are involved in lipid metabolic process, Wnt signals, Vitamin A metabolism, and transcriptional regulation of adipocyte differentiation. We also found that many elevated genes in VAT were notably enriched for key biological processes such as cytokine secretion, signaling molecule interaction and immune systems. Several developmental genes including HOXC11, HOXC12 and HOXC13, and adipose-expressed genes in the tail region, such as HOTAIR_2, HOTAIR_3 and SP9 were specially highlighted, indicating their strong associations with tail fat development in fat-tailed sheep. Our results provide new insight into exploring the specific fat deposition in tail, also contribute to the understanding of differences between adipose depots.

More On Cancer Prevention And Lifestyle

Here is recent news on yet another study linking lifestyle to cancer risk.  These are all things you, as a reader of this blog, should be well aware of by now.  The importance of curbing these behaviors to reduce cancer risk is underscored by these additional data.

Researchers with the American Cancer Society looked at data on cancer incidence and deaths, finding that 42 percent of all cancer cases in the United States -– and nearly half of all cancer deaths – are linked to preventable risk factors like cigarette smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, excess body weight, alcohol intake and dietary choices.

Cigarette smoking, in particular, was connected to far more cancer cases and deaths than any other single risk factor, accounting for 19 percent of all cancer cases and 28.8 percent of deaths. Overweight and obesity came in second, responsible for 7.8 percent of cases and 6.5 percent of deaths, while alcohol intake was the third most important factor, leading to 5.6 percent of cancer cases and 4 percent of deaths.

Although there are some sex-specific differences as to the relative importance of various risk factors, the bottom line is that these things – smoking/overweight/obese, bad diets, certain STDs, alcohol – are bad for everyone.  Be aware and adjust your life accordingly, to the extent you are able.

Four Approaches To Weight Loss

By FatM1ke - Central_Obesity_011.jpgCentral_Obesity_008.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4412552

Here is a review paper on weight loss that focuses on four methods: (1) juicing/detoxification, (2) intermittent fasting, (3) paleo, and (4) high intensity training.  The first three methods all led to weight loss due to caloric restriction; however, the extreme “fad diets” of juicing or detoxification lead to weight gain when the normal diet is resumed. Paleo, if followed continuously, would seem to enable the weight to be kept off; the basic lesson is that a diet needs to be a sustainable, long-term commitment, not a short-term extreme such as, for example, juicing. Intermittent fasting also can work if followed on a regular basis.  I myself cut back on saturated fat, “junk” food and excess sugar, while increasing fruit, whole grains, and vegetables (with one “cheat day” in which I really don’t eat that unhealthy either).  Caloric restriction is what all have in common.  Interestingly, “high intensity training” worked as well, despite the recent paradigm that says that weight loss is overwhelmingly about diet and not exercise (the latter of which has a host of other benefits). Perhaps the type of exercise is important, and one wonders if all variables are taken into account; perhaps those who do “high intensity training” have healthier diets.  Abstract:

PURPOSE OF REVIEW:

The purpose of this paper is to review the epidemiology of obesity and the most recent literature on popular fad diets and exercise regimens that are used for weight loss. The weight loss plans that will be discussed in this article include juicing or detoxification diets, intermittent fasting, the paleo diet, and high intensity training.

RECENT FINDINGS:

Despite the growing popularity of fad diets and exercise plans for weight loss, there are limited studies that actually suggest these particular regimens are beneficial and lead to long-term weight loss. Juicing or detoxification diets tend to work because they lead to extremely low caloric intake for short periods of time, however tend to lead to weight gain once a normal diet is resumed. Both intermittent fasting and the paleo diet lead to weight loss because of overall decreased caloric intake as well. Lastly, studies on short bursts of high intensity training have shown remarkable weight loss and improvements in cardiovascular health. Review of the literature does suggest that some fad diets and exercise plans do lead to weight loss; however, the studies are quite limited and are all based on the concept of caloric restriction.

The New Blood Pressure Guidelines

The blood pressure guidelines for “high blood pressure” have been lowered once again. As America get fatter and fatter, it’s interesting that the cutoffs for things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels get lower and lower, and drug sales go higher and higher.

New guidelines lower the threshold for high blood pressure, adding 30 million Americans to those who have the condition, which now plagues nearly half of U.S. adults.

High pressure, which for decades has been a top reading of at least 140 or a bottom one of 90, drops to 130 over 80 in advice announced Monday by a dozen medical groups.

I’m skeptical of these new blood pressure standards.  If the ultimate outcome – regardless of what people are saying now – is really going to be an emphasis on losing weight, exercise, and good diets, then fine.  But I believe that the real ultimate outcome is going to be putting half of America, or more, on blood pressure medication, just like we’ll have half on statins, and a big percentage on attention deficit disorder medication, all leading to fat profits for pharmaceutical companies.

So, yes, get your blood pressure to healthy levels. But the specter of folks with 30+ BMIs taking blood pressure medications and statins seems to be self-defeating.

The Real Headless Horseman: Obesity

By John Quidor - aQHCpcwsbaMXQA at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22126482

For Halloween, we need to remember that much of the “treats” that children are getting are extremely unhealthy. Most treats are sugar/fat/high fructose corn syrup laden candy.  As a once-a-year event, this might be fine (in moderation), but with childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome on the rise, and colon cancer diagnosed at ever-younger ages (possibly due to weight problems), consuming such junk food should not be a habit.  It’s not “The Headless Horseman” stalking the land, but the obesity epidemic, and fewer and fewer of us are as slim as Ichabod Crane.

More: Fat Not Fit

By Victovoi - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9857499

All the past "feel good" stories over the past few years stating it is possible to be "fat but still fit" (physically healthy) are, unsurprisingly, being proven wrong.

Thus, we read:

A new study published in the European Heart Journal Monday finds that being overweight increases your risk of coronary heart disease, even if you are otherwise considered healthy, destabilizing the common conception that someone can be "fat but fit"...

...Researchers analyzed thousands of incidences of coronary heart disease over a more than 12-year period in 10 countries in Europe. They found that being overweight or obese was associated with a more than 25 percent higher risk of developing coronary heart disease, even in people who did not have any other markers that reflected an increased risk of heart disease.

Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News' chief medical correspondent, said the research shows that even if people appear healthy based on blood tests today, the risk of health complications can increase over time if they are obese.

And we read this, showing even more types of cancer are associated with obesity:

While obesity is often associated with a host of other health issues including high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack, a new study is examining how the condition is also related to cancer risk.

A review of several studies published today in the New England Journal of Medicine found new associations between obesity the development of eight additional cancers, in addition to others previously known.

Researchers from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) looked at more than 1,000 epidemiological studies and found that "excess body fatness" is also linked to the risk of developing gastric, liver, gallbladder, pancreatic, ovarian, thyroid, blood (multiple myeloma) and brain (meningioma) cancers.

"I think the main takeaway point is that your health and specifically your body fatness is an important factor for many types of cancer," Dr. Richard Lee, Medical Director of the Integrative and Supportive Oncology Program at the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, told ABC News.

"Patients should understand that they can decrease the risk for developing cancer and improving overall survivorship," by keeping their weight below obesity thresholds, he said. This information can help doctors advising patients on cancer risk, he added.

Researchers in this study also attempted to quantify the risk for obese people to develop this variety of cancers. They found obese people had 1.8 times the risk for developing liver cancer, 4.8 times as high for esophageal adenocarcinoma, and 7.1 times as high for uterine cancer. They also confirmed that for some of these cancers, as your weight goes up, so does the risk.

We read a lot online about "fat shaming" - in reality, what goes on in society today is "fat norming." But it is a serious health problem, both for the affected individual and for society as a whole.  We need more realism and less "feel good" stories that mislead people about real lifestyle risks.

Controversy: Requiem For BMI?

By BruceBlaus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44922550

Look at this paper; abstract reproduced below.  Now, I agree that BMI is a flawed measure.  It always struck me as odd that the BMI cutoffs for normal vs. overweight vs. obese were the same for men and women, considering that the typical man is larger framed and more muscular than the typical woman of the same height, and would therefore weigh more even if of completely healthy body composition. BMI also does not distinguish between the 200 pound athlete with high muscularity and low bodyfat and the 200 pound coach potato who is extremely obese and unhealthy. So, in that sense, I agree with this paper. However, for the typical person at home trying to figure out how their weight fits on the healthy vs. unhealthy spectrum, BMI can be a useful, albeit flawed, measurement, especially if combined with the common sense considerations mentioned above, and also combined with a look in the mirror to ascertain how the weight is distributed.  The typical person is not going to have access to the tools to accurately measure specific body fat percentage; hence the utility of BMI + common sense + visual observation to make judgments about healthy vs. unhealthy weight.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW:Quetelet reported in the nineteenth century that body weight varies across adults with the square of height. Quetelet's index, now known as BMI, is accepted by most health organizations as a first-level measure of body fat and as a screening tool for diagnosing excess adiposity. Modern imaging methods now, however, indicate that BMI has limited predictive value for estimating body fat and lean mass at the individual level. The use of BMI as a measure of body composition in the clinical setting should therefore be challenged.RECENT FINDINGS:Recent studies enrolling cancer and surgical patients reported discrepant outcomes when BMI was used as a body composition surrogate. Sarcopenia, loss of muscle mass and function, which affects the elderly and those with chronic and acute diseases, is not accurately diagnosed with BMI. The distribution of adipose tissue is not characterized by BMI, specific measures of which have greater predictive value for metabolic impairments and clinical outcomes.SUMMARY:BMI, as the traditional tool for assessing malnutrition and obesity, is not appropriate to accurately differentiate between important body weight components and therefore should not be used for making clinically important decisions at the individual patient level.

Physical Activity Can Affect Genetic Susceptibility To Weight Gain

By Javierlayus - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15900701

One often hears the excuse that genes makes someone overweight (note of course that humans have not undergone some sort of rapid genetic change precipitating the obesity epidemic).  It is therefore useful to know that a study has shown that to the extent that genetic differences between people can influence weight gain, that the weight gain can be "diminished by increasing physical activity."  Of course, controlling diet is usually the greatest factor in weight control, even taking genetic differences into account.  Again, genetic differences influencing weight gain have always existed; the skyrocketing expansion of waistlines and BMIs cannot be attributed to genetics as the major factor. Excerpted from the abstract:

Whether change in physical activity over time modifies the genetic susceptibility to long-term weight gain is unknown…In the combined cohorts, 4-year BMI change per 10-risk allele increment was -0.02 kg/m2 among participants with greatest increase in physical activity and 0.24 kg/m2 among those with greatest decrease in physical activity (P[interaction]<0.001), corresponding to 0.01 kg versus 0.63 kg weight changes every 4 years (P[interaction]=0.001). Similar but marginal interactions were observed for the BMI-GRS (P[interaction]=0.045). Our data indicate that the genetic susceptibility to weight gain may be diminished by increasing physical activity.

The Vices Of Men

By Vincent van Gogh - Scanned from Smoke: a global history of smoking (2004) ISBN 1-86189-200-4, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3857076

The paper linked here is a fascinating review that looks at three major vices of men – drinking alcohol, being overweight/obese, and smoking tobacco – and how these activities can damage male fertility and also negatively affect the health of their offspring. Mechanisms by which these vices can affect fertility and the health of children include epigenetic changes to sperm DNA and non-coding RNA (changes to the modification to DNA and RNA, not including actual sequence mutation, that can affect gene expression), sperm DNA damage (which can cause actual sequence mutation affecting gene expression), changes in sperm chromatin structure (for example, changes in the chromosome structure that can affect which genes are expressed and which are silenced), and changes in seminal plasma (that can affect the function of the sperm cells themselves).  Abstract:

There is growing evidence from animal and human studies that demonstrate that acquired paternal traits can impair both a male's fertility and the health of his offspring, including advanced age, smoking, stress, trauma, under-nutrition, infection, toxin exposure, and obesity. Curiously, many of these factors manifest as impaired neurological, behavioural, and/or metabolic functioning in offspring. The underlying molecular mechanisms that respond to the paternal environment and act as vectors of intergenerational transmission are beginning to emerge. This review focuses on three vices of men (alcohol consumption, overweight/obesity, and tobacco smoking) that damage fertility and pose risks to offspring health. These vices are not only the three most prevalent but are also leading risk factors for death and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide. Clearly, any epigenetic/genetic alterations induced by the paternal exposures responsible for transmission need to escape/bypass the substantial post-fertilisation reprogramming that occurs during embryo development. For example paternal obesity alters the molecular composition of sperm, alters the developmental trajectory of resultant embryos, and increase the incidence of obesity and metabolic disorders in offspring. Mechanistic candidates of paternal programming include changes to the sperm epigenome (eg DNA methylation, histone/protamine modifications, and sperm borne small non-coding RNAs), increased sperm DNA damage, aberrant sperm DNA chromatin structure, and components of seminal plasma. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning paternal programming may lead to the development of interventions designed to reduce the disease burden in future generations, who were born to fathers exposed to these initiating factors. Given that these vices are predominantly self-inflicted, interventions aimed at mitigating their consequences are readily identified.

Add this information to all the other reasons to avoid these vices.

Being free improves your health, and being healthy preserves your freedom

Author:
BruceBlaus, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity#/media/File:Obesity_%26_BMI.png


My last posts were about financial freedom, because working from 9 to 5, and being anxious about the job situation does not improve anyone's health.

However, I have to underscore the fact that without good health one cannot easily achieve financial freedom in the U.S. If you want to be ready for your early retirement, just remember that the major preventable risk factor for cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases (the top three killers in the developed countries) is overweight/obesity. So, along with charting your growing net worth, start charting your weight!

Just look at the most recent title on the health front: Being overweight or obese could cause around 700,000 new UK cancers by 2035. According to the 2012 statistics, in the U.S., 3.5% and 9.5% of the cancer cases are linked to excessive body weight in men and women, respectively. Of course, these statistics exclude the other consequences of obesity: metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc.

Therefore, when you embark on your financial endeavor to get out of the regimented workforce, also make plans to check whether you are a healthy weight.

Another self-help website is this of Washington University School of Medicine that allows you to measure your risk of cancer, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, emphysema, heart disease, osteoporosis, and stroke.

In future posts, I am planning on looking into recipes that (a) do not betray your dedication to frugality, and (b) keep your health intact or even improve it. Meanwhile, if you have specific dietary questions, the answer might be here. You could also peruse some of our previous posts on obesity, including this one on cancer and obesity, and this one on childhood obesity.