Effects of Excess Body Fat

Obesity is the result of an imbalance of food intake and exercise. When you eat more and exercise less, fat accumulates in the body. The first place that fat accumulates in men is in the middle of the body around the belly and abdomen.

Belly fat is specially evolved to store fat quickly and release it quickly. Thus, this is the first place the fat settles when you gain weight and the first place it leaves when you lose weight. Since this fat grows so quickly, it can sometimes outgrow its blood supply, causing the fat cells to die. When this happens, the body’s immune system sends out scavenger white blood cells to clean up the debris — which, as we described earlier, sets off a cascade of inflammatory and oxidative events that can ultimately promote heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer, including prostate cancer.

But the effects of belly fat on prostate cancer growth are not limited to its impact on inflammation. Hormones produced by belly fat affect the ability of cells to properly take up insulin. In turn, this resistance to insulin results in the overproduction of insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF), both of which are potent stimulants for prostate cancer growth. When applied to human prostate cells in the laboratory, IGF prevents prostate cancer cells from dying and helps them grow. At the same time, the release of special proteins that “sponge up” and reduce the levels of IGF is decreased, thereby exacerbating the effects of the increased circulating IGF. Of note, one of these special binding proteins (IGF binding protein-3) has been shown to directly stimulate prostate cancer cell death — compounding the effects of the loss of IGF binding proteins resulting from insulin resistance and excess belly fat.

Beyond the effects of the excess body fat, the consequences of caloric imbalance that leads to fat accumulation can be significant. Cancer cells grow faster than do normal cells and require excess energy for their growth. Thus, excess calories — above your body’s need — will help feed tumor growth.

In animal studies, cutting down on carbohydrate intake has been shown to dramatically slow tumor growth. In human studies, cutting down on carbohydrate intake has been shown to be one of the best ways to lose weight, which, in turn, has dramatic health benefits and can slow tumor growth.

Despite some very promising research, the degree to which cutting all carbohydrates is helpful in the long run remains unknown. But what is not disputed is that eating simple sugars has no real benefit, promotes obesity and possibly tumor growth, and should be avoided.