Dear Living Well Daily Reader,
It’s a lesson too many guys have learned the hard way — most prostate cancer testing is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
You’ve probably been told how important it is to get a PSA test every year. But the fact is PSAs are notorious for giving false positives and leading to painful, sickening overtreatment.
Believe it or not, though, there may now be a simple, do-it-yourself test that can tell you quickly if you’re at risk for the most aggressive type of prostate cancer.
It only takes two seconds, anyone can do it and it’s completely free.
Are you ready?
Stop reading this for a moment and take a look down at your belly. Are you carrying around a bunch of excess belly fat? That proverbial spare tire?
Believe it or not, that bulging belly isn’t just making your pants tight. It could be warning you of a possible cancer risk.
A study out of Oxford found that every extra four inches on your waistline increases your risk of the most dangerous and aggressive type of prostate cancer by 13 percent.
So if you should have a 32-inch waist and it’s 36 inches instead, that’s an extra 13 percent of risk. And if you’re carrying around a 40-inch waist, that’s an extra 26 percent of risk.
As I’ve told you before, most prostate tumors are very slow-growing. What makes this study particularly noteworthy is that researchers focused on the aggressive forms of the disease.
So what does a beer belly have to do with cancer anyway? Well, we’ve known for a long time that there’s a link between obesity and cancer.
And carrying around too much weight can promote inflammation and hormonal changes that are linked to cancer.
The good news is that big belly can give you an early warning that may help you stop cancer before it starts. Try switching to a protein-heavy diet that cuts out carbs, like the paleo diet or so-called “cave man diet.”
That also means no gut-busting processed foods. Limiting your carbs is an easy way to shed some quick pounds.
And you just might lower your cancer risk in the process.
Live well,
Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily
Ed. Note: Please send your feedback: nmoore@lfb.org – and click here to like us on Facebook.
Sources
[2] Expert Q&A
