Need Another Reason to Lose Weight?

Not to scare you or anything, but there's another good reason to start paying attention to your weight (as if you needed another good reason). The American Institute for Cancer Research released some scary data this month, showing that obesity could be the direct cause of more than 6 percent of all cancer cases diagnosed in the US every year. That's a total of -- get ready -- about 100,000 cases of cancer. Every year. Attributable to obesity.

More specifically, the researchers estimate that extra body fat causes 33,000 breast cancer cases a year, probably 21,000 or so cases of endometrial cancer and more than 13,000 of colorectal cancer. See, in the "olden" days, we thought fat cells were just these annoying little sponges of fat that sat there on our bodies making it tough to get into our jeans and embarrassed to get into a swimsuit, but not doing much else. We used to think these fat cells were inert. We now know that the little buggers are virtual endocrine glands, spitting out a huge array of inflammatory chemicals (like cytokines) and hormones (including estrogen!).

Fat cells are smart: They even secrete compounds that protect their interests. One such hormone, discovered in 2001, is called resistin, and it contributes to insulin resistance, a condition that makes it fiendishly difficult to lose fat. So sure, it's always good to watch your weight because of vanity. But if vanity doesn't do it for you, maybe understanding that excess fat can literally rob you of life by contributing to cancer, (not to mention heart disease and diabetes) might motivate you to take some action!