Yo-Yo Dieting Linked to Kidney Cancer

There are too many diet programs out there to name them all. There’s no-carb diets, fruit diets, fasting diets, and the list goes on. While the methods for losing weight may vary, all of these diet programs have one thing in common – they all promise to be the answer to the battle of the bulge. And while consumers keep shelling out more than $50 billion annually on diet products and programs (yes, that's billion with a B) – it may be hurting more than their wallets.

It seems like a double-edged sword: Research confirms that obesity increases a person’s risk of developing kidney cancer. But research also shows that some methods used to shed the excess weight also increase your risk.

In fact, studies have shown that yo-yo dieting, a cycle of losing weight and gaining it back, doubles your risk of developing kidney cancer later in life. Famous yo-yo dieters or “weight cyclers” include actress and former Jenny Craig spokeswoman Kirstie Alley (who famously fell off of the Jenny Craig wagon), and former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell. Other celebrities such as Oscar-winning actresses Renée Zellweger and Charlize Theron have famously gained weight for movie roles (Zellweger for her role in the two Bridget Jones’s Diary movies and Theron for her role in Monster), only to shed the weight in time to walk the red carpet for their movie premiers.

Experts warn that this type of yo-yo dieting puts women at higher risk for kidney cancer later on in life than just being overweight and maintaining that extra weight. But being overweight isn’t the answer either. The answer, Holly Clegg, author of Eating Well Through Cancer, is to jump off the wheel of fad diets and change your lifestyle for the better – one small change at a time.

“Eating healthy should be a lifestyle, everything in moderation,” says Clegg. “The word “diet” refers to something you start and stop - yo-yo dieting, and often requires cutting out certain food groups – leaving you feeling deprived.”

Clegg says that variety is also important in a healthy lifestyle. “Your focus is on all kinds of food, never feeling you have to give up anything. If you make a commitment to making small changes in your eating habits, your outcome will be a lifestyle change.”

Clegg suggests striving to make healthier choices 80% of the time, and then allowing yourself to splurge on your cravings the other 20% of the time.

And finally, don’t forget to exercise regularly and quit smoking – another major factor in your chances of getting kidney cancer down the road.

Sources:

OK! Magazine and Daily Mail

Images via NY Daily News & Daily Mail