Poor diet may be at the root of over 80,000 cancer diagnoses in a given year, according to new research.
We now know without a shadow of a doubt that eating highly processed foods lacking in nutrition is not just bad for our waistlines, but for our cancer risks.
There's a clear link between excess body weight and at least six kinds of cancer, and probable links to at least seven others.
As of 2015, excess body weight accounted for about 5.2 percent of all new cancers, putting it on par with alcohol consumption, according to new research from Tufts University.
Diets high in processed meats like burgers, hot dogs and pepperoni raise cancer risks - especially for colon cancer, new research reveals
Over 60 percent of Americans are overweight and about 40 percent will get some form of cancer at some point in their lives.
Cancer treatments have improved dramatically, but as the obesity epidemic persists, it will only fuel additional diagnoses of malignant tumors.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has designated obesity a significant risk factor for breast, colorectal, esophageal, kidney and pancreatic cancer.
The association also considers it a likely risk factor for cancers of the gallbladder, liver, cervix and ovaries as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and some aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
Even as overall cancer diagnoses decline in the US, cases of obesity-related cancers continue to increase - and there's no sign of that stopping as more and more Americans continue to gain unhealthy weight on the Western diet.
Researchers at Tufts University compared specific obesity-related cancer rates and diagnoses to diets.
They found that that colorectal cancer - the most likely type to result from poor diet - was linked to eating too much highly processed and red meat and not enough whole grain or dairy.
