I am always reading the medical literature looking for positive messages to share with you.
And during the holiday season… when most of us have naturally gained a little weight… this is the perfect time to share today’s uplifting medical study with you.
This latest study didn’t receive much attention (the negative scary reports always seem to be the ones your doctors want to share with you!) but I think it should have.
Researchers looked at two very large databases, examining body mass (Body Mass Index — BMI) and metastatic renal (kidney) cancer survival rates.
They found that obesity actually predicted improved survival in metastatic cancer… improving both the progression free survival rate and the over all survival rate!
The Study:
(published Oct 2016 in the Journal Of Clinical Oncology)
- Researchers looked at over 1,900 patients from the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium and another 4,600 + patients from kidney cancer clinical trials over a ten year period… from 2003 to 2013. That’s over 6,500 patients total.
- Patients with BMI over 25 kg/m² were considered high BMI, and patients under 25 kg/m² were considered low BMI.
The Results:
- Patients in the higher BMI category survived approximately 38% longer and had longer remissions than those with lower BMIs.
- Surviving almost 40% longer, especially with metastatic cancer, is a very big deal. Stage 4 (metastatic) renal cancer carries a 5 year survival rate of only 8%. Extending survival by up to 40% is more than any single chemotheraputic agent has ever been able to do with this disease.
The Bottom Line:
Higher BMI patients have markedly better survival rates for metastatic renal cancer than lower BMI patients.
The fact that obese patients have better outcomes in metastatic cancer is a real thing — these studies have large patient numbers, are reproducible in different cohorts, and are statistically significant.
The numbers are so large and so significant that now physicians are encouraged to take the patient’s weight into account before sharing information on prognosis with their patients.
Of course, anything that shows there is a WIDE diversity to what is considered a “healthy weight” is totally hidden by the media.
That makes sense, as the weight loss industry is a 20 BILLION dollar industry IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE!!!
So, of course the media wouldn’t want you to actually feel good about your current weight or feel there was any advantage in the slightest to having a higher BMI.
But the truth is, this isn’t the only medical study to show survival advantages in having a higher body mass index.
Published in August 2014 in Critical Care Medicine, an important medical study proves mildly obese patients have yet another survival advantage:
surviving lift threatening infections.
The researchers looked at the date of over 1,400 elderly people hospitalized with severe sepsis (requiring ICU care) and compared their body mass index (BMI) with clinical outcome 1 year after discharge.
The results revealed a 25% improved mortality rate in severely obese, obese and overweight patients compared to normal weight patients… proving that heavier weight allows the body to survive overwhelming bacterial infections, even at advanced age.
The bottom line:
Obesity seems to have a survival advantage in advanced age, trauma, and serious illness… and even in metastatic cancer.
Researchers further acknowledge that “small excess amounts of adipose tissue may provide needed energy reserves during acute catabolic illnesses, have beneficial mechanical effects with some types of traumatic injuries, and convey other salutary effects that need to be investigated.”
Effects like surviving cancer, surviving infections… and surviving in general.
Because here is another medical study you are unlikely to have heard about, but it is true.
Published January 2, 2013 in JAMA:
After looking at data on almost 3 MILLION people, researchers found that if you are overweight you actually have LESS over all risk for dying then someone in the “normal” weight category.
And even if you are mildly obese, up to BMI of 35%, you have a death rate that is exactly the same as people in the “ideal weight” category (check out the chart below to figure out where you fall.) Only severe obesity was associated with an increased risk for death.
This study was a meta-analysis of 97 different published studies that included more than 2.88 million participants.
Compared to ideal weight individuals, overweight individuals had LOWER mortality rates than ideal weight participants, and those with Grade 1 obesity had no increased risk (having roughly identical death rates as the ideal weight participants.)
Only participants who had a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or HIGHER (significantly into the pink zone on the chart below) had significantly higher mortality rates:
– BMI Chart created by Vertex42.com. Used with permission.
So… if losing those last 10 pounds isn’t actually going to help you live longer… what defines your “ideal weight”?
What defines your ideal weight is how you *feel* wearing the body you wear each day:
your energy level,
your flexibility,
your capacity to get around,
to get outside,
and to enjoy the things you want to enjoy each day.
When you are in balance energetically your body will choose the weight range that is ideal for you, so purposefully trying to gain weight into the overweight range or lose weight into the underweight range doesn’t support your energetic health best, unless this range is your natural balance.
The take home message here is that if you are told you are overweight, this does not mean you should be focusing on losing weight.
The real focus should ALWAYS BE on feeling as healthy and vibrant as possible.
This means focusing on muscle tone.
On heart strength.
On endurance.
On lung capacity.
On bone mass.
On energy levels.
On restorative sleep at night.
On happiness.
On quality time with loved ones.
On meaningful relationships.
On spiritual strength.
The only patients that should even be at all *thinking* about losing weight are patients with a Body Mass Index of over 35 kg/m2 or higher — those are folks significantly in the pink zone in the above chart… and no one else!!!
And even if you are at 35 BMI or higher?
Focusing on energy levels, bone mass, restorative sleep and such will create a path of natural weight loss anyway.
So my recommendation is NO ONE should be focusing on weight…
…and now you have the science to back that up.
Feel better?
Good!
This is my entire goal and the reason I do what I do.
I want every single person who crosses my path to feel BETTER after working with me then they did before.
Whether it is just reading the thousands of free holistic healing articles on my website, whether it is getting my free newsletter in your inbox (just sign up in the box in the upper section of the right side bar on any page of my website) or whether you have read one of my ebooks, taken an on-line health course, or worked personally and privately with me.
A sense of relief, a sense of life unfolding how it was meant to unfold, a sense of purpose…
…these are your divine rights as a human being and it is my mission to help give you validity to reach for this through your health, every single time.
Still focused on your body weight?
Here are some other blog posts and resources you might be interested in:
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1. Exercise… don’t do it because you need to lose weight (that’s just negative thinking…) but do it instead to BUILD HEALTHY BONES!!!
A study looking at the effects of routine exercise and fall risk in women ages 41 to 77 (published in Feb 2011 in Menopause) analyzed if routine exercise improved gate stability in post-menopausal women, thereby decreasing falls and decreasing fracture risk.
A very important study, for exercising is one simple and free thing you can do to reduce your bone fracture risk as you age.
Non-toxic (unlike all the other osteoporosis meds being pushed across the country) and good for your body, soul and every organ system in-between.
This study looked at more than 120 women who stuck with an exercise program for one full year… then compared their gate to their baseline walking pattern and to control. The thought being that women who improve their plantar contact and pressure on the walking surface have a more stable walking pattern and decreased fall risk.
Did they reduce their fall risk? Read more…
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2. The best way I know to find your ideal weight, EFFORTLESSLY…
As many of you know, I conducted a 10 week study examining the relationship between Earthing and weight.
Participants were asked to touch the earth for a minimum of 15 minutes a day on a daily basis for 10 weeks, and they were followed weekly for changes in weight, mood, pain, stress level, sleep, energy level and other quality of life parameters.
After 10 weeks of touching the earth for at least 15 minutes a day, 100% of the participants reported:
- increasing their activity level over all
- significantly reducing stress levels in their lives
- and normalizing their appetite/reducing cravings
75% of the participants also reported:
- improved mood
- improved sleep
- improved energy levels
- and reduction in chronic pain issues.
Here is where it gets interesting. Read more….
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3. You are supposed to gain a bit of weight in the winter.
Did you know it is natural and in perfect rhythm to gain weight in the winter?
The more you view this as a natural rhythm and cycle the more effortless it is to release weight every spring.
It’s what we are meant to do. Here is why…
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4. Thyroid issues and weight
Our thyroid gland does so much for us.
The thyroid is one of the main centers of control in our body… maintaining the health of our body as a complete organism.
If any of this control center feels dis-ease, the effects are felt throughout the entire body… not localized to any one body part, but instead, can make our entire organism feel dis-eased.
The thyroid is often compared to a thermostat… regulating temperature control over the body.
This is true, but the thyroid does so very much more.
Indeed, I feel that the thyroid is like the entire engine of a car that we are driving. If you can picture your thyroid as the engine of your vehicle, you can really appreciate everything your thyroid does for you and how it may affect you if it is malfunctioning.
Have thyroid concerns? Read more…
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If you want to find you healthy weight and sustain it, you have to go deeper then just the scale.
As far as I’m concerned, our bodies are precious, beautiful, awe-inspiring vessels that hold our souls. Point blank.
I don’t want any part of a diet or exercise program that boils these miraculous bodies down to calories in vs. calories out.
We are so much more than that… we are souls that all need different things from our bodies.
- We eat for different reasons, our bodies move in different ways, we feel different emotions and we process energy through our bodies in different ways.
- We have different health needs and we have different physical limitations.
- We have different amounts of time to invest and different goals we would like to get out of it.
Want my help in getting you into a positive, healing mindframe so you can powerfully release unwanted disease or weight dynamics and start 2017 off feeling lighter, uplifted, and free to experience the best health possible?
Join me in my online
Health Flow Unleash Class right now —
today is the absolute last day to sign up!
Click here to save your spot right now.
To your natural well being…
xoxo, Laura