Best female figure not an hourglass

**MsDark** · January 18th, 2009, 08:09 AM

If they're going to conduct a study on something like this with any kind of credible results they don't need to be using obese people anyway.

**Novice** · January 28th, 2009, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by Shinola

Weight shifted hormonally from the hips to the midsection in women also correlates with various cancers. Fat is like food for cancer cells, and the closer the fat is to the internal organs, the worse for your health.

So I will settle for my small waist and full hips, thanks, and hope that someday, postmenopausal hormonal changes don't change my body shape.

Interesting (although I don't know if this is based in clinical fact?)
I've suffered from fibroids for many years, and have had surgery for endometrial cancer in late November. As past of my recovery I started a program of healthy eating and gentle exercise (I can't do much yet) in 2 or 3 weeks I've lost 3 inchs from my waist!!!
(N.B I've been trying to loose weight for a long time and haven't managed it and now all of a sudden its nearly falling off me)

Originally Posted by Ahti

I understood this as stress turns womens bodies into an cylinder shape rather than a hourglass? Why is this a good thing? Cortisol is a stress hormone.

I know some older women who have had their hourglass body turn into a cylinder when they started working in high stress jobs.

It is scary to see the young women today with their belly rolls hanging out, it seems to be associated with drinking a lot of alcohol and eating shit food, both of those release stress hormones turning the body into a cylindrical shape.

Ah! Just a thought but I was recently told that the menopause also causes the metabolic rate to slow down & to expect weight gain.... but both could be contributing?

That description of young girls... I know exactly what you mean, and just how is it attractive? Its beyond me!

**Shinola** · January 28th, 2009, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by Novice

Interesting (although I don't know if this is based in clinical fact?)

Hmmm. Well, obesity in general is well known to be linked to cancer.

Obesity and Cancer: Questions and Answers - National Cancer Institute

As for whether fat literally fuels cancer call proliferation, that was taught to me by a university-level nutritionist who is required to stay at the forefront of her field. A lot of her information comes from nutrition-science journals and professional conferences.

She was not talking about dietary fat (because in her view, everyone needs some fat in their diet), but about fat stores carried on the body. What she taught is that fat cells literally can fuel the growth of cancer cells. She said that it is worse to have fat near the internal organs. (And she herself struggles with being thick through the middle, so she wasn't trying to be accusatory at all. In fact, although she follows excellent nutrition and gets lots of exercise, she struggles with her weight. She believes that weight gain is a complex issue and is still not well understood.) She said that as women age, there is a hormonal tendency for fat to shift from the hips to the waist, and that new location for fat is much more dangerous.

This came as quite a surprise to me. But I have remained interested in nutrition, and nothing that she taught have I since learned to be untrue. Can't say the same for the scads of fad diets out there (I read about those and can quickly unravel whether there is any scientific basis for the claims).

Googling terms like "fat fuels cancer" just now, I found articles that show specific links between fat cells and certain cancers, but I didn't read them. I could probably find out more if anyone wants to know.

**Novice** · January 28th, 2009, 01:31 PM

Thanks Shinola - I'm the only over-weight one but both grandmothers had breast cancer (one in her 30s one in her 60s) and my paternal grandmother that I'm very like psysiologically also had to have a hysterectomy (due to growths but I'm not sure if they were cancerous or benigh) but much, much later than me.

Thanks for the link!

**Shinola** · January 28th, 2009, 01:42 PM

You're welcome, Novice. I'm sorry to hear about your family members.

There's a history of ovarian cancer in both my mother and my father's families. This is one of the reasons that what I learned from the nutrition prof really stuck in my head--very worrying.

My mother's weight did just what the nutritionist described--shifted from her hips to her waist after menopause. And then she developed cancer.

My grandmother died in her early forties from ovarian cancer. What they went through was horrible. I do not want.

I googled "fat fuels breast cancer" and found a bunch of other stuff. Worth looking at, although scary.

**Novice** · January 28th, 2009, 02:07 PM

Well having just had that all removed, I need to ensure I keep my bone mass up (I'm 41 now, 40 when it was diagnosed & planned) to prevent osteoperosis (sp) in later life.

Oh - both my Grandma's survived.
The one with Breastcancer in her 30s had it in the late 1940s and the later one was in the 80s.
They died peacefully in their beds in their 70s or 80s. Both were "pig headed" or had a Positive Mental Attitude as I prefer to say (just because I take after them! LOL!)