What practices and therapies can help you manage your body weight?
Top practices and therapies for managing your body weight
Self-care practices
Evidence supporting the statements here is described on the linked pages.
Eating Well: mixed evidence
Not specific to cancer:
- More weight loss and less weight gain among people with body-mass index (BMI) higher than 25 eating more fruits and vegetables (good evidence)
- Higher body weight among people with type 2 diabetes eating a late dinner (preliminary evidence)
- No evidence of an effect on obesity among people eating high-calorie (energy-dense) foods in a combined analysis of reviews and combined analyses
- No evidence of an effect on total daily energy expenditure, resting metabolic rate, or weight loss among overweight or obese people following a calorie-restricted diet with morning-loaded calories
Foods to increase in your diet
Diets high in vegetables and fruits can help you manage your weight.1Block K, Gyllenhaal C. Chapter 6: Nutritional Interventions in Cancer. In Abrams DI, Weil AT. Integrative Oncology. 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2014; Abdull Razis AF, Noor NM. Cruciferous vegetables: dietary phytochemicals for cancer prevention. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention. 2013;14(3):1565-70. Vegetables, typically high in nutrients, fiber and water, are low in calories, making them nutrient-dense and filling—an ideal part of low-calorie diets.
Foods to avoid
Diet soda drinks are linked to weight gain, not loss, especially among women and obese people.2Aubrey A. Diet soda may prompt food cravings, especially in women and people with obesity. NPR Shots. October 7, 2021. Viewed October 9, 2021; Yunker AG, Alves JM et al. Obesity and sex-related associations with differential effects of sucralose vs sucrose on appetite and reward processing: a randomized crossover trial. JAMA Network Open. 2021 Sep 1;4(9):e2126313; Fowler SP, Williams K, Hazuda HP. Diet soda intake is associated with long-term increases in waist circumference in a biethnic cohort of older adults: the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging. Journal of the American Geriatric Society. 2015 Apr;63(4):708-15.
High doses of flaxseed lignans such as high-lignan flaxseed oil may lead to weight gain.3Stein N. The dangers of high lignan flax seed oil. Livestrong.com. Viewed May 17, 2019.
Moving More: strong and good evidence
Less body fat and more lean body mass among people with cancer participating in exercise without regard to treatment phase (strong evidence)
Increased lean body mass and less body fat or obesity among people treated with neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy, including androgen deprivation therapy, when participating in exercise (good evidence)
More lean muscle mass among people with cancer participating in exercise, especially resistance training (good evidence)
Combining Eating Well and Moving More: preliminary and weak evidence
Better markers of body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness among people with breast cancer participating in an intervention of nutrition and exercise (weak evidence)
Not specific to cancer:
- More of a decrease in body weight and both visceral and subcutaneous fat among people with type 2 diabetes eating a vegetarian diet and also participating in exercise (preliminary evidence)
Managing high blood sugar and insulin resistance: preliminary evidence
Not specific to cancer:
- More weight loss among obese people who reduced high blood sugar levels (preliminary evidence)
Complementary therapies
Evidence supporting the statements here is described on the linked pages.
Good or modest evidence of benefit
Good evidencesignificant effects in one large or several mid-sized and well-designed clinical studies (randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with an appropriate placebo or other strong comparison control or observational studies that control for confounds) (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently) indicates a relatively high degree of confidence that the therapy is linked to the outcomes as noted. Modest evidencesignificant effects in at least three small but well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs), or one or more well-designed, mid-sized clinical studies of reasonably good quality (RCTs or observational studies), or several small studies aggregated into a meta-analysis (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently) means several smaller or at least one large study have found the effect described.
Mediterranean diet: good evidence
Not specific to cancer:
- Lower body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and/or body weight among people eating a Mediterranean diet (good evidence)
Tai chi or qigong: good evidence
Not specific to cancer:
- Less body fat among people with or at risk of metabolic syndrome with tai chi (good evidence)
Yoga: good evidence
Not specific to cancer:
- Better body weight and waist circumference among people practicing yoga (good evidence)
Therapies with preliminary or weak evidence of benefit for body weight
Preliminary evidencesignificant effects in small or poorly designed clinical studies OR conflicting results in adequate studies but a preponderance of evidence of an effect (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently) typically indicates that not much research has been published so far, although the outcomes may be meaningful. Weak evidenceone or more case studies, supported by animal evidence OR small treatment effects of limited clinical significance OR studies with no controls OR weak trends of effects (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently) may mean that the effects are small or that only very preliminary research has been published.
Therapies with no evidence of benefit
Not specific to cancer:
- No evidence of an effect on body weight among postmenopausal women treated with vitamin D in a small study
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References