The Greatest Argument Against HAES - New Revelations into Obesity and Cancer I’ve mentioned before about my working in Cancer Research and I watched to touch on a news story from last month that seemed to slip under the radar. I was not aware of the true depth of this issue, so which I feel the ramifications were not truly felt by the public. The American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released a statement last month.  First, what is ASCO? - ASCO is a society for cancer researchers and hosts is the largest cancer conference in the world. The conference is the who’s who of cancer researchers. You want to be at ASCO, you want to present at ASCO, you want it on your CV; everyone goes to this conference. To give you an idea, my bosses went to ASCO, every single Principal Investigator (PI) and Sub-Investigators on our studies and thousands of other doctors overseeing other studies across the world went to this conference. Everything in cancer research came to a halt for 5 days as everyone went to Chicago to attend this conference. This is the society if you do clinical cancer research. So when the society that oversees the largest amount of clinical cancer research in the world releases a statement regarding cancer, you better take it seriously. These aren’t predictions, this is the cumulative result of thousands of cancer experts over decades. So what information did the ASCO emphasize on the conference’s first day? Obesity is poised to be the #1 cause of cancer. The #1 cause...take that in. We all accept smoking is horrible for your health and can lead to cancer…but it is not the greatest risk of cancer, it is obesity - obesity is a greater risk for cancer than smoking. This is a paradigm shift.  All of the research now makes this statement true: The most effective way to prevent cancer is diet and exercise. Incredible. The fatties like to promote that everyone is healthy regardless of weight as they take their “health” in the current moment. We can now say, without impunity, that fatties are giving themselves cancer by being fat. Everyone will not get cancer, but it is better if people are smokers rather than being overweight. I feel like this comparison is the most significant that can be made. Everyone is against cancer, people try to protect against it as it is a horrible disease; it is the scary monster that everyone can rally against. While obesity and cancer were always linked, now that it is the #1 cause, it is now a powerful weapon against HAES and obesity. Not only are statements of HAES poorly justified, this sentiment is counter to the rigorous research of thousands of experts in cancer research - obesity causes cancer more than smoking. Not only is HAES justifiably incorrect, cancer is the scariest of all demons. Being fat gives you cancer - smoking is less likely to cause cancer - being fat gives you cancer. As someone who works in the field I never knew it was this significant of a problem. The stigma against cancer is so great that I feel the ability to combine that stigma with obesity will be one of our greatest weapons. By being fat you accept cancer in your life; you state that eating properly and watching your food intake are not worth avoiding cancer. HAES promoters love to counter with poor arguments to hypertension and diabetes, but how do they respond to cancer? Your fat will give you cancer, more than smoking, and it is your fault. Official ASCO Paper http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/32/31/3568.full.pdf+html Official ASCO Press Release http://www.asco.org/advocacy/asco-calls-new-action-address-obesity-and-cancer Interview with ASCO journal PI http://www.asco.org/advocacy/asco-calls-new-action-address-obesity-and-cancer ASCO website on cancer and obesity http://www.asco.org/practice-research/obesity-and-cancer