Lisa’s Reviews > Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals About Food, Diet, Health, and Eating Well > Status Update

Finished reading; RTC.

saturated fat may not be as unhealthy as some claim, but it is not a health food. Although there is substantial variation among individuals, many (not all) people who eat more saturated fat will raise their levels of plaque-forming lipoproteins, and replacing those animal fats with plant fats almost always reduces the risk of heart disease.

Obesity increases the risk of some cancers by as much as 50%, an effect so large that obesity accounts for at least 14% of cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women in the U.S.

An abundance of high-quality evidence unequivocally shows that lifelong exercise lowers cancer rates in humans through many of the same mechanisms as calorie restriction.

When it comes to cancer, what you eat matters, but how much and how often you eat can also be consequential. At a fundamental level, cancer is largely fueled by having too many calories and nutrients.

cancer cells have a sweet tooth. cancer cells derive energy almost exclusively from glucose in the absence of oxygen.
This characteristic may explain why low-carb diets potentially help fight and prevent some cancers.

On the plus side, most plants contain cancer-fighting phytochemicals, helping explain why vegetarians and others who eat diets rich unprocessed fruits and vegetables are less likely to get cancer.

If there ever was a disease of aging, cancer is it. Yet despite occurring more commonly with age, cancer isn't caused by age.
Apart from exercising regularly and avoiding radiation and cancer-causing toxins, one important modifiable factor that can lower your risk of cancer is diet, including what, how much, and possibly when you eat.

At this point, whether intermittent fasting and other calorie-restriction diets will help you live longer remains conjectural.
humans, like other animals, are adapted to fast intermittently. Since time immemorial, humans have experienced regular periods of hunger
[During these times] cells throughout the body recycle waste and engage in other forms of cellular housekeeping [rather than growing and building tissue].

[GLP-1 medications currently in use: Mounjaro, Ozempic, Saxenda, Trulicity, Zepbound, Victoza, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Bydureon, Byetta, Foundayo, Bydureon BCise, Adlyxin]

Unfortunately, these drugs' effects last only as long as you keep taking them. Once dieters go off the prescription, their appetites come roaring back, making them vulnerable to regaining lost weight, restoring to their previous set point
As I write this, GLP-1's haven't been around long enough for us to know their long-term effects.

a synthetic version of the Gila monster's longer-lasting hormone . . . stimulates insulin release and slows the stomach's rate of emptying, but also turns down people's appetites for many days. . . . This class of drugs also have wide-ranging beneficial effects on heart disease, metabolism, possibly cancer, and even mental health issues like addiction and depression.