Exercise: an anti-cancer agent

Elevated levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) have been implicated as risk factors for cancer, and indeed, fasting and fasting-mimicking diet appear to promote protection of normal cells and induce cancer cell death.1 It is for this reason that it is believed that these two hormones are also the leading candidates to explain the correlation between obese and diabetic individuals and cancer risk.1 Moreover, such individuals are less likely to have a good prognosis under such circumstances than leaner equivalents.1,2