The Growing Obesity Epidemic
The rise in obesity over the last 30 to 40 years in the United States is very alarming.
More than one-third of adults and almost 17% of youth were obese between 2009 and 2010, in the United States.[1]
The developing world, not to mention all industrialized countries, are facing the same obesity problem. From a worldwide perspective it is an obesity pandemic[2], which some have characterized as globesity.
Eating less and exercising more does NOT work, as everyone trying to lose weight knows. In the end, relentless biochemical drives will always win out over will power, as long as you are eating a horrible junkfood diet.
One thing is for sure, being overweight is not a fashion statement.
Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 30, or weighing 20% more than your ideal body weight. While morbid obesity, which is life threatening, is a BMI of ≥ 35, or weighing at least 100 pounds over what is the ideal body weight for your height. For every obese person in America, there is another moderately overweight person. Thus, the CDC's percentage statistics should really be doubled. From this perspective, the number of people with a weight problem in America is closer to 60%.[1]
Sadly, the American public still views obesity as a lifestyle choice, as if it was merely a cosmetic problem. Members of the worldwide obese fashion statement honestly expect the world to accommodate their little problem. But, have your ever noticed that ALL of Hollywood's obese actors tend to die young? One example would be the comedian John Candy who died on March 4, 1994 in his sleep from a heart attack at the age of 43. Laugh it off if you want to, but obesity is a marker for a large number of health problems.
Why is sugar / fructose bad for your health?
How come Leptin worked 30 years ago, but does NOT work today?
Why is the obesity epidemic happening? Most classical nutritionists are still claiming that obesity stems from two things, eating too much and exercising too little. Is America fat because everyone is a glutton and a sloth, or could it be due to a physiological interplay between your body's insulin and leptin hormones, and the huge amount of fructose in the American diet?[3] High-Fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is an American crisis, while Added Sugar is the international problem. Insulin is your body’s energy storage hormone, while leptin controls your appetite or desire to eat. Unlike glucose, fructose drives insulin to block leptin in your brain, forcing you biochemically to crave more food. These biochemical drives, driven by the huge amounts of sugar in the worldwide modern diet over time trumps will power.
It is the position of the Natural Health Perspective, that the dramatic increase in HFCS consumption in the American diet promotes insulin resistance, which raises insulin levels, which causes the body to convert all these fructose calories directly into fat, making every obese person feel tired, hungry, unsatisfied, and miserable.
Obesity is a defect in fat deposition, according to Dr. Robert Lustig.[3] There are biochemical drives that make people eat more and exercise less. Remember that all calories are not the same. The main driving force behind the obesity epidemic is the Western junkfood diet being saturated with sugar. Fructose is turned into liver fat, by your body. Accordingly, chronic High-Fructose corn syrup consumption results in chronic liver insulin resistance, which in turn causes functional leptin resistance, according to Lustig.[3] In short, Americans are being victimized by their steady diet of excess added sugar.
Did you know that sugar is 50 times more related to weight gain, than total calories consumed?
Added sugar does more than improve the taste of food. It promotes liver fat and metabolic disease.[2]
Nobody dies directly from moderate obesity. Obesity is simply a marker for metabolic disorders, or disorders of biochemistry, which cause people to die from some very nasty chronic diseases. Forty percent of thin people suffer from the same health problems that 80 percent of obese individuals suffer from. Thus the real problem is NOT the excess weight, but rather the inexpensive Western Diet being primarily based upon sugar.
Nevertheless, the physics of carrying around a lot of extra weight over your entire lifetime puts a severe stress upon your skeleton, which can easily prematurely wear out your joints, as well as cause other purely weight related health problems.
The tragic end result of disorders of biochemistry is often the following chronic diseases.[2]
- Dementia
- Heart Disease
- High Blood Pressure
- Dyslipidemia
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Uncontrolled cell division, which can lead to cancer.
For those interested in natural weight loss, the situation is NOT hopeless. All you have to do is to keep in mind that all calories are NOT the same. With the Natural Health Perspective's ZERO SUGAR diet, all excess body fat will literately melt off you in the matter of a few months naturally without anyone experiencing hunger pains or going through major amounts of additional exercise. Working on Beverages - The Primary Cause of Weight Gain - first will produce the fastest weight loss. The point being, eating a naturally healthy diet will automatically, or transparently, result in relatively painless weight loss.
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References:
- Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2009–2010
Cynthia L. Ogden; Margaret D. Carroll; Brian K. Kit ...
NCHS Data Brief ¦ No. 82 ¦ January 2012 -
Robert H. Lustig, MD, explains obesity epidemic, from a public health perspective.
Series: "UCTV Prime: The Skinny on Obesity" -
Sugar impacts the brain just as much as the waistline. In this episode, Dr. Robert Lustig explains the biochemical shifts that sugar causes, making us store fat and feel hungry at the same time. Series: "UCTV Prime: The Skinny on Obesity"
