John Myers
Obesity is one of the most challenging medical and social problems of our time. Over the past ten years, the number of obese people worldwide has doubled on average. According to WHO experts, by 2025, there will be 300 million obese people!
Obesity is a chronic disease characterized by excessive accumulation of adipose tissue in the body due to metabolic disorders. It is based on a positive energy balance, i.e. energy intake with food calories exceeds energy expenditure. The number of overweight people is increasing every year, and this leads to a deterioration in their quality of life! A sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet contribute to the increase in the number of obese people.
Why is obesity dangerous?
Being overweight is not just about appearance. Every extra kilogram has a negative impact on the condition of internal organs, bones and joints, leading to the development of arthritis and osteoarthritis. Additional body weight also increases the burden on the heart, provoking vascular pathologies, including hypertension and coronary heart disease. Obesity can lead to pancreatitis and cholecystitis, type II diabetes, infertility, erectile dysfunction, fatty liver, as well as breast, prostate, liver, and intestinal cancer. That’s why you should fight excess weight not only to regain your beauty and narrow waistline, but also to maintain your health and improve your quality of life.
What affects weight?
A balanced diet You shouldn’t eat only carrots and cabbage or boiled chicken. You may lose weight from such diets, but they are not balanced. Try to consume a lot of different raw and cooked vegetables, fruits and berries, fish, meat and legumes, nuts and seeds, and fats of vegetable and animal origin. Minimize your sugar and salt intake. Any imbalances in the diet can lead to weight gain, lack of nutrients, loss of muscle weight, and thus a decrease in energy expenditure, development of insulin resistance, brittle nails and hair loss, and disruption of the intestinal microflora. A diet skewed toward fatty or sugary foods will distort the composition of the intestinal microflora, and an excess of sweets will contribute to the development of insulin resistance and tooth decay.
How to avoid nutritional mistakes
Keep in mind that, for example, a large latte with sugar is very high in calories, but it contains only fast carbohydrates. Sugary breakfasts – muesli with yogurt, coffee with a croissant, etc. – contribute to weight gain and the desire to grab something before lunch rather than satiate us with nutrients. Sweets in the morning cause a rapid rise and fall in blood sugar levels and a decrease in orexin, a substance that helps you feel energized and promotes weight loss. This is especially critical if you don’t get enough sleep. For adults, if they do not have type I diabetes, frequent snacking is more likely to damage appetite, teeth, and body mass index. Adults can eat twice a day – the main thing is to eat well and not overeat. Systemic errors that slowly change weight in an undesirable way can be avoided. You don’t have to cook yourself, but know what foods to avoid. Fried (rather than baked) cutlets, margarine, bread for pasta, dumplings with mayonnaise, lack of vegetables in the diet – all of these contribute to overweight. Eating habits are formed in childhood and persist into adulthood. If, for example, a family eats a lot of fried food and not enough vegetables, the child develops an unhealthy view of food. This increases the risk of childhood obesity or anorexia, etc. To encourage children to eat healthy food, parents should eat healthy themselves and become a role model for their children. Lack of physical activity The WHO emphasizes that we need 150 minutes of intense physical activity during the week, and at least half an hour of moderate physical activity every day, as well as exercises throughout the day.
Healthy sleep
Chronic sleep deprivation disrupts the hormonal system that controls satiety and fat storage. In addition, sleep deprivation increases anxiety, and many people tend to eat stress, overeat, or choose sweets as a dietary staple.
Hormonal health
A number of hormones (thyroid hormones, sex hormones, somatotropin (growth hormone), cortisol, insulin, leptin, and adiponectin) affect weight and the tendency to form subcutaneous or visceral fat stores. Weight changes also accompany menopause and even the second phase of the menstrual cycle. That is why, in case of steady weight gain with a normal diet and lifestyle, you should visit an endocrinologist.
Genetics
There are people who are genetically predisposed to eat a lot and not get fat. Several genes are responsible for the predisposition to obesity. However, most cases of obesity are multifactorial: a combination of several genes and an environment that contributes to weight gain, such as family eating habits. People whose parents had a body mass index of 30 or more should be careful about their weight from a young age. Even in the case of a genetic predisposition to obesity, it can be prevented by a balanced diet and exercise.
Mental disorders
Eating disorders occur in clinical depression (refusal to eat or overeating, a shift in diet towards sweets, fast food, or alcohol) and anxiety disorders (uncontrolled overeating, stress eating). Depression, low self-esteem, mood disorders without depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder accompany most cases of bulimia nervosa (overeating, after which the food in the stomach is eliminated) or anorexia (obsessive desire to weigh less and less). If a person is under- or over-eating, calls to come to their senses and attempts to shame them with weight will not work. The problem should be recognized and help should be sought from a specialist: a psychiatrist or cognitive behavioral therapist.
Eat a balanced diet, be physically active, watch your weight, and remember the words of the famous American scientist Arnold Glasgow: “The body is the luggage you carry all your life. The heavier it is, the shorter the journey.”
It’s time to choose health!
