Obesity is one of
the biggest health problems in the world. It travels with various other
diseases, which combined kill millions of people per year. These diseases
include diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, cancer, stroke, dementia and various others.
WEIGHT MANAGEMENT EXPERT (www.facebook.com/wmexpert1)
Obesity and Willpower
In the discussions about weight gain and obesity, many people
seem to think that it is purely a function of willpower. In my opinion, that
idea is ridiculous. I do agree that whether we gain weight (or not)
is a result of behavior, in this case eating behavior. If we eat more than we
burn, we gain weight. If we eat less and exercise, then we lose. However… human
behavior is complex. It is driven by various biological factors like genetics,
hormones and neural circuits. Eating behavior, just like sexual behavior and
sleeping behavior, is driven by biological processes.(“The strength of will to
carry out one’s decisions, wishes, or plans”) is way too simplistic. It doesn’t
take into account all the other factors that ultimately determine what we do
and when we do it. Most people’s willpower crumbles under the force of other
signals, both internal and external. Here are 10 factors that I believe are
leading causes of weight gain, obesity and metabolic disease that really have
nothing to do with willpower.
1. Genetics
Obesity has a
strong genetic component.
Offspring’s of obese parents are much more likely to become obese than offspring’s of lean parents. This is not to say that obesity is completely predetermined because our genes aren’t as set in stone as you may think… the signals we send our genes can have a major effect on which genes are expressed and which are not. On-industrialized societies rapidly become obese when they start eating a typical Western. Their genes didn’t change, the environment and the signals they sent to their genes changed. It does seem clear that there are genetic components that do affect our susceptibility to gain weight. Studies on identical twins demonstrate this very well
Offspring’s of obese parents are much more likely to become obese than offspring’s of lean parents. This is not to say that obesity is completely predetermined because our genes aren’t as set in stone as you may think… the signals we send our genes can have a major effect on which genes are expressed and which are not. On-industrialized societies rapidly become obese when they start eating a typical Western. Their genes didn’t change, the environment and the signals they sent to their genes changed. It does seem clear that there are genetic components that do affect our susceptibility to gain weight. Studies on identical twins demonstrate this very well
2. Engineered Hyper
palatable Junk Foods
Today, foods are
often little more than refined ingredients mixed in with a bunch of chemicals.
These products are engineered to be cheap, last long on the shelf and taste so
incredibly good that we just can’t get enough. By making foods “hyper palatable,”
the food manufacturers ensure that we eat a lot and decide to buy and eat them
again and again. Most processed foods today don’t resemble food at all. These
are engineered products, with massive budgets spent on making the foods
taste so good that we become “hooked.”
3. Food Addiction
These highly
engineered junk foods cause powerful stimulation of the reward centers in our
brains (2, 3).You know what else does that? Drugs of
abuse like alcohol, cocaine, nicotine and cannabis. The fact is that junk foods
can cause full-blown addiction in susceptible individuals. People lose control
over their eating behavior, in the same way as alcoholics lose control over
their drinking behavior. Addiction is a complex issue with a biological basis
that can be very difficult to overcome. When you become
addicted to something, you lose your freedom of choice and the
biochemistry in your brain starts calling the shots for you.
4. Aggressive Marketing (Especially
Towards Children)
The junk food
companies are very aggressive marketers. Their tactics can get unethical at
times and they constantly market very unhealthy products as if they are health foods.
The food companies make misleading claims and they spend massive
amounts of money sponsoring scientists and major health organizations to
influence their research and guidelines. In my opinion, the junk food companies
are even worse than the tobacco companies ever were, because they target their
marketing specifically children. Children are becoming obese, diabetic and
addicted to junk foods way before they’re old enough to make conscious
decisions about these things.
5. Insulin
Insulin is a very important hormone that regulates energy
storage, among other things. One of the functions of insulin is to tell fat
cells to store fat and to hold on to the fact that they already carry. The
Western diet causes insulin resistance in many individuals (4). This elevates insulin levels all over the
body, making energy selectively get stored in the fat cells instead of being
available for use. The best way to lower insulin is to cut back on
carbohydrates, which usually leads to an automatic reduction in calorie intake
and effortless weight loss. No calorie counting or portion control required (5, 6).
6. Certain Medications
There are
many pharmaceutical drugs that
can cause weight gain as a side effect. Examples include diabetes medication,
antidepressants, antipsychotics, etc .These drugs don’t cause a “willpower
deficiency” – they alter the function of the body and brain, making it
selectively store fat instead of burning it.
7. Lepton
Another hormone
that is crucial in obesity is Lepton .This hormone is produced by the fat
cells and is supposed to send signals to the hypothalamus (the part of our
brain that controls food intake) that we’re full and need to stop eating. Obese
people have lots of fat and lots of lepton. The problem is that the lepton
isn’t working as it should, because for some reason the brain becomes resistant
to it (7).This is called lepton resistance and is
believed to be a leading factor in the pathogenesis of obesity.
8. Food Availability
One factor that has
dramatically influenced the collective waistline of the world is a massive
increase in food availability. Food (especially junk food) is
everywhere now. Even gas stations sell food and merchants stack tempting
products like candy bars in areas that maximize the chances of impulse purchases.
Another problem related to availability is that junk food is often cheaper than
real food, especially in America. Some people, especially in poorer
neighborhoods, don’t even have the option of purchasing real foods. The
convenience stores in these areas only sell sodas, candy and processed,
packaged junk foods. How can it be a matter of choice of you literally
don’t have a choice?
9. Sugar
In my
opinion, sugar is the single worst part of the
modern diet. The reason is that when consumed in excess, sugar changes the
hormones and biochemistry of the body, contributing to weight gain. Added sugar
is half glucose, half fructose. We get glucose from all sorts of foods,
including starches, but we get the majority of our fructose from added sugars.
Excess fructose consumption causes insulin
resistance and elevated insulin levels (9,10). It may cause lepton resistance, at least
in rats (11). It also doesn’t cause satiety in the same
way as glucose (12, 13).All of these contribute to energy storage and
ultimately, obesity.
10. Misinformation
People all over the
world are being misinformed about health and nutrition. I
think the main reason for this is that the food
companies sponsor scientists and major health organizations all around the world.
For example, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the biggest organization
of nutrition professionals in the world) is heavily sponsored by
the likes of Coca Cola, Kellogg’s and PepsiCo. The American Diabetes
Association is sponsored by drug companies by millions of dollars per year,
companies which directly profit from the failed low-fat advice. Even the
official guidelines promoted by the government seem to be designed to protect
the interests of the corporations instead of promoting the health of individuals.
How on earth are people to make the right choices if they’re being constantly
lied to by the government, the health organizations and the very professionals
that are supposed to know what to do?
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