Obesity: an Unwanted Epidemic and Invasion in 2 Acts and 12 Easy Steps
By: Annemarie Berukoff
Tags: Epidemic, Wellness, Natural Medicine, Healthy Lifestyle, Obesity

People look for the quick fix to produce weight loss for them. There isn’t one. There is no timeline on a successful weight loss. Consider weight loss the byproduct of a lifestyle that includes eating food that nourishes you and being active. Margaret Marshall: Healthy Living Means Living Healthy…Lose Weight, Feel Great

People, we have been invaded by the New Food Culture with adulterated food choices … an invasion of profound changes in food processes and social behaviors. Where can we find relief and protection from these high levels of sugar and saturated fats?

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than 1 billion overweight adults contributing to the global burden of chronic disease and disability. This major risk increases serious diet-related chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer that all reduce quality of life, increase huge health care burdens and face premature death. Of especial concern is the increasing incidence of child obesity.

Why is the Obesity Epidemic Happening — 2 Reasons

Is it more an economic problem than a medical one or both?

Economic Growth

Undoubtedly, economic growth, modernization, urbanization and globalization of food markets are just some of the forces thought to underlie the epidemic. As incomes rise and populations become more urban, diets high in complex carbohydrates give way to more varied diets with a higher proportion of fats, saturated fats and sugars. At the same time, there are large shifts towards less physically demanding work.

2. Deficiencies in Physician Training … is their advice nutritionally competent?

Who would disagree that diet, proper nutrition and physical activity play a key role in health disease prevention and treatment? If food is medicine why isn’t it taught in medical schools where less than 1 % of lecture time is learning about diet?

Do you feel that many physicians may still lack the knowledge base, confidence, and clinical skills needed to identify the nutrition issues present in their patients and how to prescribe effective nutrition interventions?

Despite growing burden of diet-related disease, medical education does not equip students to provide high quality nutritional care to patients: Researchers call for improved nutrition education to be integrated into the medical curriculum — ScienceDaily

Historically, nutrition education has been underrepresented at many medical schools and residency programs. Surveys show that most medical schools in the United States are still not ensuring adequate nutrition education, and they are not producing graduates with the nutrition competencies required in medical practice for assessment and intervention.

What about Yourself? How informed are you about basic nutrition science facts and cellular nutrition? You can actually be obese and still be undernourished with regard to important nutrients.

ACT ONE … Invasion of New Food Culture with Adulterated Food Choices

1. Our new enemy is our appetite, our innate love and preoccupation with food. Humans will swallow almost anything that does not swallow them first.

2. Globesity is gaining ground within wealthy industrialized nations and poorer countries with the doubling consumption of vegetable oil and processed cheaper sources of sugar. Soft drink factories are popping up. More and more packaged boxes are found in supermarket chains rather than fresh bulk foods sold in community markets.

3. As obesity rates rise by 25%, a rather interesting statistic is that these rates began to rise at the time the health authorities told us to eat low fat. The food industry produced a wide range of low fat products that were made tastier by adding sugar. This proved to be a dietary disaster. If you eat an excessive amount of carbohydrates you are going to get fat and diabetic.

4. The consumption of more and more fructose sweeteners have been major contributors to the obesity epidemic. It is estimated that a consumption of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has increased more than 1000% between 1970 and 2000, far exceeding changes in intake of any other food group. Fructose has no enzymes, vitamins or minerals so it takes micronutrients from the body while it assimilates itself for use. HFCS are pernicious, used to sweeten soft drinks, canned juices, dairy products, cookies, jams, cereals and more.

5. Extra body fat puts you at greater risk of a number of health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney and liver problems, stroke and gall bladder issues. Is that extra chip or cookie worth it?

ACT 2: Best Diet Solutions are Preventative and Simple Enough

Time to cut through 82 billion dollars of verbiage for dietary supplements and diet plans, a jungle of juxtapositions, a galaxy of advertisements and heavy weight competitions between foods, supplements, diets and weight loss solutions.

12 simple steps to lose weight for long term, enjoyable lifelong health.

1. Choose FATS carefully. You need to eat some selective fat but keep your carbohydrate intake low. Lower fat intake can be detrimental to your health. A certain amount of fat is necessary for the body to absorb fat soluble nutrients like Vitamins A, D and K and COQ10. Studies have found low fat diets were associated with 20% lower calcium absorption than higher fat diets. Animal fats have been compromised with factory farming that fills them with grain and antibiotics instead of grass. Vegetable fats that have been hydrogenated create trans-fats causing cancers

Check out the 11 best and worst oils for your health

2. Choose plenty of ANTI-OXIDANTS. Eat foods with potent anti-oxidants, or use supplements, because antioxidants consistently lower the amount of oxidized LDL (bad cholesterol) and help to strengthen the immune system. The USDA recommends eating a minimum of 9 servings of fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately only 9% of the population and 1% of children meet these guidelines.

3. Watch GLYCEMIC INDEX . The Glycemic Index ranks food on how rapidly the food you eat spikes your blood sugar levels compared to natural sugar (glucose). The higher the Glycemic Index, the more fat you will make from it even if it has an equal number of calories. Examples of high glycemic foods to avoid are “white” and sweet foods. Eat “good” carbohydrates in the low glycemic range such as oatmeal, beans and vegetables.

4. Read FOOD LABELS that show ingredients as well as grams. Be an informed consumer and be aware of the power of effective advertising where we get most of our information from food companies who sponsor research in the universities.

5. Maintain LESS CALORIES. Losing weight is not simply a matter of counting calories consumed. The brain regulates weight around a set point (a temperature setting) which keeps weight around a predetermined level. It is easier to lose weight at the beginning of a diet and harder at the end. As weight is lost, the regulatory mechanisms begin immediately to compensate for the fuel shortage by conserving bodily energy. The body needs to adapt far below the previous set point and loss becomes more difficult to maintain.

6. No JUNK FOOD allowed OR “empty calorie” foods such as sweets and desserts, soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, salty snacks and alcoholic beverages.

Eliminate poor snack choices from your kitchen by keeping handy different nutritious snacks like dried cranberries, almonds, dates, celery and peanut butter. Believe me, this works wonders.

7. SLEEP WELL. Sleep deprivation lowers levels of leptin, a blood protein that suppresses appetite and tells the brain when you have had enough to eat. Further evidence of a direct connection between pillow time and waistline found that those who averaged five hours of sleep a night had a 50% greater risk of obesity compared to 23% for people who slept six hours.

8. Check out DIET PROGRAMS and books as a national obsession but mostly frustrating. Avoid yo-yo dieting as harmful to your health because a new study shows a link between repeated weight loss and injury to the immune system. Natural killer cell activity dropped in women who had lost and regained at least 10 pounds two times or more.

9. Eat SMALLER MEALS more often four or five times daily rather than 3 large meals. Eating smaller amounts of protein takes more calories to digest. Chew more slowly savoring flavors.

10. Keep a CALORIE DIARY or journal to maintain a diet as a mathematical equation. It’s only adding and subtracting numbers. Every mouthful of food needs to be metabolized or burned. Otherwise, the calories are converted into glucagon's and transported to fat cells. If you choose an extra piece of cheesecake, then equally choose an activity that will burn off those calories.

11. Understand the basis of EMOTIONAL EATING. The comfort of easy food acts like a shell of protection against dealing with real challenges. It’s medicating with food.

12. EXERCISE REGULARLY. Make it fun rather than seeing it as a chore that must be done. The trick is to take up an activity with a friend such as tennis or bowling that can be good for both of you, as one can motivate the other at difficult times when you feel drained.

Performing intense anaerobic exercises such as weight training, does not burn fat directly, but it could elevate the metabolism for some time after the workout has finished. How much the metabolism rises will depend on the individual and how hard they train during the workout.

To burn fat directly you must exercise continuously at low levels of effort for at least 20 minutes. As a guide, you should be able to talk during training, not just heavy panting.

And don’t forget that walking is about as good as a fat-burning exercise as any!

What about WEIGHT LOSS DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS?

Conservatively speaking, consumers spent more than 40 billion dollars a year on diet aids with bigger and better always lining up on the horizon with happy skinny people singing their praises. The best weight reduction system must be formulated from natural ingredients for more complete cellular absorption. It needs to restrict calorie consumption and boost your metabolism to maintain energy.

LAST ACT is up to You!

Take 12 Easy Steps and Counter the Invasion …

It is your turn to be selective and visionary even as the invasion forces overcome our best intentions. It is about making small decisions that over time will make substantial differences. It is about to drink more water, limit carbs, use natural fats, eat unprocessed foods, exercise, and use proper whole food supplements not synthetic pills. It is all about feeling great in the morning and waking up with energy, endurance, clear memory and joy.

Just imagine. It is estimated that every year over 90% of your body is completely replaced and reconstructed entirely from the food nutrients you eat. Deductively, the quality of these nutrients determines the quality of your renewed cellular structures. Metaphorically, it is your choice to build your cellular foundation like a straw hut or a house of bricks. Imagine a framework build from French fries and doughnuts surrounded by soda!

Comments are always welcome. Perhaps a little self-education may be a good idea. See Index below.

Annemarie Berukoff

HelpfulMindstreamforChanges.com

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