Why Obesity is Becoming An Epidemic

Eating fat will not make you fat.

Unless you’re a carb nutritional type, eating excessive carbs and sugar is virtually guaranteed to pack on the pounds. Why?

Because your cells need fuel to function, and they can get their fuel in the form of sugar or fat. But here’s the kicker. Your body will burn all of the available sugar first before it turns to burning fat. So let’s say you eat loads of pasta, sugar, bread, baked goods, crackers, cookies and countless other carbs. Your body doesn’t know how to handle all that sugar, so it continues turning it into fat to get it out of your bloodstream.

For a while, you’ll keep gaining weight. This is actually in response to your cells keeping you alive by turning the excess sugar into fat. Eventually, though, even your fat stores can get filled up. This is why people who become obese almost always end up with diabetes; there’s no place left to store the excess sugar as fat, so it stays in your bloodstream, driving your insulin levels up.

The solution?

Eat less carbs and sugar, and eat more healthy fats.

This way, your body can easily burn the sugar that you do eat and continues to be adept at burning fat as well. You’ll stay leaner and healthier, and you’ll feel fuller, too.

We all need some fat, but some of us need upwards of 50% of our diet in the form of fat, while others need as little as 10%. The distinction depends on your nutritional, or metabolic type. If you’re interested in losing weight or staying healthy, find out what yours is.

One of the best benefits of learning your nutritional type is you don’t have to worry about counting calories or fat grams. Instead you focus on eating the right proportion of carbs, fats and protein for your body. It’s a much more natural, intuitive way of eating. And you’ll know when you’ve found the right ratio for you, because you’ll feel wonderful.

Most obesity is a direct result of lifestyle choices.

Obesity is becoming an epidemic. According to National Health and Nutritional Surveys, over the past ten years, the average woman’s waistline has ballooned by almost two inches. They recorded higher blood sugar levels, and women aged 35–54 saw their incidence of strokes double over the same ten-year period.

Nearly one third of American adults are now obese, two thirds are overweight, and it’s getting worse every year. A fifty-two-year study tells us that, on average, obese people die seven years earlier than normal-weight adults. More recent studies show that the more people weigh, the older their cells appear on a molecular level, with obesity adding the equivalent of nearly nine years of age to a person’s body!

In addition, obese people’s brains look 16 years older than their healthy counterparts, and the overweight people’s brains looked eight years older according to a new study published in Human Brain Mapping.

It also reports obese or overweight elderly people typically have significantly less brain tissue than normal weight people. The obese have 8% less on average, and those who are simply overweight have 4% less brain tissue.

According to a Surgeon General report, obesity is responsible for 300,000 deaths every year in the United States. From 1990 to 2000, obesity and inactivity-related deaths increased by 33%. Did you know being overweight accounts for 20% of the cancer deaths in women and 14% in men?

Now get this, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston determined that the risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, colon cancer and diabetes is about TWENTY times higher for overweight people. Notice I did not say obese. It’s even more deadly for them.

When’s the last time you saw a really old fat person?

Why is obesity so deadly?

Here are a few ways it affects your health:

1. It raises your blood pressure.
2. It causes Type II diabetes.
3. It triggers strokes as well as coronary disease, America’s number one killer.
4. It raises your risk of gallbladder disease.
5. It increases your risk of many types of cancer.
6. It can cause metabolic syndrome, a cluster of killer medical conditions.
7. It contributes to enlarged hearts, pulmonary embolism, ovarian cysts, gastro- esophageal reflux, fatty liver disease, hernias, erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, chronic renal failure, cellulitis, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gout and gallbladder disease/gall stones.
8. It can lower your overall quality of life including poor body image, low self- esteem and depression.
9. The obese suffer 30–50% more health problems than problem drinkers—or even smokers.

So here are some tips:

Following sensible diet, nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices to optimize your weight and extend your life and wellbeing. Obesity is a very big risk.

Some simple lifestyle basics are: move more, eat less and laugh every chance you get—especially at yourself.

And a good rule of thumb is, don’t do the crazy things you did when you were eighteen.