How To Overcome Obesity

Obesity

Obesity is the leading cause of death and disability in the world, 

Is it genetic or environmental and how can you prevent it or overcome it?

I personally struggled with obesity for my whole lifetime, after trying 

and failing to lose weight or maintain a standard weight, 

It required a commitment of 2.5 years and persistence in a never-ending struggle.

Introduction

World Health Organization defines obesity as a body mass index/BMI (weight/height) of 30 or higher, while overweight has a BMI of 25 or higher. Due to inaccuracies of BMI, for not accounting for muscle mass, a better measurement is waist circumference for men of more than 102 cm and women of more than 88cm.

Obesity is the leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide, with increasing rates in adults and children. In 2016, 2 billion adults were overweight, and 6oo million (12%) adults were obese, triple from 1975. 100 million (7%) children were obese, from 1% in 1975.

It is rapidly increasing in low and middle-income countries. 

Obesity is more common in women than in men, possibly due to pregnancies. 

Obesity leads to a condition called metabolic syndrome which is a combination of diabetes, hypertension, and high lipids/fat in the blood (cholesterol and triglyceride). It also predisposes to cardiovascular diseases (heart attack, stroke, and gangrene), fatty liver disease, cancers, dementia, sleep apnea (snoring due to lack of breathing), osteoarthritis (joint problems), infertility, depression, skin issues, blindness, kidney failure, and more disabling or fatal diseases. It is the one known factor that leads to death when a healthy person is infected with COVID-19.

Some cultures still favor obesity, looking at it as a sign of wealth and success, which is to the detriment of individuals.

Causes

We have two main hormones that are responsible for food intake and energy expenditure, Ghrelin is an appetite hormone that produces and works in the stomach (to eat when the stomach is empty and stop when full) and Leptin is produced by fat cells to signal fat storage reserves in the body and mediates appetite (eat more when fat storage is low and eat less when fat storage is high), that is why someone can gain weight in one week which they lost in a 3 months 

As the body prefers a state of balance leptin compensates for the weight loss in that short duration.

Food has shifted from more natural and less caloric to processed, heavy in calories, sugary, and addictive additives, i.e. fast food, alongside beverages drinks like soda have liquid sugar (fructose) which cannot digested by the body rather is stored as fat, which doesn't only lead to obesity in adults but even worse as in obesity in children. National and global dietary guides still recommend high calories to fight undernutrition.

Due to people living in big cities transporting by vehicles, working in less laborious jobs, and digital entertainment, all these have led to less physical activity and less expenditure of fats as energy.

Africans or people of African descent who have inherited genes from their ancestors were built for less caloric food so they stored less fat, however, due to the abundance of food and sugars with high calories current people store more fat because leptin is still high.

Lack of sleep or poor sleep has been linked with obesity.

Diseases like hormonal, eating disorders, and genetic ones have been linked with obesity. Medications like diabetes, asthma, HIV, bacteria, epilepsy, depression, and psychosis lead to obesity.

Some environmental chemicals found in plastics, paints, agricultural products, industrial water from taps, and seafood have chemicals that disrupt natural body hormonal systems predisposing to obesity. 

Therapy

There are some modern medicine treatments for obesity like medication for diabetes and surgeries to remove the fat. However, due to expenses, risks, and lack of effectiveness, the only true treatment for obesity is lifestyle modification, which I have personally witnessed and applied to lose 20 plus KGs:

1. Fasting for 8 hours a day to give the body enough time to digest and use calories.

2. Walking at least for 30 minutes a day.

3. Avoid processed food and soda.

4. Finding supportive individuals, ideally your spouse and friends.

5. Avoid late-night snacks.

6. Getting a quality night sleep.

7. Seeking a coach for accountability and guidance.

Do you have one big problem currently with your health, work, education, finances, relationships, parenthood, or life in general? if yes, please feel free to talk to us to find a solution based on our expertise and experience together. book a free 30-minute consultation by clicking here.