Chose to lose weight to a level that doesn't compromise your health nor quality of life.
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The American Diabetes Association is warning the number of diabetes cases is predicted to double. The two main drivers are the aging population and increasing rates of obesity.
While we can’t address the aging issue on an individual basis we can minimise the risk we will develop diabetes. Reduce weight through eating well is the main priority as being obese appears to be a major risk factor in developing diabetes.
An important element is controlling blood glucose levels. While a low glycemic diet has been recommended for people that already have diabetes or have recognised symptoms I recommend such a diet for everyone and follow the general principles myself. While a low glycemic diet sounds like it is a ‘medical treatment’ it can better be termed a common sense approach to eating well!!!
Keeping fit through regular exercise also helps overall wellbeing as well as contributing directly to reducing the risk of diabetes.
Eat well, exercise, feel great
Keith
Exercise makes you hungry – not a new concept to most people I would have thought. However if you are seeking to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight you don’t want extra eating overwhelming the benefits of exercise in assisting to lose weight.
A small study of 58 overweight and obese adults found some lost weight through increased exercise while others appeared to have their exercise efforts counteracted by increased eating. For those who managed to lose weight exercise may have improved their body’s ability to signal when they were full. The researchers found these subjects were hungrier before breakfast but were not hungrier during the rest of the day.
The learning from those that didn’t lose weight is a general warning to all of who are managing our weight. We need to be aware of any tendancy to over eat after exercise and address this if it occurs.
It also reinforces the need to control our eating habits as the main contributor to losing weight.
To read the abstract go to American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Neil A King, Phillipa P Caudwell, Mark Hopkins, James R Stubbs, Erik Naslund, and John E Blundell
Dual-process action of exercise on appetite control: increase in orexigenic drive but improvement in meal-induced satiety
Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Oct 2009; 90: 921 – 927.
regards, Keith
We are bringing up a generation that will need to lose weight.
As parents we are concerned about road safety and stranger danger. However we seem to be less vigilant about a widespread danger to our kids. We appear to be compromising their health at an increasingly younger age. While historically many adults have drifted into obesity in middle age we are raising a generation that will enter adulthood obese. Not the proudest of legacies!
An investigation of children’s meals at fast food outlets found only 3% met the standards set by the National School Lunch Program. The average energy density of the meals that failed the standards was 2.3 calories per gram compared with 1.5 in the standards. Of the meals that failed 65% had too much fat while the levels of a number of key nutrients were inadequate.
reference: J.M. Mendoza, “Kids, Fast Food, & Obesity: Menu Reviews From a Houston Pediatrician” Agricultural Research, October 2009
To read the article click on: article
Lets make sure our kids eat well and enter adulthood healthy. It will then be up to them to determine their future health and hopefully they will follow the guidance provided to them in their formative years.
regards, Keith
While you may have a natural tendancy to put on fat easily you can lose weight and control weight loss whatever genes you have.
A review of an article in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition reported on research regarding a possible link between genes and the propensity to develop belly fat. It was found the presence of various genetic factors increased the ease at which individuals put on body fat. It was noted some participants were consuming excessive saturated fat.
While there were genetic links to obesity there was not a link between genetic traits and the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. (See blog on metabolic syndrome)
Probably the most interesting comment from the study is – “while we may have a genetic disposition to obesity we are largely in control of our weight.”
According to Health Day the orginal source can be found in Journal of Nutrition, November 2009.
To source the article click on: Health Day review of article
regards, Keith
According to research 100,500 cases of cancer in America each year are due to overweight/obesity. Obesity also affects the recovery rate after cancer treatment.
One of the authors, Melinda Irwin, recommends exercise for cancer survivors. It would appear exercise assists to regulate hormones, with regular activity improving survival rates for both obese and healthy weight individuals.
To read the article click on the link: American Institute for Cancer Research article
source: http://www.aicr.org/site/News2/
regards, Keith
If you are obese lose weight to reduce the risk of damage to your heart.
Left atrial enlargement of the heart can lead to atrial fibrillation, stroke and death. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology reports obesity is the most important risk factor for left atrial enlargement. The authors conclude early intervention is important if young obese people are to avoid premature changes to their heart.
If you are obese it would appear important to lose weight, what ever your age, to avoid or minimise left atrial enlargement. A change in diet and possibly lifestyle could be life saving.
To access the article click: JACC article abstract
regards, Keith
The need to lose weight is, or should be, a concern for many - where ever they live.
Obesity: the public health challenge of our time
While the report (extract below) is now several years old it remains relevant today. If two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese how is this wave of obesity to be addressed? If this is the American experience other developed countries are likely to have the same issue, making the article widely applicable.
While the authors look at the issue from both an individual and a public perspective each one of us can take responsibility for our own health and manage our weight, chosing to lose weight and maintain the weight loss if required.
The full article is available at:
M.T. Bassett & S. Perl, Vol 94, No. 9, American Journal of Public Health, September 2004.
Extract: “Obesity has become the public health issue of the day—and for good reason. The data outline a dismal picture and a more foreboding future. The prevalence of obesity has doubled in adults and children and tripled in adolescents over the past 2 decades. Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Each year in the United States, 400 000 deaths and $117 billion in health-care and related costs are attributable to obesity.
There is little debate over how an individual person becomes obese: she eats more calories than she expends. Rather, debate rages over how entire populations have become obese so quickly. Sedentary lifestyles, calorie-dense foods, large portion sizes, and excessive television viewing are among the identified contributors.
Which side of the equation is most to blame? There is no doubt that physical activity levels have declined. The “eat more” influence of the food industry on nutrition and health also has been documented (see, e.g., Nestle M. Food Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2002).
There is debate over whether increasing physical activity and improving nutrition are matters of individual behavioral change (eat better, exercise more) or environmental change (add bike paths, ensure the availability of fresh produce). While both are important, limited resources dictate that choices be made.
The sad truth is that when it comes to helping individuals lose weight, public health professionals, health care providers, and the diet industry have all been woefully unsuccessful. Long-term success stories are few. Stories of weight regained abound. “
How important is it to lose weight and avoid obesity?
In wandering the web I came across the results of a study to determine the risk of death associated with being underweight or overweight as measured by body mass index (BMI). The authors used the following measures: underweight (body mass index [BMI] <18.5), overweight (BMI 25 to <30), and obesity (BMI >30).
They looked at deaths in the United States in 2000 and found 111,606 excess deaths from obesity and 33,746 associated with being underweight. They found being overweight (BMI 25 to <30) did not contribute to excess deaths compared with those of normal weight.
reference: K. M. Flegal, B. I. Graubard, D. F. Williamson & M. H. Gail, The Journal of the American Medical Association, April, 2005;293, No 15
The increased risk to health as people reach increasing levels of obesity is widely promoted. The need to lose weight and avoid obesity is supported by this study. Interesting that being over weight without being obese did not lead to increased risk of death. It is also interesting that being underweight increases the risk of death.
Food for thought! Keith
A central cause of the current epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes relates directly to our eating habits. We eat too much of the wrong food. End of story. We then need to lose weight to restore our health.
A study of type 2 diabetics who were overweight/obese found 93 percent got too many calories from fat, 85 percent ate too much saturated fat and 92 percent ate too much salt. Fewer than half ate enough fruit, vegetables, diary and grains.
Reference: M.Z. Vitolins et al, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, August, 2009.
The challenge is to replace the high fat food we enjoy with other healthier food we enjoy as much or more. This will require effort to start with but over a short time you can train yourself onto tasty food that will support your weight loss efforts.
What is clear is that merely being aware you are overweight or finding out you have diabetes is often not enough to trigger a change in eating habits. I suspect this is because an attractive path to better health is not presented in a format that is compelling. The book Enjoy Losing Weight could be renamed Enjoy Eating Great Food That Will Help You To Lose Weight. Don’t see the need to lose weight condeming you to eating boring food. Improve your enjoyment of food and lose weight at the same time.
Happy and healthy eating, Keith
Manage the amount of fructose you are consuming if you want to lose weight and avoid health issues.
Fructose is a commonly available form of sugar and you may be consuming more than you think. Table sugar is 50/50 fructose and glucose while fructose is commonly used as a sweetener in packaged products and sweetened drinks.
Research has found metabolic syndrome increased in the two weeks subjects were on a high fructose diet. (See blogs on syndrome x/metabolic syndrome http://how2-lose-weight.com/2009/08/and insulin resistance http://how2-lose-weight.com/2009/08/insulin-resistance/)
Fructose also raises blood pressure! The research found blood pressure in men increased in just two weeks on a high fructose diet.
While the links between obesity, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes are well known there also appears to be links to kidney disease and gout, with subjects on the high fructose diet also having raised uric acid levels.
Fruit has lower levels of fructose than sweetened foods and has goodies such as antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium and fibre.
So – to lose weight and be healthy go for fruit and leave the sweetened drink on the shelf. Regards, Keith
reference: R Johnson et al, American Heart Association, 63rd High Blood Pressure Research Conference, September, 2009
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