Health Issues Linked to Obesity
Description:
Obesity is the accumulation of excess body fat. Obesity can occur as
a result of several factors. Your metabolic rate (how fast you burn
calories), exercise, diet, alcohol, or metabolic disorders (diabetes)
can have a significant effect on your weight. Obesity may also be
genetic. Some theories suggest that two obese parents have a higher
risk of having children with weight problems in their adulthood.
Obesity is also more common among women, and varies by race and age.
Obesity changes the overall appearance of an individual, but also
can cause structural changes as you have to adjust to your size. For
example, you may walk abnormally and widen your stance, which
contributes significantly to osteoarthritis, low back pain, and swollen
feet and ankles. They also typically have difficulty breathing or
become short of breath easily when the lungs are compressed by excess
fat.
Obesity also dramatically increases the risk of developing heart
disease, high blood pressure, stroke, varicose veins, psychological
stress, osteoarthritis, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. In addition, the
risk of premature death may be doubled or even tripled.
Obesity can be determined by your body mass index (BMI) and body
composition. BMI is your weight (in kilograms) divided by your height
(in meters squared). BMI standards state that you are overweight when
your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, and obese when your BMI is 30 or
greater. Body composition is the percentage of fat and muscle in the
body.
-- Causes of Obesity --
Obesity occurs from numerous conditions. The most major cause of
obesity is the over-consumption of processed foods, consumption of
high-fat, high-sugar foods and lack of exercise. Other contributors on
a lower percentage include imbalance of the basal metabolic rate,
metabolic disorders, disorders such as hypothyroidism, hypopituitarism,
Cushing's syndrome, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, and
hyperinsulinemia. Genetics also play a role.
-- The Nutritional Approach --
Foods that have been proven to help with obesity:
Raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains and easily digested proteins.
Avoid refined sugars, refined flours, and fried foods.
Nutrients that have been proven to help with obesity:
Enzymes (Lipase), Essential Fatty Acids, Chromium, Probiotics, and Citrus.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is a type of fat that helps to reduce
body fat, which has prompted researchers to suggest that it is an
obesity-preventing agent. There has been nearly a 70 percent reduction
in the amount of CLA in the human food supply in the last 40 years.
Some researchers suggest that the disappearance of CLA in the food
chain is one of the reasons why Americans have continued to become
fatter.
Excercises that have been proven to help with obesity:
The key to long-term fat loss is to create a better Fat-to-Muscle
ratio since muscle burns many more calories than fat. Strength training
the whole body 2-3 times a week for 30-40 minutes will create the most
strength the fastest. Also do an aerobic program consisting of 30-45
minutes a day of increased heart rate activity 6 days a week.
-- Basic Obesity Plan --
- Establish optimal nutrition.
- Avoid refined foods.
- Consume a diet or supplement with chelated chromium.
- Consume foods rich in Essential Fatty Acids.
- Probiotics combined with Enzymes taken at each meal will help stop foods from not being digested and stored as fat.
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