Health

Obesity

Today, 64.5 percent of adult Americans (about 127 million) are categorized as being overweight or obese. Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S., and healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount to approximately $100 billion. Apart from the obvious physical symptoms of being very large in size and unable to partake in normal activities such as sport, obesity increases one’s risk of developing conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes (type 2), heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease and cancer of the breast, prostate and colon.

Child obesity is also becoming is large problem facing America. The amount of overweight children has risen significantly in the past ten years, and is expected to grow at an even greater rate in the future.

Not only does our society frown upon obesity on those who have it, but more importantly, it serves as a major health risk to those who have it. Thus, we should be concerned about teaching our children to eat well and stay active. Child obesity is not only a problem because they may get teased at school, it’s a problem that could carry into adulthood where several health risks will coincide.

I have had some e-mails come in and everyone is asking “is ephedra is safe or not?”.

Well I wont reply to that question. But I will provide information about ephedra, good or bad, and allow you the reader to form your own opinion about the effectiveness of ephedra and what it can bring to the table for you the consumer. Along with any other use it might or might not have.

I myself love ehpedra and have benefited from it greatly.Others I have met at the Gym say they “love it”. Some say it gets there heart going like a lab rat. I guess it all depends on the person and how there body reacts to it.

For those of you wondering what is going on with the Ban on ephedra, this is all we have found for the time being.

In February of 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) imposed a ban on ephedra as a diet supplement but allowed synthetic ephedrine and mahuang used for traditional Chinese medicine to continue to be manufactured and sold. This ban came into effect on April 12, 2004. On April 14, 2005 little more than one year after the ban on ephedra was imposed, a Utah court concluded that the FDA overstepped their power in banning ephedra.

Although liposuction is one of the most commonly performed cosmetic surgeries in the U.S., prospective patients need to be aware that their individual results may vary. Many who are considering the surgery begin with false hopes that the surgery can transform their bodies into the firm and toned images portrayed in the media. Although most patients are satisfied with the end results of the surgery, it needs to be understood that with any surgery, there is a risk of infection, swelling, and bruising as well as other, more serious, side effects. Liposuction usually gives the best results to healthy people of normal weight with firm, elastic skin. Those who are overweight or who have skin that is not as firm may not achieve the results they hope for.

Though fatalities seem to be rare, very little data exists to give a solid number. Some studies suggest that approximately 3 of every 100,000 liposuctions performed result in death. Other studies suggest that number to be much higher ? 20 out of every 100,000 surgeries performed. The Food and Drug Administration suggests that these risks can be likened to that of automobile accident fatalities, which involve about to about16 out of every 100,000 people. It is important to remember that liposuction is a surgical procedure and therefore carries the risk of complications.

Obesity, once seen as akin to laziness and overeating, is now understood as a complex disorder having to do with genetics and hormonal as well as lifestyle factors. People seem to have very different energy requirements; some can eat half as much as others and weigh the same.

By some estimates, as many as 20% of Americans are obese with 6-10% classified as morbidly obese (having a body mass index of 40 or greater, or being more than 100 pounds overweight), a health problem with severe consequences that can include hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obstructive sleep apnea, degenerative arthritis, breast and colon cancer, psychosocial problems, and more.

As obesity becomes more recognized as a national problem, more and more treatment options are becoming available when simple dieting and increased exercise do not work. One of these treatments is Gastric Bypass Surgery, a form of bariatric surgery, which gets its name from the Greek words for "weight" and "treatment."

Changing habits is one of the most difficult challanges we human beings are facing. This also applies to changing food habits, and especially starting a weight loss diet, when you are used to eating what you want when you want it. When we feel defeated by this challenge it is easy to find excuses for not doing it. I’ll discuss 7 common excuses for not starting up or staying on a fitness diet, and give you some tips on what to do to get your mind “on track” again.

1.” I simply love good food, I will never be able to carry this diet out!”

There are two points worth commenting on in this statement. If you tell yourself that you will never be able to carry out your fat loss diet, I can almost guarantee you, you won’t. What you should tell yourself is: “I definately will be able to carry out this fat loss diet” and repeat it as often as possible. If you do, your mind will trust you more and more and finally it will know this as the truth.

I do not smoke, never have, and admit to being one of those ‘pain in the butts’ (OK, bad pun!) that go on about the foul stench, and anti-social behaviour of smokers, especially in public places.

You can imagine my joy when one of my local pubs recently banned smoking. Shortly after the ban had come into force I spotted a guy poised with cigarette in hand, and was about to get huffy and even confrontational. Fortunately I held back and continued my beer - but was puzzled. The cigarette was unlit and yet he was putting it near his mouth, flicking the imaginary ash and generally acting as if he was smoking it. Curious about this I eventually enquired, only to find out this was his own rather unorthodox approach to keeping his hands busy and therefore, as he put it, keeping his weight down.

Although everyone knows that smoking is detrimental to health, it’s surprising how many smokers cite fear of putting on weight as a reason to not quit smoking.

The simple fact is that it is not quitting smoking that affects your weight, but the change of habit can result in you increasing your food intake.

Did you know that how and when you eat is important for good health?

For most of your life, you probably have eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now depending on your eating habits, this may be okay…but many people skip breakfast because they don’t have the time, they have a semi-normal lunch and then a large dinner. Avoid this at all costs…

When you wake up, your body is screaming for food- it’s been many hours since you last ate. By skipping breakfast, you’re depriving your body of the nutrients it needs and forcing it to go into hibernation mode- this slows down your metabolism. Dinner should be your lightest meal of the day because your metabolism is slowest in the evening…yet for many people, it’s their largest.

That being said…

The ideal eating schedule is to have a small, healthy meal every 2-3 hours (healthy sandwich, protein shake, peanut butter, fruit, healthy fats, whole grains, nuts etc). Your body isn’t made for digesting huge portions of food. By eating small meals every 2-3 hours, you keep your metabolism at top speed and your digestive system healthy.

1. CUT THE SIMPLE CARBS.

It’s unfortunate that the majority of people are “carbo junkies.”

This especially applies to you if you’re overweight because your body then struggles with insulin sensitivity.

Your body absolutely needs carbohydrates, but you may need to learn to appropriately reverse the ratio of simple carbs to complex carbs.

Most importantly you’ll need to reduce the amount of sugar you take in. Having a good ratio of complex to simple carbs will let your body regulate blood sugar levels more efficiently, burn more fat as fuel, and ultimately lose more weight.

2. EAT SMALLER, MORE FREQUENT MEALS.

Eating about every 3-4 hours prevents your blood sugar levels from spiking dramatically throughout the day. This helps your hormones stay in check, while regulating hunger as well.

Ultimately, it helps elevate metabolism, it’s easier on your digestive system, and it can eventually provide you with more energy throughout the day.

3. CONSUME MORE FUNCTIONAL FATS.

Essential fatty acids, such as omega-6 and omega-3 consumed in appropriate ratios of 2:1 or better yet at 1:1 will allow the body to regulate your hormones, calm down inflammation, and stabilize blood sugar levels.

Barriers to healthy diets are placed into four broad categories:

This article examines only the most difficult barriers in each category. Let’s remove the barriers to healthy diets…but first, “What is a Healthy Diet?”

What is a Healthy Diet?

A healthy diet provides the recommended daily allowance for vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Any diet that fails to meet the minimum daily allowance for any nutrient is unhealthy. Of course, providing the daily allowance for all nutrients is next to impossible given the poor nutritional value of today’s diets.

We eat on average 1.5 meals a day (not even close to the suggested 5-6 meals). The one meal we manage to eat is usually late in the evening, high in calories, high in fat, and is missing Group I Foods (fresh vegetables and fruit).

The majority of young men between the ages of 20-25 eat only 2 servings of fruit and 1 serving of fresh vegetables throughout the week! The next generation is nutritionally starved.

A healthy diet is quite simple and easy to follow. Here are the steps to eating a healthy diet:

Today I stopped by my favorite coffee shop in Berkeley, right across from the campus and noticed this student, couldn’t have been 20 years old.

Now this kid was obese, no I mean OBESE. I felt bad, really bad, you know like empathy?!

He jiggled when he walked and everyone would turn and stare the way I would turn at a beautiful girl passing me by.

Anyway, it got me thinking about composition, specifically body composition. And how it affects the way we move, the way we fit into society. The way we fit into our own thinking. How we live within ourselves.

Do you ever think about how you fit into society? Are you PHAT or fat? Do you count yourself as one of the obese?

Today there are more people obese then in any other time in history, and I think most of them are here in the USA. And the reasons are pretty simple ? simple as too much food and not enough exercise.

However, even with all the focus on weight loss, you still may not be completely changing your lifestyle or bad health habits.

Why is that?