Obesity Is An Epidemic

Obesity has become a global epidemic in both children and adults. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality as well as reduced life expectancy; and, is associated with numerous co-morbidities such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers, and sleep apnea/sleep-disordered breathing.

Health service use and medical costs associated with obesity and related diseases have risen dramatically and are expected to continue to rise. Besides an altered metabolic profile, a variety of adaptations/alterations in cardiac structure and function occur in the individual as adipose tissue accumulates in excess amounts. Hence, obesity may affect the heart through its influence on known risk factors such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, glucose intolerance, inflammatory markers, and obstructive sleep apnea/hypoventilation.

Belly Fat Cells Are Dangerous!
Obesity is a silent-killer, but, more specifically, it's the fat cells in the belly area that are so dangerous. In fact, you do not have to be "obese" to be in danger of these fat cells. If you have excess belly fat, you have these dangerous fat cells.

Why are these fat cells so dangerous?

Because these fat cells are active -- they send out signals that lead to cellular inflammation, that can trigger other health issues such as high homocysteine and high CRP, which are pre-cursors to arterial plaque formation, heart disease, and heart attacks.

Inflammation -- The Real Culprit
Fat cells produce pro-inflammatory substances including leptin, TNF, IL-6, and resistin, affecting the whole body. Thus, overweight people become subject to a body-wide state of chronic, low-grade inflammation, induced by fat itself.

But, the effect of fat on inflammation is just half of the cycle. The effects of inflammation on fat are equally intense. When inflammation is severe, as in a life-threatening infection, it can cause tremendous weight loss. With severe inflammation, the body cannibalizes itself and both fat and muscle cells are destroyed. This is not a good way to lose weight. The breakdown of muscle is always greater than the breakdown of fat.

When inflammation is mild and chronic, producing few symptoms and only subtle changes on blood tests, inflammation has a very different effect on your metabolism. Chronic low-grade inflammation makes your brain and body resistant to the normal regulatory effects of leptin and other hormones, including insulin and cortisol. Insulin is made in the pancreas and cortisol is made in the adrenal glands. In excess, either can have a devastating effect on your attempts to lose weight. High insulin levels prevent the breakdown of fat. Cortisol actually causes fat cells to grow.

Mild elevation of the level of CRP in blood is associated with obesity and with weight gain. Weight loss, on the other hand, produces a decrease in CRP. In people with a history of heart disease, mild elevation of CRP predicts an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. In adults who develop diabetes, elevated CRP occurs before the onset of diabetes. In people with normal blood pressure, elevated CRP predicts the future development of high blood pressure. In aging adults, high CRP is associated with muscle weakness and frailty. Studies of CRP have proven the close relationship between silent, chronic inflammation and the development of the most common chronic diseases of modern society.

Inflammation and fat share a complex relationship. When inflammation is severe, as in a life-threatening infection, it can cause tremendous weight loss. With severe inflammation, both fat and muscle cells are destroyed; the breakdown of muscle is always greater than the breakdown of fat. When inflammation is mild and chronic, however, producing few symptoms and only subtle changes on blood tests, inflammation has a very different effect on your metabolism. It disrupts hormones.

Acting through the complex networks of chemicals involved in homeostasis, inflammation makes your cells resistant to the normal regulatory effects of leptin and other hormones, including insulin and cortisol.

The more fat in your body, the greater the level of inflammation in your body. Not only does this fat-derived inflammation prevent leptin from helping you lose weight, it causes other hormonal effects that interfere with permanent weight loss. Inflammation raises the level of insulin and cortisol, two hormones that actually cause your body to make more fat.

Insulin and Cortisol  
Insulin is a hormone produced in your pancreas. Its best known effect is to lower blood sugar by driving sugar and other nutrients into cells, especially muscle cells. Your muscles need insulin to help them produce energy and recover from the effects of exercise.

Inflammation interferes with the effect of insulin on your muscles. Just as inflammation causes leptin resistance, it is a major cause of  insulin resistance.

With insulin resistance, your muscles are not fully responsive to insulin, so they don’t efficiently burn the sugar that circulates in your blood. As a result, your blood sugar starts to rise. Your pancreas responds by releasing more insulin. When the degree of insulin resistance outpaces the ability of your pancreas to produce more insulin, diabetes occurs.

Whether or not you actually develop diabetes, high levels of circulating insulin can have seriously negative effects. There are some actions of insulin that occur outside of muscle and are not impaired during insulin resistance. As insulin levels increase, these effects of insulin are felt. High insulin levels make your kidneys retain fluid, raising your blood pressure and creating that feeling of being bloated and swollen.

Consequently, many diabetics suffer with high blood sugar and high blood pressure. But, instead of treating the root cause, your doctor gives you 2 different drugs -- one for the high blood sugar (diabetes) and another one for the high blood pressure.

As a result, over the years, your blood sugar problem doesn't really get any better, and your blood pressure doesn't get any better either. How do you know? Because, more than likely, you are now taking more than the original 2 medications, or you're taking higher dosages of these medications.

High insulin levels prevent cells from breaking down fat, making it harder to lose weight through dieting. Insulin also turns on genes that produce a number of mediators of inflammation, so with high insulin, as with high leptin, the level of inflammation in your body increases. So, you can see why long-term use of insulin injections may not be the best course for a person with Type 2 diabetes.

Your brain and your adrenal glands are attuned to the level of inflammation in your body. As inflammation increases, your brain sends a signal to your adrenal glands to produce more of a hormone called cortisol. You may be familiar with cortisone, a drug used to relieve symptoms of inflammation like itching, redness or pain. Cortisol is the natural equivalent of the drug, made in your own adrenal glands in response to stress. Cortisol naturally combats inflammation, but at a high price. Cortisol increases the amount of belly fat. It also causes fluid retention, muscle weakness, memory loss, high blood pressure, and further raises your blood sugar. The increase in blood sugar then stimulates a further increase in insulin.

This vicious cycle dooms the diabetic to a life of deteriorating health and the need for more and more drugs.

However, the Death to Diabetes and the Death to Obesity wellness programs are designed to attack the root causes of these diseases, and engage your body to repair the damage and allow your body to recover, reducing and removing the need for a life-sentence of drugs and more drugs.

Obesity Statistics
As depicted in the diagrams below, obesity is an epidemic in the United States and worldwide. About two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight, and almost one-third are obese, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Recent studies have shown that obesity is one of the key risk factors for many of our diseases, including heart disease and diabetes. Consequently, losing weight is one of the key strategies to prevent heart disease and diabetes.

Obesity is the second largest cause of preventable deaths, after tobacco, in the United States. Obese patients are more liable to develop a range of associated diseases than people of normal weight. Among these diseases are:
• Diabetes       
• Heart disease
• Strokes
• High blood pressure  
• Cancer       
• Obstructive sleep apnea

How is obesity determined?

BMI Calculation
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) identified overweight as a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m², and obesity as a BMI of 30 kg/m² or greater. Calculating BMI is simple and quick:

BMI =            Weight in pounds X 703          
               Height in inches X Height in inches

For example, if you weight 220 pounds and your height is 6 ft 3 in. or 75 inches, your BMI is as follows:
BMI =     220 X 703   
                75 X 75
BMI =     200 X 703   
               72 X 72
BMI = 27.5

However, you do not have to do this calculation – you can use a BMI chart or go online and use one of many free BMI calculators to figure out your BMI. 
  
BMI Ranges:
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

But the BMI does have limitations. One problem with using BMI as a measurement tool is that very muscular people may fall into the “overweight” category when they are actually healthy and fit.

Another problem with using BMI is that people who have lost muscle mass, such as the elderly, may be in the “healthy weight” BMI category (BMI 18.5 to 24.9) when they actually have reduced nutritional reserves.

BMI, therefore, is useful as a screening tool for individuals and as a general guideline to monitor trends in the population, but by itself is not diagnostic of an individual patient’s health status. Further assessment of patients should be performed to evaluate their weight status and associated health risks.

Note: Because of the limitations of BMI, Waist Size may be more important than BMI.

Note: Refer to this web page for a list of critical blood tests, including inflammation markers that will give you a better indication of your health than just using BMI or Waist Size.

What Causes Obesity?
Being seriously overweight is not caused by one single factor. There are a number of things that may interact and contribute to one becoming morbidly obese. That's why our Death to Obesity^® Weight Loss Program provides a complete range of educational products and services to address all of these factors:
• High-Fat /High-Calorie diets
• Physical inactivity
• Biochemical/hormonal
• Emotional or psychological factors
• Genetics
• Culture
• Gender
• Age
• Medical problems
• Medications

High-Fat/High-Calorie Diet - Ounce for ounce, fat provides more than twice as many calories as protein or carbohydrates (nine calories for fat versus four calories for carbohydrates). This energy difference may explain how fat promotes weight gain. Yet even when caloric intake is the same, a person eating a high-fat diet tends to store more excess calories as body fat than someone eating a lower fat diet. Often low-fat foods are high in calories.

Physical Inactivity – Overweight people are usually less physically active than normal weight adults. Seriously overweight people may have difficulty moving. The additional weight can cause pain in the feet, knees and ankles. It can cause shortness of breath, making you feel tired quickly. Also, we have so many labor-saving devices now that it is difficult for people to get exercise in the amounts the body requires. For example, we drive to the corner store for a frozen dinner. We drive home, click the garage door opener and relax on the couch with the remote control. All these devices can keep us from physical activity.

Biochemical/hormonal – The combination of a high-fat/high-calorie diet of “dead” and processed foods and very little physical activity creates biochemical and hormonal imbalances in the body that leads to leptin resistance and/or insulin resistance.

Genetics - Genes play a part in how your body balances calories and energy. Children whose parents are obese also tend to be overweight. A family history of obesity increases your chances of becoming obese by about 25 to 30 percent. Heredity does not destine you to be overweight, but by influencing the amount of body fat and fat distribution, genes can make you more susceptible to gaining weight. You cannot change your genetic makeup by willpower any more than you can make yourself taller or shorter by wishing. But you can still achieve your weight loss goals even with a family history of obesity.

Culture - People learn to eat and cook the way in which they were brought up. Food choices and combinations are learned very early in life. Social events and family rituals are often centered around large meals.
Today's culture promotes eating habits that contribute to obesity. People may serve large portions and foods that are most readily available instead of choosing foods that are most nutritious. Cooking with butter, chocolate and other high-caloric foods is a normal part of the American diet. Also, food is often used as a reward in this country. Children are treated to sweets for cleaning their room, and the team is taken for pizza or ice cream after the game. Seldom is eating only when hunger is present.

Emotional or Psychological Factors - Food is often a source of solace or celebration. If we feel blue, we may turn to food. If we celebrate a new job or birthday, we may go out to a big dinner. If a friend is grieving, we bake them a pie. Often as children, parents told us to clean our plates. Food carries many significant memories from our past. Food may be your best friend. Food may become less important in your life after weight loss, especially if you have surgery. Weight loss will allow you to acquire new interests in your life and become more active and varied in your activities.

Gender - Muscle uses more energy than fat does. Men have more muscle than women, and burn 10 percent to 20 percent more calories than women do at rest. For this reason, women are more likely to be obese.

Age - As you get older, the amount of muscle in your body tends to decrease, and fat accounts for a greater percentage of your weight. This lower muscle mass leads to a decrease in metabolism. Your metabolism also slows with age. Together, these changes reduce your calorie needs. If your food intake is not adjusted, you will gain weight.

Medical Problems – Some of the health problems include diabetes, low thyroid function or other hormonal imbalance.

Medications – OTC and prescription drugs can lead to weight gain because they create hormonal and biochemical imbalances in the body.

Note: To learn how to increase your weight loss and reduce the belly fat, get the Death to Obesity Weight Loss ebook and the Power of Juicing ebook.

Obesity Statistics in the U.S.