Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the world being associated with a number of common conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar or a high blood lipid profile.
Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the world
People with metabolic syndrome have a much higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes compared to those whose weight is in the normal range.
Obesity is an epidemic and in recent decades more and more research has focused on its causes and how it could be prevented or treated.
“The main cause of obesity is the lack of nutritional education. Along with the evolution of food industrialization, the caloric density of food also increased, but also their volatility – therefore food abuse, practically exceeding the required daily energy intake is inherent. In association with an increase directly proportional to sedentary lifestyle, practically reduced energy consumption – an imbalance between energy import and export was created, and the human body adapted to the new conditions and increased the storage of additional energy in adipose tissue. Although there are genetic elements and even pathologies that predispose to weight gain, they can be easily controlled by regulating energy import/export… that is, through basic nutritional education,” explains nutritionist Ionut Ignat.
Nutritionist Ionuț Ignat
Here are the main factors that can cause weight gain, obesity and metabolic diseases:
Addiction to food
Sugar-sweetened and high-fat foods stimulate the brain’s reward centers. Often this type of food has been compared to drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, nicotine and cannabis that can cause addiction in people prone to obesity. By losing control over eating behavior, addiction appears, a complex problem and very difficult to overcome. Excess weight occurs when we eat more calories than we burn through activity. This imbalance contributes the most to weight gain.
“During life, some people create an unbalanced, emotional relationship with food. The reason is very simple: food increases the level of dopamine – a neurotransmitter that gives the body a (temporary) feeling of well-being. Gradually, in the functions of the waves of life, we turn more and more often to this “relief” or even “celebration” and create an unbalanced ratio that no longer takes into account the sensation of hunger/satiety (given by hormones), but one emotional – given by neurotransmitters. We are angry – we soothe with food, we are happy (it can always be better!) – we celebrate with food… and gradually, our hypothalamus, similar to addicts, starts to “request” more and more dopamine by blocking the signals classical from other satiety-regulating hormones such as cholecystokinin, leptin or adiponectin. This is how food addictions are created (clinically the eating disorder called hyperphagia), the sweet one being only a “psychic variation” (some create addictions to sweet/salty taste change, others to fats, others to quantity/volume (the feeling of fullness in permanent stomach).These addictions – in association with a very high caloric density in fast food (because we always want to quench the addiction demon quickly!) and lack of exercise – lead to an increase in fat mass,” explains the nutritionist.
Lack of physical activity
Lack of physical activity leads to extra pounds and eventually obesity. Without exercise, the body begins to store the extra energy as fat and will not be able to use it. In addition to obesity, lack of exercise can also lead to heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Inadequate sleep routine
The key to excellent health is getting good sleep, which can also help us maintain a healthy weight. Studies have shown that the less we sleep, the more prone we are to overweight and obesity. This is partly because hormones that are released during sleep help control appetite and the body’s use of energy.
Health problems
The National Institutes of Health has found that in some cases obesity is caused by medical causes, such as thyroid, polycystic ovary syndrome, Cushing’s syndrome, etc. Also, a number of drugs have the side effect of weight gain (eg antidepressants, diabetes drugs and antipsychotics), by changing the function of the body and the brain, reducing the metabolic rate or increasing the appetite.
Genetics
Obesity has a strong genetic component. Genes can directly cause obesity in disorders such as Prader-Willi syndrome. Children of obese parents are much more likely to be obese than children of thin parents.
“Although genetics is a component to consider, we can draw a very simple (and painful) parallel to see its realistic relevance. In the African-American population of Somali origin, the obesity gene is statistically significant. However, food intake (overeating or starvation) is the determining factor when discussing body mass index. Children of obese parents have a predisposition to obesity not because of genes, rather imitating the parents’ habit, respectively the absence of nutritional education should be blamed. The “chronic dieter” behavior is also taken from the parents – that is, alternating between starvation (extreme diets on the net with massive nutrient deprivation dedicated to dramatic and rapid weight reduction and compensatory excess food – followed by weight relapse. More than once I met in the office, parents with obesity, who subjected their overweight children to strict and severe diets, without the presence of a medical specialist for rapid weight loss. Very harmful practice for the health of the child, but especially for his psyche for the future.”
The sugar
“The lack of understanding of digestion processes, respectively the eternal blaming of the media by people uneducated in the field of nutrition, has led to a permanent fear of sugar consumption. To understand the metabolic reality – it must be emphasized that ALL carbohydrates, at the end of the digestion process, are metabolized into 3 monosaccharides: fructose, glucose and galactose. Sugar is a disaccharide – made up of 2 molecules: fructose and glucose (50%-50%). Glucose is the primary source of cellular energy and is helped by the hormone called insulin produced by the pancreas, and fructose is metabolized by the liver, without the assistance of insulin, but with a special transmembrane transporter called GLUT 5 – which directs the energy mainly to active liver cells (hepatocytes). and renal (nephrons). In short, fructose is more likely to be converted to visceral fat if consumed in excess than glucose becomes energy (but which, in excess, can also be redirected to the liver for storage).
The addition of fructose in modern industrialization is a method of exponentially increasing calories at a VERY LOW price – and inherently increases the abundance of energy in food. Hence the excess. And the deposition of visceral fat leads to an increased lipid profile in the body and inherent to severe metabolic problems. Excess glucose on the other hand leads to insulin resistance, followed by prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
The difference between good and bad (misnamed media) carbs is release time – the “good” ones come bundled with fiber and release energy gradually over longer periods of time, and the “bad” or refined ones – have the fiber removed and their energy release is rapid – leading to excess more quickly. REALITY is in quantity! Each of us, directly dependent on activity and energy needs, has a certain daily carbohydrate budget, which should be distributed according to needs.”
The stress
Managing your hectic life can cause your stress levels to rise. Some people eat more than usual when they are bored, angry, or stressed. Too much stress can lead to cognitive problems, emotional eating, high blood sugar, uncontrolled appetite, high glucose and fat levels, all of which can lead to obesity. You can try to manage stress by making some changes in your diet, physical activity and talking to a specialist.
“From a medical point of view, daily stress is expressed hormonally – cortisol – and its expression is different from person to person. But realistically, one thing we can mention about the stress level is the fact that it is in crescendo from day to day and psychological and even psychiatric problems having it as a determining factor are in crescendo from year to year according to statistics. Stress is very often compensated with food and the inherent abuse leads to obesity and all related pathologies. The presence of exaggerated stress in everyday life is a REAL impediment in every obese patient’s struggle with excess weight. For this reason, stress management becomes vital in all nutrition practices as an associated multidisciplinary recommendation.
Part of the stress management strategies that I recommend to patients in the office start from walking in the open air/nature and can go up to the interview of a psychotherapist, psychologist or psychiatrist in multidisciplinary synergy. Unfortunately, as with excess weight, the population is also very dismissive of excessive stress. Perhaps an information campaign similar to ours related to the subject would be highly indicated by our colleagues in the field of psychology/psychotherapy/psychiatry.”
2023-07-10 17:40:27
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