The food industry has one major fault. It produces the food that is convenient and what the public demands. Unfortunately, the highly processed and refined foods sold in supermarkets today merely compound health problems and insure that the pounds keep adding up.
Obesity, like heart disease, cancer and diabetes is fast reaching epidemic proportions. Weight loss programs, fad diets, weight loss pills and liposuction work for a time but only insure that the person who is trying to shed pounds returns time and again to get on the next new program. Millions are spent and the results are often dismal.
The diet is the first thing most people blame for their condition. But obesity is not just a problem of a faulty diet. Many people cut back on their consumption hoping this will be the answer, but become disappointed when what they've lost returns with the addition of more pounds.
The body's ability to function properly is complicated and not easily understood. While one weight loss program might work for one, it fails to work for another. Science has yet to find the key why some gain weight while others stay stick thin though they eat far more. There are other factors that increase the chances of gaining weight beside just food alone.
Eating the Wrong Foods
While cutting back on portions helps, it doesn't do much good if the diet consists of high carbohydrate foods loaded with fat and sugar. High glycemic foods raise glucose to high levels that in time leads to diabetes and heart disease. Foods quickly digested are easier to store as fat. Such food is unhealthy and lacks the nutrients the body needs to function normally. If eating the wrong food is a problem, the food that is eaten comes loaded with preservatives and additives which the body cannot synthesize. The result is fat storage.
The Lack of Exercise
The media and the medical establishment all pay lip service to the benefits of exercise. While it's true that exercise is beneficial, it is hard to do when the average diet promotes fatigue, lethargy and depression, all of which negate any desire to get exercise. The most important part of exercise is that it stimulates blood flow which is vital to health. It helps lower cholesterol and helps clear out the accumulated poisons that comes from a faulty diet. Fortunately, the best way to start and exercise program is through taking regular walks.
The Toxic Environment
Few people ever consider that the environment in which they live could be responsible for their weight gain. From the land to the water and the air, pollutants and toxins find their way into the body. Heavy metals such as cadmium and lead are stored in fat tissue as the body cannot easily eliminate them. This toxic load means more fat.
The Bad Habits
Everyone develops some bad habits through life and those habits are major contributors to weight gain. Smoking adds some 4700 chemicals into the body, of which 60 are highly toxic. Smokers simply add to the toxic mix already in their bodies and insure obesity and disease. Even if smoking and second-hand smoke is not a problem, the lack of sleep is. It has been shown that lack of sleep helps toward weight gain. Many people insure they gain weight simply by skipping breakfast, perhaps the most important meal of the day. If skipping breakfast insure weight gain, so does eating on the run and eating too fast. Many people do not chew food properly and this leads to a clogged colon, flatulence and many more gastro-intestinal disorders.
Stress
The body cannot live under a constant barrage of stress. A highly stressed life does little to help promote digestion and only forces the body to store more food as fat. A stressful lifestyle is an unhealthy lifestyle. Chronic inflammation is one contributor toward weight gain.
All these factors do result in obesity. It's not enough to point the finger on food alone. To stand a chance in shedding pounds, all areas must be looked at in detail. It's finding the one or two that are the major culprits and addressing them before any significant weight loss can be achieved. Effective weight loss starts from making changes in those areas that are mostly responsible for obesity.
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