Your muscles use approximately 90% of the calories you consume.
Americans spend more than $30 billion a year on weight control programs and products.
Gram-for gram, fat cells exert the most evident deleterious impact when they are located centrally (visceral). See Waist Hip Ratio Calculator.
Some authorities suggest women should have their thyroid levels checked every 3 to 5 years. Individuals with low thyroid levels can gain fat due to their condition.
Moderate weight loss of 5–10% is sufficient to augment insulin sensitivity.
The menopause is associated with an increase in abdominal adiposity and increased bone mineral loss in women.
On an average, active individuals eat more calories than overweight individuals.
You are 60 times more likely to die from liposuction than any other type of surgery.
Obesity cost companies 12 billion US dollars per year. CNN Headline News (18 June 2003)
Despite of what your mother said, leave food on your plate if you are full. Your getting fatter isn't going to help the hungry.
Fitness is more highly correlated with health than is body weight.
An average overweight American walks about 2,000 steps per day. The average non-overweight American walks about 6,000 steps.
Turmeric and cinnamon are two spices that may slightly decrease hunger.
Chronic calorie restriction of more than 30% in rats increased their lifespan by up to 50%. Calorie restriction is thought to activate the SIRT-1 gene.
Those who maintain their normal weight are less likely to be killed in a car accident (New York Times, March 7, 2006, pg D6).
Excessive bodyweight increases the risk of death from all causes.
J Stevens, J Cai, ER Pamuk, DF Williamson, MJ Thun, JL Wood (1998). The effect of age on the association between body-mas indes and mortality. New England Journal of Medicine, 338(1): 1-7.
Obesity decreases life expectancy by six years, on average (Cooper 2003).
Can low-fat foods contribute to obesity?
A Cornell University study showed people ate an average of 28% more total calories when they ate low-fat snacks as compared to regular ones.
Wansink, Brian and Pierre Chandon (2006), Can "Low-Fat" Nutrition Labels Lead to Obesity?, Journal of Marketing Research, 43:4, 605-17.
Sugar Substitutes
An emerging body of evidence suggests low-calorie sweeteners offer little help to dieters and may even help promote weight gain. Low calorie sweetners may increase appetite for sweet foods, disrupt the body's ability to accurately assess caloric intake, blunt thermic response, promote overeating, and lead to weight gain.
Hampton T (2008). Sugar substitutes linked to weight gain. JAMA. May 14;299(18):2137-8.
Sources of Stored Energy
Kcal Source 100 Body fluids (glucose or lipid) 1400 Liver & muscle glucogen 25,000 Muscle protein 115,000 Adipose tissue
How Body Regulates Weight
- Complex homeostatic system
- Hypothalamus is central coordinating area
- Many homeostatic molecules involved in hunger and satiety
- Insulin
- Bombesin
- Serotonin
- Dopamine
- Glucagon-like peptide-1
- Cholecystokinin
- Urocortin
- Neuropeptide Y
- Norepinephrine
- Corticotropin releasing hormone
- Ghrelin
- Adiponectine
- Galanin
- Leptin
- MCH (melanocortin-concentrating hormone)
Major Hormones Regulating Lipolytic Activity
- Catecholamines
- epinephrine and norepinephrine
- Insulin
- Glucagon
- more in forming ketones
- Growth Hormone
- Testosterone
Metabolic Syndrome
Approximately 47 million Americans have metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome increases the ris for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease.
Cooper Health: The Cooper Clinic Magazine, Spring 2006, 8-10.
Risk Factor Criteria Abdominal obesity (waist circumference)
- Women: > 88 cm (35")
- Men: > 102 cm (40")
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
- Women: <40 mg / dL (1.29 mmol /L)
- Men: < 50 mg / dL (1.04 mmol / L)
Triglycerides >150 mg / dL (1.69 mmol / L) Fasting glucose >110 mg / dL (6.1 mmol / L) Blood pressure > 130/85 mmHg Metabolic Syndrome is diagnosed when three or more risk factors are present.
National Institutes of Health 2001. NIH Publication No 01-3670.
Ectopic Fat
- Perivascular fat
- Pericardial fat
- Subcutaneous fat
- Perirenal fat
Genetics and Obesity
The direct genetic effect on obesity is estimated to be 25-40%. Indirect genetic factors raises the genetic effect to approximately 70% of the cause of obesity. Over 24 genes associated with obesity have been identified.
The weight of adults adopted as children is related to their natural parents and not their adoptive parents.
Pairs of twins gained or lost very similar amounts of body weight when overfed or underfed a 1000 kcal per day. The weight gain or loss between different pairs of twins was quite different. In a 100-day study, the weight gain on an extra 1000 kcal ranged from 3-14 kg.
Bouchard C, Tremblay A, Despres JP, Nadeau A, Lupien PJ, Theriault G, et al. The response to long-term overfeeding in identical twins. N Engl J Med 1990;322:1477-82.
P.E. Cutbacks
Cutbacks in mandatory physical education at school has contributed to an overall decline in children's physical activity levels. When these programs are available, they often involve little actual physical activity and do not focus on the fun aspects of physical activity.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Physical Activity and Health: A Reports of the Surgeon General, U.S. Dept. of HHS, Atlanta, GA, 1996.
Sleeping Deprivation and Obesity
"Sleep Deprivation can cause physiological distress," said Dr. Sateia, a former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. "This may include impairment in immune function and in carbohydrate metabolism. There is some interesting work suggesting that sleep deprivation may be associated with disturbances in appetite regulation and conceivably contribute to obesity," he explained.
Lack of sleep has been linked to obesity, depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. However, other factors may be responsible. People who don't get enought sleep also tend to eat more fast food which could account for longer term problems rather than lack of sleep per se, reported Mindy Engle-Friedman of the City University of New York at the annual meeting of the Asssociated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis in June 2007.
Weight Loss & Knee Pain
Obese people are more sensitive to pain than nonobese people.
Charles E (2005). Study of older adults suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee. American Psychosomatic Society, Denver.
Women who lost an average of 11 lbs decreased their risk for knee arthritis by 50%.
Felson DT, Zhang Y, Antony JM, Naimark A, Anderson JJ (1992). Weight loss reduces the risk for symptomatic knee osteoarthrirtis in women: The Framingham Study. Ann Intern Med. 116:535-539
Moderately High Protein Diet Findings
- > weight loss
- > loss of body fat
- > sparing of muscle protein
- > stability of blood sugar
- > triglycerides
- < triglycerides
Layman et al. (2003), J Nutrition. 133:411
Vintage Advice
"Hence the most reasonable treatment of obesity is to limit the use of non-proteid foods and to indulge in hard muscular work."
Hough T & Sedgwick WT (1906). The Human Mechanism, Ginn & Company, pg 236.
Caffeine & High Carb Diet
A high carbohydrate diet negates the metabolic effects of caffeine, such as increased mobilization and oxidation of fatty acids, during exercise.
Di Pasquale (2004) SWIS Conference.
Type II Diabetes
Type II diabetes accounts for 95% of all diabetes cases in the US. Exercise and diet is the most effective treatment for type II diabetes.
Weight Loss & Health
There is no clear-cut evidence substantiating obesity causes poor health and reduced longevity (Gaesser, 1996; Ernsberger & Haskew, 1987).
Weight loss for overweight individuals may fail to improve health and can actually increase mortality rates (Andres, Muller & Sorkin, 1993).
In adult 35 years of age and older, attempted weight loss is associated with lower all-cause mortality, independent of weight change. Self-reported intentional weight loss is associated with lower mortality rates, but unintentional weight loss is associated with higher mortality rates (Greg 2003).
No relationship exists between body fat and degree of artheroscleritic buildup in coronary arteries (Barett-Connner, 1995; Kramer, et al., 1993).
Greater body fat has a protective effect against osteoporosis (Felson, et al., 1993), lung cancer (Kabat & Wynder, 1992), and breast cancer (Wallace, et al., 1982).
The best mortality rates are those 25 to 30 percent over ideal recommended weight (Gaesser, 1996).
Fitness level is far more important than body weight as a predictor of longevity. Individuals as great as 50 pounds over the recommended weight in height/weight charts have lower mortality rates than thin people who were sedentary (Blair & Paffenbarger, 1994; Blair, et al., 1989).
Thin underactive men have 2.5 times the death rate than active overweight men.
Overweight Underpaid
The EEOC has found that obese workers earn 2.5% less than their normal weight co-workers. This penalty is larger for female workers (5-6% less) than male workers (1% less).
A study by Cornell University found that overweight women earn an average of 7% less than their co-workers.
Research review by Mark Roehling, a professor in the Department of Management, Western Michigan University found wages of mildly obese white women were 5.9 percent lower than their normal weight counterparts; morbidly obese white women were 24.1 percent lower. In addition, the wages of mildly obese white and black men were actually higher than their normal weight counterparts. Men only suffered wage penalties at the very highest weight levels. Overweight individuals were often stereotyped as socially handicapped, emotionally impaired, and perceived as possessing negative personality traits.
It should be noted that employers may have to pay more in health insurance for obese workers. Weight discrimination is illegal in Washington DC.