-Are dieting's obstacles psychological or physical?
Summary:
The phrase 'diet' generated approximately 157 million
online pages containing diet plans, pills, potions, and dieting suggestions
from health institutions, diet corporations, nutritional specialists, and
others from all over the world, according to the most recent census. Despite
this, we are nearing the pinnacle of an obesity pandemic that is inflicting
tremendous mental anguish and sadness, in addition to the growing number of
severe ailments associated to individuals who are overweight or obese. How is this
possible when there is so much information available?
Part 1 of 2.
The phrase 'diet' generated approximately 157 million
online pages containing diet plans, pills, potions, and dieting suggestions
from health institutions, diet corporations, nutritional specialists, and
others from all over the world, according to the most recent census. Despite
this, we are nearing the pinnacle of an obesity pandemic that is inflicting
tremendous mental anguish and sadness, in addition to the growing number of
severe ailments associated to individuals who are overweight or obese. How is
this possible when there is so much information available?
The trend is merciless, coming in second only to
smoking as the leading cause of self-inflicted premature death, but if left to
its own devices, obesity will overtake smoking as the leading cause of
self-inflicted premature death within the next five years. Mother Nature is
brutal in her approach to life, allowing only the fittest to survive, and the
current trend is her response to the impacts of a diet that is plainly
unsuitable for the health of the human body and mind. All we have to do is come
to a halt, take a step back, and look around to realize that there is a severe
problem. There is no need for statistics, reports, or headlines in the media to
communicate this story.
It's evident that if we want to
reverse the present obesity epidemic, we need to modify what we're doing as
people. The ultimate duty for acting in our own best interests rests with each
of us.
We must acknowledge that the supermarket sector is a
jumble of contradictions, selling both nutritious items and the same things
that lead to our becoming overweight or fat in the first place. This is very
evident in today's supermarkets.
Profit has become human nature, and this is obvious in
many businesses throughout the world, and it is far from unique among dieting
circles. We must also keep in mind that, while diet firms may appear to be
interested and concerned, they are completely reliant on your failure to diet
in order to stay in business. Their firms would very certainly fail if they
were competent at what they do. So, other than ourselves, who can we trust? The
data is unmistakable; there is no room for argument.
We could get relief at some point in the future, but
not now. With an ever-increasing understanding of human genetics and genetic
engineering, science and technology are moving closer to the prospect of a
wonder medication. But, in fact, who would ever seek or want to be reliant on
diet medications regularly just because they don't grasp the link
between the food our bodies were made for and the food we eat? Why do we
consciously overeat when we are aware that it is unhealthy for us and that we
are harming ourselves? Why is it that we only choose to disregard our meals
when we are hungry?
So, Is it a psychological issue, a physical issue, or both?
To answer this, we must first look at how our diet has
evolved over the last 50 years. Refined carbohydrate consumption, such as
sugar, has risen dramatically, whereas fat and protein consumption has remained
relatively stable. Even though overall saturated fat consumption has
fallen significantly in recent years, saturated fats have been and continue to
be an issue.
Many studies, particularly those related to understanding how the Atkins diet works, found that refined carbs and fats both had an addictive quality to them. Refined sugars, according to studies, wreak havoc on the delicate balance that keeps glucose levels in the bloodstream in check. This hurts our hormonal activities, such as insulin and glucagon, which are both important for restoring glucose levels to normal following a surge in refined carbohydrate consumption in our diet.
These
tolerable blood glucose levels are kept within very small margins.
In an attempt to re-establish balance, refined
carbohydrates cause excessive hormonal activity. These unnatural'swings' in
hormone activity frequently result in mood swings ranging from joyful and
satisfied to unhappy, agitated, and even anxious or panic. Long-term exposure
to these hormonal changes might cause the entire process to become less
effective, and diabetes can arise as a result.
Other research has found that ingesting large amounts
of fats causes an unanticipated human response in terms of nutrition. You'd
assume that consuming high-fat foods would help to fulfill your appetite.
Medical study, on the other hand, has proven that the contrary is true. Foods
high in fats have been demonstrated in clinical trials to cause people to eat
more rather than less. The results of such trials were innovative at the time
since they utterly defied current nutritional thought.
It's also worth noting that further medical research
has revealed that foods high in protein are connected to the reaction that
suggests you've had enough to eat. In other words, proteins are thought to
activate the 'I'm full' response in some way.
Then there's the tremendous shift in our energy use.
We used to hunt and gather food, but today we just go to the store or, in the
worst-case scenario, have it delivered to our house. Food has gone from
scarcity to abundance (at least for us), and we've gone from being 'active' to
be rather 'dormant.' What might we expect if we move less and eat more?
Many people think that simply not exercising might
cause the body to respond by slowing down metabolism and accumulating fat
layers beneath the skin for two reasons, both of which are tied to human
survival. You may be unable to 'hunt,' and so unable to acquire
food, in evolutionary terms. To conserve energy, lowering your body's metabolic
rate is a no-brainer. Second, if food is available during a period of
inactivity, would it not make sense to lay down fat layers beneath the skin to maintain body heat and provide an energy source during prospective
'lean times'? Even if we have perfect sense and flawless design, we don't
comprehend ourselves, and even if we do, many of us choose to ignore it.
In summary, part of the difficulty
that we humans confront in the dieting world is a physical one that is tied to
the interplay of the food kinds we eat with the food types that our bodies
produce. And, plainly, our food has changed dramatically in the last 50 years,
yet our bodies continue to function in the same way they have for well over
100,000 years. Although we live in the twenty-first century, our bodies are
still stuck in the 'Stone Age.' Although evolution is a long process, the link
and response of chemicals in our diet with the cells of the human body has been
solidified and cast over millions of years.
So it's up to us to alter... since Mother Nature will
not provide us with entertainment for thousands of years...
Run with it, eat what your body was made for, and
weight reduction will almost certainly follow...