For What Reason is Obesity in Our Country More of a Dilemma Presently - Than It Was Fifty Years Ago?

In this article you will find out why it is so hard to lose weight. Even for the very few dieters that are successful, less than 5% will keep their weight loss for three to five years. This information will help make your next efforts at weight loss much more successful.

At first glance, it surely appears to be a very uncomplicated problem and should respond to simple type solutions. If one consumes more calories than one burns in their daily activity, there would clearly be a weight increase. About 60% of an average person' caloric intake or basal metabolic rate (BMR) is used for essential bodily requirements such as breathing, digestion, and cardiac function. Aside from these basic necessities, if one reduces his calorie intake by 500 calories per day there will be a consequential 1# per week weight reduction.

Why do we as a nation keep on to become more over weight? It would take countless centuries for a alteration in our genetic makeup, and yet, 100 years ago we were not experiencing such a national weight crisis.

As study continues, it appears the more we know, the more we recognize we don't know. In 1994 when scientist discovered leptin, many thought that the "Silver Weight Loss Bullet" had been uncovered. On further investigation, even though it gave a negative feed back to the appestat, it was only one part of a very complex mechanism controlling one's appetite. The intricacy of the feed back mechanism is quite similar to the changes we undergo in our hormones as we continue to age.

In place of continuing to try to find the solution to our hunger urge, which has been as it is since the beginning of time, it might be more functional to see what in our environment could be having such a result on obesity.

We need to know that the appestat is so sensitive that slight changes in hormonal levels could generate measurable changes in our hunger urges.

My previous editorial "Can You Loss Weight Easy?" points out many of the changes in our basic food supply. Both our vegetable produce and our protein meat sources have had radical changes over the last 50 years.

Our vegetable produce is produced under efficiency guidelines rather than necessity for quality. In the 1920, Britain and the United States were warned that they needed to take corrective action so that produce grown would have the proper vitamins and minerals. Most plants will only require three nutrients to grow to maturity. These are nitrogen, phosphorus, and water. When grown in depleted soil the fruits and vegetable will be nutritionally empty. In addition the insecticides and chemical fertilizer used to improve production can actually be adding harmful quality to the produce. Although organic foods, if grown in depleted soil, might not have the nutrition you require, at least they will not have the detrimental character of agro farms.

We needed to bring this to your attention so as to point out that when the human body is not furnished its proper vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, the human body's hormone production can substantially change. Any change in your hormones can make a change in your hunger urges. Earlier in this report mentioned leptin, which is a hormone involved in the appetite control. When given to over weight children who were leptin deficient, the children returned to typical weight. In the laboratory, however, many other factors had to be held constant. Leptin still is not ready for prime time.

When we look at our protein meat production, the dilemma is even more acute. As cattle is taken off of the grazing land and put into feed lots to increase production, they are given a grain that is not their natural food. This feed lot grain is usually corn, which substantially raises the acidity of the animal’s stomach. Not being fed their natural food, and being in the unsanitary conditions, the animals get unhealthy and catches various diseases requiring the utilization of huge amounts of antibiotics. Cattle production now uses 70% of the world’s production of antibiotics. Eventually the E. coli mutates and becomes immune to the antibiotics. The bacteria pass into the highly acidic condition of the animal's stomach. The bacteria then become resistant to being destroyed in the human gastro intestinal tract.

When the meat is harvested, it contains E. coli which has been generated in a highly acidic condition. This is responsible for the heightened frequency of E. coli 0157:H7 illness. In the past a raw hamburger was no particular problem, but with this new strain of E. coli, a person eating undercooked hamburger can possibly die.

There are other health factors in which to be concerned. For instance grazing cattle have 3 times the quantity of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) and three times the amount of Omega3. CLA is a factor in distributing lean body weight to fatty tissue. Omega3 used to be a healthy anti inflammatory ratio 1:5 to Omega6. Feed lot cattle have a very unhealthy inflammatory ratio of 1:30 and are a contributing factor in the epidemic of inflammatory diseases we have seen.

Getting back to possible weight problems, the harvested meat also has residual amounts of the six hormones used in the meat production. These hormones are intended to promote rapid weight gain. From what we have seen, it would be irrational to assume this would have no effect on our appetite management.

The very newest protocol for weight management has been discovered by Dr. Suzanne Gudakunst. You have most likely seen her on national Television recounting her new and innovative approach. Her protocol takes into account the need for caloric controls, but also addresses the other problems delineated in this article. In some cases her patients have lost weight without diet or exercise.

For more complete information go to our website for a free PDF report.