Why Are We So Fat? The Real Reason For The Obesity Epidemic
by Tom
Venuto
zone3
Why Are We So Fat? That’s the question asked in the cover story of a
recent issue of National Geographic magazine. “Americans enjoy one of the
most luxurious lifestyles on Earth: Our food is plentiful. Our work is
automated. Our leisure is effortless. And it’s killing us..." Why
Are We So Fat? That’s the question asked in the cover story of a recent
issue of National Geographic magazine.
“Americans enjoy one of the most luxurious lifestyles on Earth: Our
food is plentiful. Our work is automated. Our leisure is effortless. And
it’s killing us,” says Geographic senior writer Cathy Newman.
Some of the latest facts and statistics about obesity revealed in the
article are chilling:
- One out of three Americans is obese, twice as many as three decades
ago
- The Center for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) has declared
obesity an “epidemic”
- 15% of children and teens are overweight, a nearly three fold jump
since 1980
- Other countries are catching up to the United States, especially
newly industrialized nations. KFC opened a drive through restaurant in
Beijing in 2002 with more on the way. UK snack food consumption rose 25%
in the last five years. Sales of processed food rose 20% in Latin
America between 1980 and 2000.
- Being overweight is now associated with over 400,000 deaths per year
- Obesity is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, type
2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, stroke, and colon, breast and endometrial
cancers
- Next year, Obesity is expected to surpass smoking as the leading
cause of preventable death in the United States
- The Puget Sound Ferries increased their seat width from 18 to 20
inches to allow room for bigger bottoms
- An ambulance company in Colorado retrofitted its vehicles with a
winch and a plus size compartment to accommodate patients up to a half a
ton in weight
- A casket maker in Indiana now offers double-sized models
- One in four Americans gets ZERO exercise, one-third of Americans
don’t get the minimum amount the government suggests we need just to
avoid chronic disease
- The average child will watch 10,000 commercials per year touting
food or beverages, nearly all of them for junk and fast foodSo what’s
the answer to the question, “why are we so fat?” What does this article
reveal? Are overweight people deficient in fat burning hormones? Was the
obesity gene discovered and isolated, confirming that your genetics
determine whether fat is fate? Does blood sugar and insulin go haywire
in certain people regardless of how they eat or how they exercise? Has
it finally been proven that carbohydrates make us fat? Is the appetite
mechanism in the brains of obese people out of kilter?
Although there may be a sliver of truth and scientific fact in each of
the statements above, none of them are the real reason we are so fat. The
conclusions made in the National Geographic article on the other hand, are
refreshing, because they are the right ones, and the most obvious ones:
The reason we are so fat is because we eat too much and exercise too
little. Surprise, surprise!“For all the Americans who’ve blamed bulging
bellies on a slow metabolism, the jig is up,” says Newman. “A report
earlier this year by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) finally confirms
what many of us didn’t want to admit: We’re fat because we eat a lot – a
whole lot more than we used to, and most of the increase comes from
refined carbohydrates (sugar).”
Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University is quoted
in the article as saying, "How about some common sense? It’s a simple
matter of eating fewer calories. But nobody wants to talk about calories
because doing so does not sell books."
Truer words have never been spoken. Unfortunately, few people want to
listen to that simple message, “Eat less, exercise more,” because most
people are too busy looking for the latest breakthrough or the “next big
thing in fat loss.” Besides, fat loss couldn’t be that simple, could
it?Well, maybe fat loss isn't "easy", and certainly "eat less, exercise
more" is an OVER-simplification, but the fundamental cause of obesity
really IS that simple and the facts confirming it are now in:
According to the CDC report, we ate 1775 pounds of food per year per
person in 2000, up from 1497 pounds in 1970.
In the 70’s, we ate 136 pounds of flour and cereal products and now
it’s up to 200 pounds per person – and the increase is almost all from
processed, white flour, high sugar foods. Not to mention, everything has
been Super-sized. Example: 1955 McDonald’s French fries – 2.4 ounces, 210
calories. 2004 Super size Fries – 7 ounces, 610 calories.
When you add this increased food intake (mostly refined food) on top of
the lack of exercise encouraged by technology, cars, video games,
television, washing machines, riding lawnmowers, elevators and other
modern conveniences, you have the recipe for obesity on a global scale.
In all our searching and waiting for the latest scientific discovery,
the newest pill, or the next breakthrough supplement that will free us
from the shackles of body fat, most people have continued to overlook or
ignore that simple and obvious advice: “Eat less, exercise more.”
Is it really that simple? Isn’t there a lot more to it? Well, yes, of
course. There’s how much less do you eat, what do you eat, how much you
exercise, what kind of exercise and so on. But those are just details.
Often what we must do, in order to see the big picture clearly, is to
reduce the problem to its most basic level FIRST before worrying about any
details.
A principle called Occam’s Razor was proposed by English philosopher
and theologian William Occam in the 14th century. It said, “Entities
should not be multiplied beyond what is necessary.” Plainly stated, it
says, “The simplest and most obvious solution to a problem is usually the
best one and the correct one.”
Does accepting this simple answer to the obesity epidemic make the
process of losing the weight any easier? Perhaps not, at least not
physically. Permanent fat loss will always require sweat, discipline and
effort, and as with freedom and liberty, "eternal vigilance" will be the
price that must be paid to keep the fat off once it is lost. In addition,
it would be naďve not to admit that genetics do play a small role, so
weight loss will be a greater challenge for some than for others.
However, if we would stop allowing ourselves to be so caught up and
immobilized by the myriad of different weight loss methods and theories
today and just acknowledge, accept and practice the simple advice given to
us in Newman's article – which we’ve all heard a thousand times before –
“Eat less, exercise more,” (especially "exercise more" to burn the fat,
rather than starve the fat with strict diets), we would not only be
rewarded with results, we would also see the fog of confusion that seems
to shroud the whole “weight loss thing” begin to lift. Certainty would
take its place, and that would at least give us the confidence to continue
to forge ahead towards our goals
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Venuto is a certified personal trainer, natural bodybuilder and
author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.
You can get information about Tom's e-book at: http://www.burnthefat.com/ . To get
Tom's free monthly e-zine, visit http://www.tomvenuto.com/
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