Obese lose up to eight years of life

Being severely obese can knock up to eight years off your life and cause decades of ill health, a report says.

The analysis showed being obese at a young age was more damaging to health and life expectancy.

The team, at McGill University in Canada, said heart problems and type 2 diabetes were major sources of disability and death. 

Experts said people were frequently "ignorant" of the consequences of obesity.

The health problems caused by obesity are well known. 

The report, in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, used a computer model to take those risks and calculate the impact of weight on life expectancy throughout life.

In comparison with 20 to 39-year-olds with a healthy weight, severely obese men of the same age lost 8.4 years of life and women lost 6.1. Men also spent 18.8 more years living in poor health while women spent 19.1 in that state.

Moving up an age group to those in the forties and fifties, men lost 3.7 years and women 5.3 years to obesity. Men and women in their sixties and seventies lost just one year of life to obesity, but still faced seven years in ill health. 

 'Clear pattern'

Prof Steven Grover said: "Our computer modelling study shows that obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, and diabetes that will, on average, dramatically reduce an individual's life expectancy.

"The pattern is clear. The more an individual weighs and the younger their age, the greater the effect on their health, as they have many years ahead of them during which the increased health risks associated with obesity can negatively impact their lives."

Responding to the findings, Barbara Dinsdale, lifestyle manager for the charity Heart Research UK, said: "How many more wake-up calls do we need? This research study yet again supports the clear message that by becoming obese you not only take years off your life, but also life off your years in terms of experiencing more years in poor health rather than enjoying a happy, active and productive life." 

"Whatever size you are, small, manageable but sustainable changes are the way forward for a happier, healthier and longer life, and reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes." 

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: "People persist in thinking that fat is just fat and appear ignorant of the many diseases that a high body mass index triggers. If they were told that they could lose a leg or go blind from diabetes or develop life-threatening complications from other similar diseases, I am sure they would think hard and twice before piling on the pounds." 

By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

How to Deal With Weight Loss and Depression

Many people gain weight due to the most common form of mental illness: depression. According to research, one in three people would benefit from anti depressant treatment at some stage in their lives. This doesn't necessarily mean long term but sometimes life throws us a curve ball that leaves us floundering around in the dark. Depression influences many aspects of life and weight gain can be one of the first signs of depression. Many individuals who suffer from depression will suffer from weight gain also because depression can cause them to find comfort in eating, especially foods that are high in sugar and fat. Sugar in particular causes and energy 'high' that provides a temporary uplift in the emotions.

Weight loss and depression go hand in hand. Depression can also be experienced during a diet program. This is frequently due to the dieters expectations of their weight loss program. Maybe they feel that they are not losing weight as quickly as they want or perhaps it is due to them not losing the amount of weight they want to.

Losing weight requires time and a positive attitude. When trying to lose weight, you should constantly find ways to encourage yourself. Keep a journal where you record weekly weight loss achievements, changes in clothing sizes, bust, waist and hip measurements etc so you can see your progress as it occurs. When you achieve a major milestone like a drop in clothing size, treat yourself by going out and purchasing a new pair of jeans or outfit to reward yourself. This kind of encouragement will help you maintain a positive mental attitude to losing weight.

Remember that just because one week you lost four pounds and the next you only lost one doesn't mean that you can't lose the weight you want to lose. It is perfectly normal to experience weeks when you lose less weight. Look at the contestants on biggest loser, even they experience weeks like that. In particular, women experience this due to hormonal fluctuations. Men experience similar issues, though not caused by hormones. Things like stress levels, change in routine, change in diet or type of exercise. All of these can affect how much weight will be lost in any given week. Whether you lose one pound a week or seven, just be thankful for the weight loss as it brings you that much closer to your weight loss goal.

It is not really difficult to stay positive during while dieting. Always remember to face one day at a time. Because that is the way time passes. You can't regret what you didn't do yesterday or stress about what you will do tomorrow. Just focus on your weight loss efforts for today. If you fall off the diet wagon one day by gorging yourself on a huge cream pie or being lazy about exercise, just resolve to try harder the following day... and do it!

Do everything you can every day to stay on your weight loss course. Be careful what you eat, exercise regularly (preferably every day but at least every second day), and always, always encourage yourself by considering the progress you have made so far.

Make every pound count. Set realistic goals for yourself and don't try to do too much in too little time. For example, if you want to lose 100 pounds, don't give yourself a time frame of 12 weeks to lose it... that would be more than eight pounds weight loss per week which would be almost impossible to achieve. If you set unrealistic weight loss goals and don't achieve them, it will make you depressed, possibly even enough to give up altogether. Better to aim to lose two pounds per week, then if you lose five pounds in a week you will feel REALLY good about yourself. If necessary, set low goals initially then increase them as you find yourself able to accomplish them. The key is to focus on achievable weight loss goals that will help you maintain a positive attitude because you are seeing results.

Staying positive isn't difficult. Focus on what you're doing, encourage yourself with your achievements, work persistently toward your goals and reward your milestones. In less time than you think you can be encouraging others and seeing them achieve their own weight loss goals. Remember, although weight loss and depression go hand in hand, it is possible to overcome the issue by focusing on the positives.

Julia Bell is a student of nutrition dedicated to helping people overcome obesity. Obesity is the number one health issue of the twenty first century. Learn how to live a healthier life by maintaining healthy weight and exercise habits through her weight loss blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3986699

Are We Overfed And Starving To Death?

By Mark Hyman, MD

Americans are overfed and undernourished. That's right, the most obese children and adults in the country are also the most nutritionally deficient!  How can those two things possibly co-exist?

The mistake is to think that if you eat an abundance of calories, your diet automatically delivers all the nutrients your body needs. But the opposite is true. The more processed food you eat, the more vitamins you need. That's because vitamins and minerals lubricate the wheels of our metabolism, helping the chemical reactions in our bodies run properly. Among those biochemical processes greased by nutrients is the regulation of sugar and burning of fat. The problem is that the standard American diet (SAD) is energy dense (too many calories) but nutrient poor (not enough vitamins and minerals). Too many "empty calories" confuse the metabolism and pack on the pounds.

A Nutritionally Deficient Culture

After reviewing the major nutritional research over the last 40 years and doing nutritional testing on over 10,000 patients. I can tell you that Americans are suffering from massive nutritional deficiencies. What I see in my office is reflected in the scientific literature. Upwards of 30 percent of American diets fall short of such common plant-derived nutrients as magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Vitamin A. More than 80 percent of Americans are running low on Vitamin D. And nine out of 10 people are deficient in omega-3 fats, which are critical for staving off inflammation and controlling blood sugar levels. 

So, Why Are We So Undernourished?

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Food Is Less Nutritious. 

Processed foods, stuffed with high fructose corn syrup, refined flours and trans fats-are a modern phenomenon. These foods crowd out more nutrient-dense foods because they are inexpensive and convenient. Your grandmother wouldn't recognize most of the foods filling the center aisles of our grocery stores today. Imagine what early humans would think of Lunchables! 

Our species evolved eating foods that contained dramatically higher levels of all vitamins, minerals, and essential fats. Wild game is leaner and healthier than animals raised in factory farms. Plus, the meats and fish eaten by hunter-gatherers were almost always fresh. Most store bought meat today are laced with chemicals, such as nitrates, used to process and preserve.

Soil Is Being Squeezed. 

There is a reason our food is less nutritious, industrial farming is depleting the nutrients in the country's farmland. As a result, most vegetables harvested today have fewer nutrients than those plucked from the ground just two generations ago. 

One of the largest and most compelling studies on this topic was published in 2004 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Using data from the USDA's archives, a team of scientists looked at the nutrient content of 43 fruits and vegetables - everything from rutabaga to honeydew - grown in 1950 and compared them to the identical fruits and veggies grown in 1999. Their findings were disturbing. Levels of calcium were down 16 percent, iron 15 percent, and Vitamin C 20 percent. Not a single nutrient had increased in the past 50 years.

Because those foods contain fewer nutrients, the servings we do eat don't deliver as much nutrition as they once did. Fewer nutrients means lowered immunity and increased vulnerability to chronic disease and obesity. When your body doesn't get the right nutrition, it just keeps asking for more food. The endless cycle of craving a Catch-22; people are eating more, getting fatter, but still not feeling satisfied - it's a nightmare from which they can't escape.

Refining Kills Nutrients. 

In general, foods are stripped of their nutrients during the refining process. One of the most telling examples of this mistake is wheat. The process of refining whole wheat flour into white reduces the fiber by 80 percent and slashes levels of essential minerals, vitamins, and phytonutrients. 

Eventually, food manufacturers started adding synthetic versions of the most important vitamins and minerals back into food and call the food "enriched." But the idea that you can process out nutrients, such as B vitamins in the making of white flour, and then add them back is reductionistic and neglects the synergistic qualities of food. Food makers call these "enriched foods" but that's only because they are so impoverished in the first place!

Three Ways to Grab More Nutrient-rich Calories

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1. Eat more plant-based foods: Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains are the foundation of a lifelong ultraprevention diet. They are high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, fiber, and essential fatty acids. These foundation foods also eliminate the many triggers of chronic illness, such as saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and toxic food additives.


2. Prioritize healthy plant-based fats: The best way to eat most of your fat is in the form of extra-virgin olive oil, flax, nuts, and seeds with minimal amounts of properly processed (expeller-pressed) vegetable oils. Avoid oils that do not state the method of extraction or have a bitter aftertaste or rancid flavor.

3. Dine on modest amounts of lean animal protein: The best sources are small cold-water fish that don't contain high levels of metals and other contaminants. Healthy fish choices include sardines, herring, mackerel, wild caught salmon, trout, and arctic char. Wild game, such as wild elk and deer, are also rich sources of omega-3 fats because of the wild plants they eat.



Remember, food is your best medicine! Whole foods are naturally packaged with a vast array of nutrients that work synergistically to optimize your health. They ripple throughout our entire physiology, reducing inflammation, boosting detoxification, balancing hormones, and providing powerful antioxidant protection - all things that repair the underlying causes of disease.

Source Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr..hyman/malnutrition-obesity..html