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Obesity is a significant health concern, affecting 2.3 billion individuals globally. The World Heart Federation estimates that this problem currently impacts almost 30% of the global population, growing annually. One of the reasons we have been ineffective at solving the problem is that we have misdiagnosed the weight gain issue and have been treating it as a problem of overeating. But the thing is that overeating is a symptom of weight gain, not the cause. Weight gain is a metabolic problem caused by hormonal imbalances in the body.
So we need to correct these hormonal imbalances in the body that causes us to overeat to correct the weight gain and excessive fat accumulation problems. These hormones include the hunger hormone ghrelin and the satiety hormone leptin. For example, a viral infection in the body causes a fever, for which an antipyretic is taken to reduce the symptom. But this cannot be a long-term solution as it doesn’t kill the infection in the body because the infection-causing agent is still present. So, the targeted therapy to get rid of the fever involves eradicating the virus from the body. Similarly, undereating food is just treating the symptom of the condition of weight gain, and thus it ceases to reap long-term results in permanent weight loss. The root cause of overeating is still not addressed when we try to solve it by undereating. On a low-calorie diet, weight loss plateaus over time due to the body’s intelligence and robust adaptability to the type and quantity of food we consume.
Firstly, when the body is not receiving sufficient energy as the food intake drops, it will cause our internal processes to slow down. The sum of these internal processes is known as the body’s metabolic rate, which causes your body to spend fewer calories to survive the day in order to compensate for the decrease in energy intake. At the same time, our hunger levels increase to arrest the drastic drop in body weight. We not only stop losing weight but end up gaining it quickly due to reduced energy expenditure and an increased appetite. These are the compensatory steps taken by the body to ensure that fat stores are filled back up to warrant long-term survival. Nutrient deficiency, a high omega-6 fat diet, and insulin resistance also contribute to obesity and have now been implicated as factors involved in the excessive accumulation of fat stores via overeating.
Poor dietary habits cause nutrient deficiency, which is a major contributor to obesity. Our bodies require a wide range of essential nutrients from the food we eat to survive and function normally, such as certain fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. When our body does not get a sufficient amount of these essential nutrients, it will become metabolically ill, leading to overeating and weight gain. For example, a deficiency in vitamin D can lead to increased body fat and laziness, while a magnesium deficiency can disrupt our hormones and make it more challenging to lose weight. Another significant contributing factor to obesity is a diet high in omega-6 fats. Omega-6 fats are essential fats our bodies need for various functions, such as building cells and maintaining the integrity of our protective cell walls. However, omega-6 fats should be consumed in the correct proportion of omega-3 fats to balance the body’s metabolic functions and keep it healthy. Ideally, omega-6 to omega-3 fats should be consumed in a ratio of at most 4:1. Unfortunately, in today’s society, this ratio is almost four times higher at 16:1.
This imbalance leads to chronic inflammation and disruption of satiety signals to the brain, causing us to overeat. Sources of food rich in omega-6 fats are grains, cereals, and refined cooking oils made from plant seeds, and nuts, whereas we get omega-3 only from fish and minuscule amounts from vegetables, chia and flax seeds. The good news is that diets rich in wholesome, natural foods tend to have the optimal nutrient matrix, including protein, vitamins, and minerals, for good health and an optimal appetite. Unfortunately, the processed foods we consume are rich in omega-6 and poor in omega-3 fats, designed for high taste rather than striking a perfect nutrient balance.
Insulin resistance is another hormonal imbalance that contributes to obesity. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels in our bodies. Insulin helps the high energy-consuming cells in the body, such as the brain, muscles, and other organs, to get sugar energy to function normally. In fat stores, insulin helps store the energy consumed through meals. When we eat, our blood sugar levels rise, and insulin is released to help shuttle that sugar into our cells, reduce the blood sugar levels, and bring it down to healthy levels. However, when our diets are rich in sugar and refined carbohydrates, such as maida found in packaged, junk, and processed foods, our metabolically active cells become saturated with sugar. This leads to them becoming resistant to insulin’s effects, which channels more energy to be stored as fat and thus can lead to weight gain and other health problems, such as type 2 diabetes.
Obesity is a complex problem caused by a variety of factors, including nutrient deficiencies, consuming a diet rich in omega-6 fats, and insulin resistance. Understanding the underlying causes of overeating can address weight gain and improve our overall health.
(The author is a celebrity health coach and functional medicine expert and has just published Eating Less is Making You Fat with Hachette India.)