Obesity

[medic]

Obesity


What is obesity?
The medical definition of obesity is based on the amount of body fat a person has. A person can weigh more than what is thought to be healthy without being obese. For example:

*A person may weigh too much because his or her body retains too much water, called edema. Though this is not a healthy situation, the person is not obese.

*Some athletes, such as football players and body builders, may weigh more than what is normally considered a healthy weight, but their excess weight is muscle, not fat.

Until recently, a person was thought to be obese if he or she weighed at least 20% more than his or her ideal body weight. However, ideal body weight tables have been replaced by the body mass index (BMI). The BMI is also based on your height and weight, and it gives a better -- but not perfect -- estimate of body fat.

Attitudes about the causes of obesity are changing as we learn more about the condition. People who are obese were once thought to lack self-control and have poor eating habits. Though it is true that many Americans eat too much and exercise too little, recent research has shown that genetic factors also play a role in obesity.

Because of this research, obesity is now thought to be a chronic disease. This means dieting once in a while is not enough to take care of the problem. Obesity must be treated for the rest of the person's life if it is to be controlled.


What are the risks?
People who are obese are much more likely to have certain health problems, such diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. This is even more likely if the person also has high cholesterol or triglyceride (fat) levels in the blood, as obese people often do.

A person who is very obese may have breathing problems including sleep apnea. Women who are obese have a greater risk of uterine, breast, and gallbladder cancer. Men and women who are obese have an increased risk for colorectal cancer and gallstones. Men who are obese have an increased risk for prostate cancer.

Extra weight puts more stress on the joints than normal, especially in the legs and lower back. Because of this, people who are obese are more likely to develop arthritis, especially in the back, knees, and hips.


How do I know if I'm obese?
Your family doctor can usually tell you whether your weight is a health problem and can offer suggestions for treatment. However, some doctors are better prepared to treat obesity than others.

Your doctor may refer you to other health professionals: an endocrinologist, to determine if your obesity is due to a hormone problem like an underactive thyroid gland; a registered dietitian, to help you determine how many calories you need and how best to get them; or an exercise specialist, to help you develop a safe and effective exercise program.

If it appears that part of the reason for your obesity is an emotional problem -- possibly caused by depression, anxiety, sexual or physical abuse, family problems, or drug or alcohol use -- your doctor may suggest you see a counselor or psychiatrist.


How is obesity treated?
Three factors are considered when treating obesity: the severity of the obesity, the presence of other risk factors for heart disease, and the possibility of other health problems that may be caused or made worse by excess weight.

Doctors now realize that it may be unrealistic to attempt to get a person who is obese to lose a large amount of weight and keep it off. However, recent studies have shown that even modest weight loss provides significant health benefits by reducing the risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and other diseases.

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) suggests the following guidelines for designing a weight-loss program.

Everyone who is trying to lose weight should change his or her eating and exercise habits. Counseling or support groups are an important part of successfully making these lifestyle changes.

Doctors recommend that depression or a physical problem that limits a person's ability to exercise be treated, if possible, before starting a weight-loss program. People with untreated depression often have a difficult time staying on a weight-loss program. If a person is unable to do at least mild exercise, he or she will have difficulty losing weight.

Weight-loss medications, either prescription or nonprescription, should only be used along with a weight-loss diet and exercise. Use of medications without lifestyle changes is unlikely to have great, long-term success.

A very low-calorie diet may be considered if you need to lose weight quickly to protect your health and your doctor decides it is a safe method for you to use. People are not kept on this diet for long periods of time because the diet lacks certain nutrients the body needs.

Even if you and your doctor have developed a plan for weight loss, the daily decisions needed to make the plan work are up to you. Healthy, long-term success in conquering obesity depends on changing your eating and exercise habits.

Surgery is a rarely used treatment for obesity. Many doctors will consider it only for people who have not been able to lose weight with other treatments and who are at high risk for developing other health problems because of their weight.

[medic]

Focusing on Fat



Why is it important to reduce fat intake?
High fat intake contributes to excess body weight, since a gram of fat has about twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates and proteins.

Whether you are trying to lose weight, lower blood cholesterol levels or simply eat healthier, you'll want to limit total fat intake.


Why do most diets focus on reducing fat?
Fat gets all of the attention for many good reasons. Consider these facts. Fat can raise cholesterol levels in the blood. A high cholesterol level is a leading risk factor for heart disease.

In addition, some fatty foods (such as bacon, sausage, and potato chips) often have fewer vitamins and minerals than low-fat foods. (Note. Protein sources, especially red meat and dairy products, often contain fat. Lean meat, fish, poultry without skin, beans, tofu, low-fat yogurt, low-fat milk, low-fat cottage cheese and tuna fish packed in water are good, low-fat sources of protein.)

As mentioned, fat has about twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates and proteins. A gram of fat has about 9 calories, while a gram of carbohydrate or protein has about 4 calories. In other words, you could eat twice as much carbohydrates or proteins as fat for the same amount of calories.


Will I lose weight if I eat low-fat foods?
It's true that a diet high in fat can lead to weight gain. But it takes more than just eating low-fat foods to lose weight. You must also watch how many calories you eat. Remember, extra calories even from fat-free and low-fat foods get stored in the body as fat. Many times people replace high-fat foods for high-calorie foods, like sweets, and gain weight rather than lose weight.

To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat. You can achieve this goal by exercising and by eating less fat and calories. Exercise burns calories. Consult with your doctor before starting an exercise or diet program.


How much fat should I eat?
A low-fat style of eating is important for maintaining a healthy weight and preventing heart disease. The dietary reference intake for fat in adults is 20-35% of total daily calories from fat. That's about 44 grams of fat or less a day if you eat 2,000 calories a day.

Recently, health experts have started to recommend that people eliminate another type of fat called trans fat from their diet. This fat, formed during a process called hydrogenation, coverts a relatively healthy unsaturated liquid fat, like corn oil into a solid one. This process gives the fat longer shelf life. Unfortunately, this process also makes the fats act like saturated fat in our bodies, in fact, it may be worse when it comes to causing heart disease.

Health experts recommend removing as much trans fat from your diet as possible.


How can I know how much fat I am eating?
Learn about the foods you eat. Fat and calorie listings for individual foods can be found in nutrition books at your local library and on food packages.

Read nutrition labels on food packages. Nutrition labels show the number of grams of fat per serving. They also show the daily percentage of fat provided in each serving. In other words, if the daily percentage of fat per serving is 18%, each serving provides 18% of the total fat you should eat for the day. Choose a brand that has a lower fat percentage. (The daily percentage value is based on a number of calories listed on the nutrition label, usually 2,000. Your calorie needs may be higher or lower.)

Trans fats aren't routinely placed on food labels yet. However, you can estimate the amount by adding up the total amount of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fat. If that's less than the total fat on the package, the difference is trans fat.


Where do I start?
*Eat a variety of lower-fat foods to get all the nutrients you need.
*Watch your calorie intake. Remember, "low fat" does not always mean "low calorie."
*Eat plenty of plant-based foods (such as grain products, fruits and vegetables) and a moderate amount of animal-based foods (meat and dairy products) to help control your fat, cholesterol and calorie intake.
*Increase your physical activity to improve heart health and lose excess body fat.



What goals should I try to meet?
*Decrease the total amount of fat you eat to 20-35% or less of your total daily calories. For a person eating 2,000 calories a day, this would be 44-77 grams of fat or less per day.
*Limit cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams (mg) or less per day.
*Decrease saturated fat (animal fat, butter, coconut and palm oils) to less than 10% of your total calories per day. For a person eating 2000 calories a day, this would be 22 grams of saturated fat or less per day.


Tips For Reducing Fat Intake :-

When selecting foods.

Learn about the foods you eat by reading nutrition labels. Look for "low-fat," "nonfat" and "reduced-fat" claims on food packages. Focus on total fat, rather than individual items. When selecting food, balance those with a higher fat amount against those with a lower fat amount to stay within your fat total or "budget" for the day.


Choose lean meats, fish and poultry. Limit these to 5-7 ounces per day. Other good low-fat sources of protein include dried beans and peas, tofu, low-fat yogurt, low-fat milk, low-fat cottage cheese and tuna fish packed in water. Choose skim or 1% milk.


Enjoy low-fat (no more than 3 grams of fat per ounce) or nonfat cheeses and spreads. Try low-fat or fat-free versions of your favorite margarine, salad dressing, cream cheese and mayonnaise.


When preparing foods.

*Trim all visible fat and remove the skin from poultry.

*Refrigerate soups, gravies and stews, and remove the hardened fat before eating.

*Bake, broil or grill meats on a rack that allows fat to drip from the meat. Avoid frying foods.

*Sprinkle lemon juice and herbs/spices on cooked vegetables instead of using cheese, butter or cream-based sauces.

*Try plain, nonfat or low-fat yogurt and chives on baked potatoes rather than sour cream. Reduced-fat sour cream still contains fat, so you must limit the amount you use.


When dining out.

*Choose simply-prepared foods such as broiled, roasted or baked fish or chicken. Avoid fried or sauteed foods, casseroles, and foods with heavy sauces and gravies.

*Request that your food be cooked without added butter, margarine, gravy or sauces.

*Request salad with low-fat dressing on the side.

*Select fruit, angel food cake, nonfat frozen yogurt, sherbet or sorbet for dessert instead of ice cream, cake or pie.

[medic]

High Protein Low Carbohydrate Diets


How do these diets work?
By restricting carbohydrates drastically to a mere fraction of that found in the typical American diet, the body goes into a different metabolic state called ketosis, whereby it burns its own fat for fuel. Normally the body burns carbohydrates for fuel -- this is the main source of fuel for your brain, heart and many other organs. A person in ketosis is getting energy from ketones, little carbon fragments that are the fuel created by the breakdown of fat stores. When the body is in ketosis, you tend to feel less hungry, and thus you're likely to eat less than you might otherwise. However, ketosis can also cause health problems, such as kidney failure (see below).

As a result, your body changes from a carbohydrate-burning engine into a fat-burning engine. So instead of relying on the carbohydrate-rich items you might typically consume for energy, and leaving your fat stores just where they were before (alas, the hips, belly, and thighs), your fat stores become a primary energy source. The purported result. weight loss.


What are the health risks associated with high protein, low carb diets?
High protein diets can cause a number of health problems, including.

* Kidney failure:- Consuming too much protein puts a strain on the kidneys, which can make a person susceptible to kidney disease.

* High cholesterol:- It is well known that high protein diets (consisting of red meat, whole dairy products, and other high fat foods) are linked to high cholesterol. Studies have linked a high cholesterol levels to an increased risk of developing heart disease and cancer.

* Osteoporosis and kidney stones:- High protein diets have also been shown to cause people to excrete more calcium than normal through their urine. Over a prolonged period of time, this can increase a person's risk of osteoporosis and kidney stones.

* Cancer:- One of the reasons high protein diets increase the risks of certain health problems is because of the avoidance of carbohydrate-containing foods and the vitamins, minerals, fiber and anti-oxidants they contain. It is therefore important to obtain your protein from a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Not only are your needs for protein being met, but you are also helping to reduce your risk of developing cancer.

* Unhealthy metabolic state (ketosis):- Low carb diets can cause your body to go into a dangerous metabolic state called ketosis since your body burns fat instead of glucose for energy. During ketosis, the body forms substances known as ketones, which can cause organs to fail and result in gout, kidney stones, or kidney failure. Ketones can also dull a person's appetite, cause nausea and bad breath. Ketosis is prevented by eating at least 100 grams of carbohydrates a day.


Is this diet right for me?
These theories of weight loss remain unproven, and most experts are concerned that high-protein, low carb diets can cause a host of problems, particularly for the large segment of the population that is at risk for heart disease. What's more, the plan doesn't permit a high intake of fruits and vegetables, recommended by most nutrition experts because of the numerous documented health benefits from these foods.

The experts say to achieve permanent weight loss you must change your lifestyle. This means following a lower calorie diet that includes grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables combined with participating in regular physical activity.

Before starting this or any diet, be sure to talk with your doctor to determine what approach is right for you.

[demon_dissector]

clinically obesity is defined as having BMI over 30.

obesity can lead to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), osteoartheritis, and type II diabetes.

i don't really think nepal has a problem with obesity, most of the nepali girls are actually below the healthy BMI range. there's nothing nice about being skinny, it's definitely not sexy. Being below weight means you're predisposing yourself to developing osteoporosis in the later years and also having secondary ammenorrheoa.