Hangover cures can come in handy no matter the season, but they are especially relevant during the holidays. Between stress, families and work parties, showing restraint can be tricky at this time of year. I would like to share my tips on surviving the day after – hangovers, headaches, nausea etc.

First, there are two major reasons why we get a hangover. The first one is dehydration and the second reason is a buildup of acetaldehyde, which results from the breakdown of alcohol in our body.

The diuretic effect of alcohol means that you not only lose water but also electrolytes and potassium. To alleviate the pain and symptoms of a hangover, it’s therefore important to drink plenty of water when you first wake up and continually throughout the day. To restore the loss of electrolytes, I recommend eating antioxidant-rich fruits like strawberries, blueberries and bananas, which reduce the inflammatory response of alcohol. You should also replenish with fruit juices and smoothies.

I also recommend freshly grated or puréed ginger. Ginger detoxifies the liver and helps repair the organ that has been working in overdrive all night long. It also decreases nausea and GI-symptoms. I also suggests taking liver-detoxifying supplements like milk thistle pills, glutathione and dandelion extract mixed with water – all of which help promote recovery.

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Finally, force yourself to exercise – it speeds up your metabolism and encourages sweating, which helps clear out the rest of the alcohol. Keep it simple though…try low-impact activities like walking and low-resistance weight training. Exercise will help stimulate your liver and replenish the water and nutrients that have been stripped from the body.

Homemade Hangover Cure

Ginger Fruit Smoothie
1 tbsp pureed ginger or (even better) PURE CONCENTRATED GINGER
1/2 cup each of blueberries and strawberries
1 banana
1 cup of milk
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 cup ice

Blend together. Add a touch of honey for sweetness if you prefer. This recipe will make 2 big smoothies. Serve with a side of scrambled eggs for the ultimate hangover fighter. This smoothie is high in antioxidants, potassium, omega-3’s, and the ginger will help detoxify the liver and relieve nausea.

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

Resources: www.glow.ca

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All-natural, Pure Concentrated Ginger (5 FL. OZ)

No sugar, No colorings, No preservatives, No water added.

Great for tea and salads.

$11.95 (S&H $4.50)

Regular exercise is synonymous with weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle; Here’s a little bit about energy expenditure.

A little bit about energy expenditure.

Our Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the energy our body uses to sustain life on a daily basis; the energy necessary to sustain all biomechanical reactions and bodily systems. The BMR consumes about 60 to 70% of the total energy at a rate of 1kcal/kg/hour.

The thermal effect of our digestive process demands another 10% of that total energy. We have no control over our BMR and thermal digestive effect; however we can control the energy WE spend; it’s called activity or exercise! Exercise can demand anywhere from 10-40% of the total available energy.

Example of energy expenditure: A 75 kg person burns 100 kcal when walking 1 mile, and 1 pound of fat equals 3500 kcal. So this person would have to walk 35 miles to burn 1 pound of fat.

Research & Benefits of Regular Exercise:

Regular exercise results in a decrease in the loss of fat-free mass (muscle) associated with weight loss. Exercise also increases muscle mass and results in more effective fat oxidation (more fat is burned per unit of exercise).

A quick increase in fat metabolism is observed within 3 weeks of exercise at a frequency of 3x/week and within 10 days of 1-hour of exercise/day.

Exercise improves maintenance of weight loss; exercise helps sustain weight loss results. Exercise is more beneficial for maintenance than for initial weight loss and does not have a major impact on short-term weight loss results.

As an overweight or obese person loses weight, it takes more and more exercise just to maintain the weight loss.

As we all know, exercise also improves cardiovascular and metabolic health (independent of weight loss).

In studies, NO advantage is shown with supervised versus non-supervised activity in long-term. In other words, going to the gym and/or having a personal trainer does not benefit you; however initially it may be advised that a knowledgeable person assists you in the proper execution of your exercise program to assure optimal effectiveness and prevent injury!

Compliance is shown to be higher when exercises are performed home-based vs. group based. I assume that is true because group-based exercise interrupts people’s daily schedule (they have to be at a certain place at a certain time) and when people’s personal schedule changes (kids off school during summer, different job, spouse out of town etc.) they are inclined to “give up”.

A single bout of exercise can increase BMR by 5-15% for up to 48 hours (due to an increased systemic Nor-epinephrine). Example: if a 70kg person burns an extra 160 kcal/day, he/she loses an extra pound of fat every 20 days.

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Ideally one exercises 120 – 200 minutes/week for weight loss. In our Sensible Weight Loss program (SWL) we suggest to incorporate exercise within the first month of the program, even though we established earlier that exercise does not have much of an effect in initial weight loss. Why? The client has to learn the appropriate exercises, and gradually increase the frequency and duration BECAUSE when the client reaches his/her optimal body composition, exercise will be crucial to keep the weight off! I recommend you start with 120min/week and gradually increase to 200min/week. We will expand on the type of exercise, intensity, frequency and duration later!

Exercise decreases appetite short-term due to reduction in visceral blood flow and catecholamine elevations. Exercise does not increase food intake in long-term in normal individuals.

So, the key is to combine diet with exercise. You will lose more weight than diet alone and the body composition changes: increased fat loss, less lean muscle tissue loss and decrease in visceral fat. Exercise is key factor in maintenance of weight loss.

Conclusion so far:

Diet = key factor for initial weight loss!

Exercise = key factor for sustained weight loss!

Many dieters will “plateau” (unable to lose more weight at a certain stage within a popular weight loss program) UNTIL  they increase exercise!

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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Healthy dieting is something that some people overlook when they want to lose weight fast. However if the dieting and weight loss isn’t sensible, the long term effects can be detrimental to your overall health.

Weight Watchers:

Established in 1960’s, Weight Watchers promotes weight loss of 5 to 10% of one’s body weight. Their strictly dictated meals are based on points. Exercise allows for more point consumption, and the latest program has a zero-point food list. Weight Watchers conducts weekly support meetings and has online support.

The ADVANTAGES are that it’s the #1 rated weight loss program by Consumer Reports. It educates the participants on food and has been proven more successful than do-it-yourself plans in the long-term. Peer-pressure seems to work. It’s a better choice than most other diets that lack balance in their nutritional recommendations.

The DISADVANTAGES are that some people are embarrassed during the public weight measurements and meetings; that the program is rather expensive; and that Weight Watchers has NOT been proven better than any other diets or programs.

South Beach Diet:

Developed by a cardiologist in Miami, this diet puts emphasis on a low-carbohydrate phase followed by increasing amounts of low glycemic carbohydrates. The diet also restricts high glycemic foods and foods high in saturated and hydrogenated fats.

The ADVANTAGES are that the South Beach diet allows for healthy fats and carbohydrates, reduces insulin, improves lipids and lowers appetite.

The DISADVANTAGE is that it is based on glycemic index (GI), which is not approved by the ADA. Read more about GI on pages xxxx in this book.

Nutrisystem:

Toxic, nutrient depleted meals are mailed to your doorstep. The system works with ‘military rations” of 1200-1500 calories/day, and is based on low GI-foods with a total intake of 55% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 20% fat. The cost is about $280/month and they offer some phone support. BAD, BAD, BAD!

High Fiber diets:

High fiber diets include soluble (fruit, beans, oats) and insoluble (vegetables, grains) fibers, with a recommended daily dose of 25-40 grams (the average person consumes about 10 grams per day).

The ADVANTAGES are reduced appetite, reduced GI-problems, improved lipid profile (protects against heart disease), and reduced risk for most cancers.

The DISADVANTAGES are a reduced absorption of minerals and the fact that many people are allergic to wheat products.

Meal Replacements:

Usually meal replacements are high protein shakes or snacks that replace a meal. In general, there’s an improved compliance versus diets alone because participants feel like they have to sacrifice less: “fast food that’s good for you”, and also feel a greater satisfaction.

Studies show greater weight loss (25-60%) at 3 months and 1 year compared to regular diets. I personally think that it’s a GREAT STRATEGY to implement a GOOD meal replacement in a weight loss program.

Ornish diet:

This is a vegetarian diet that gets 10% of the calories from fat. It allows NO cooking oils, nuts or advocados, and excludes fish. There are NO calorie restrictions.

The ADVANTAGES are improvements in blood pressure and lipid profiles. The diet also reverses angina and artherosclerosis.

The DISADVANTAGES are that the diet is very difficult to follow, and that there’s a potential for deficiency of essential fatty acids.

The Ornish diet is a prevention diet for people at risk for heart disease, and a reversal diet for people with a known heart disease.

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Fasting:

Fasting for up to 3 days is not harmful for healthy individuals, but also NOT very effective. Make sure to take in enough water when fasting! Glycogen stores deplete within 24 hours so that the burning of fat and muscle tissue follows. Ketosis puts a strain on the kidneys.

Fasting is considered too stressful and hart to do. It’s advocated as a cleansing of the body rather than an actual weight loss method. Therefore, it could be used as part of a weight loss program.

Some final considerations:

The average protein consumption should be 15% of the caloric intake. This is the absolute minimum when on a diet! So make sure you consume at least 1 to 1.5 grams of high-quality protein per kilogram of body weight when on a low calorie diet (LCD).

When consuming less than 50-100 grams of carbohydrates per day, the body becomes ketogenic. This leads to excessive protein breakdown and dehydration. Note that for every 1 gram of glycogen or protein broken down, 3 grams of water is released!

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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Nature or nurture?

Causes of obesity are debated every day by doctors, nutritionists, and geneticists, and of course there are a number of theories. Studies show that 80% of children born to two obese parents will become obese; only 14% of children born to normal-weight parents become obese. Studies on adopted children show that genetics account for only 33% of a child’s weight. So, we sure can use our GENETICS as a lame excuse of being overweight or being unable to lose weight…BUT the above numbers also indicate that we can CONTROL our weight for at least 66%, not? That’s seems more than enough control if we only want to lose 5, 10, 20 or even 40% of our body weight.

What is it that we CAN CONTROL then? Lifestyle factors such as physical activity and eating habits. A slow metabolism can be partially controlled by genetics, but you will learn later how we easily can speed-up our metabolism through some healthy practices!

So is the statement: “You are what you eat” true? Well, basically it is, but remember that our genetics also play a role!

“Move it or lose it”

According the CDC, 37% of obese people don’t exercise. A sedentary individual may begin to gain weight on as few as 1800 calories. Regular exercise burns calories and builds lean muscle mass, which in turn burns more calories. Some top athletes may even burn up to 5,000 calories/day!

Lack of activity can certainly be a cause of obesity! Please learn more about exercise in chapter xxx.

Fast Food = Fast Fat.

Fast food contains more calories and fat, and people consume more than needed. Usually, lower calorie items are available at these fast-food places, but most people don’t order them. The typical fast food meal averages 700-1200 calories. “Supersizing” with fries and soda seems like a bargain but comes with a huge caloric price. For example, a small order of fries contains 210 calories and 10 grams of fat while a supersized order has an astonishing 540 calories and 26 grams of fat. A small soda has 150 calories versus the whopping 310 calories in a 32-ounce one!

Fast food is also eaten too fast. Researchers have shown that the bet way to moderate how much you eat is to eat slower, relax, enjoy your food and focus on your meal.

Other common causes are insufficient sleep and also hormone imbalances, in both men and women. In women, this can be caused by menopause and/or by surgical interventions such as a hysterectomy. We briefly will discuss hormone replacement therapy later in this book.

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The most obvious and common cause is the following:

Most people:

1. Consume excess calories: calorie intake exceeds energy expenditure. Often, people are unable to control portion size AND people eat larger quantities because our processed foods do NOT contain the essential nutrients our body needs, and therefore our body continues to ask for more food (increased hungry feeling).

2. Consume mostly acid-forming foods (learn more in Chapter xxx). Acid-forming foods deplete our body from alkalizing minerals such as calcium and potassium; and slow down metabolism.

3. Lack physical activity.

4. Many people are taking prescription drugs that make you gain weight.

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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Fad diets are sometimes difficult to identify in comparison to healthy or safe diets; Below is a list of criteria for you to better identify a Fad diet.

1. Promises quick weight loss, often more than 3 pounds per week.
2. Promotes methods too good to be true.
3. Implies that weight can be lost without exercise or lifestyle changes.
4. Uses scare tactics to promote the diet plan.
5. Restricts or eliminates certain foods or food groups and prescribes an un-balanced, un-healthy diet plan resulting in major nutrient deficiencies such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and protective phytonutrients.
6. Rarely addresses portion size.
7. Insists on consuming specific foods or combinations of foods with no scientific validity.
8. Offers rigid menu plans that do not follow US dietary guidelines.
9. Encourages the dieter to eat as much as he/she wants of a particular food while prescribing a daily caloric intake well below average requirements for a healthy adult.

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Despite the poor success rate of all these popular diets and weight loss programs, they continue to grow in popularity among overweight Americans. More than 50% of the best selling diet books have been published since 1999. Why? People try a diet, it doesn’t work or only gives them short-term results, or it’s too hard to follow, and they give up. BUT they still want to lose that weight AND they jump on the next diet hitting the market (and promoted by celebrities). Silly? Maybe, but there’s no other options!

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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Overweight is defined as the excess amount of body weight, including fat, muscle, bone and water. Someone is considered overweight if their Body Mass Index (BMI) exceeds ‘25’.

Obesity is defined as an excess amount of body fat (BMI > 30). The terms overweight and obese are used interchangeably.

BMI (Body Mass Index) is a measure of an adult’s weight in relation to his or her height, specifically the adult’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in meters. However, BMI is a very crude and inaccurate measurement tool. Athletes for example can be overweight but are usually not obese!

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Another definition of obesity is the excessive accumulation of stored energy in the form of body fat. The reason for this excess storage is the fact that our survival instinct has become extinct. Our body has a stronger resistance against weight loss than defense against weight gain. Due to the constant food supply in western countries, we are limited today by our conscious cessation of eating, not by our food supply running out. Also, there’s no need for physical activity since we don’t have to go hunt down our food anymore. Food consumption exceeds resting energy expenditure, indicating the need for increased activity!

Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR).

The WHR is a predictor of abdominal fat. Men are considered at risk when WHR > 1.0, and women when WHR > 0.85. The WHR correlates best with increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

How to measure WHR? Measure in cm; and for accuracy and consistency always measure at the exact same level (measure from floor to level of measurement). Measure the waist at the midpoint between the lower border of the ribcage and the upper border of the pelvis (hip-bone). Measure the hip at the level of the hip-joint (outer thigh).

Some Obesity Facts:

1. Excess weight is the #1 nutrition problem today.
2. Of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S., being overweight is a risk factor for half of them.
3. An estimated 40-55% of adult Americans and 20-30% of children are overweight.
4. Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem, but a serious health hazard.
5. Americans spend over $40 billion/year on weight loss treatments (that don’t work).
6. The cost to society exceeds $100 billion/year.

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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Obesity in the U.S. has been steadily rising between 1985 and today, and it is no secret. Yet some people are still in the dark as to what has perpetuated this climb in unhealthy lifestyle amongst Americans.

The data below were collected through the Center of Disease Control’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Each year, state health departments use standard procedures to collect the data.

In 1990, among the states participating in the BRFSS, 10 states had a prevalence of obesity less than 10%, and no states had a prevalence equal or greater than 15%.

By 1998, no state had a prevalence less than 10%, 7 states had a prevalence of obesity between 20-24%, and no state had a prevalence equal or greater than 25%.

In 2007, only 1 state (Colorado) had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%; 30 states had a prevalence equal or greater than 25% and 3 of these states (Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee) had a prevalence of obesity equal or greater than 30%.

These data show a rapid, out-of-control increase in obesity in the U.S., which has reached the proportions of a TRUE EPIDEMIC!

Pulse Check.

Obesity has increased by over 50% over the last decade. Industrialization and commercialization have caused the mass-production of processed, synthetic foods, loaded with colorings, preservatives, toxins and chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and carcinogens. Furthermore, these foods are deprived from essential nutrients and micronutrients!

Currently, there’s virtually NO consumer education and prevention in place. The majority of insurance companies do NOT yet reimburse for the treatment of obesity itself (just for its related symptoms). The food industry spends billions of dollars yearly on advertising and almost nothing is spend on promoting healthy eating!

National consumption averages.

The average American male consumes 2,800 cal/day and the average American female 1,800 cal/day. A study on dietary recall indicates that the average person estimates that they consume 30-40% less than they actually do!

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Trends.

A decrease in consumption of foods high in fat is noted (people assume that fat makes you fat), BUT there has also been an increase in consumption of foods with added fat such as fried foods and butter.

An increase in the consumption of fruit and vegetables is also noted. WOW, you may think…but hold on: 18% of all vegetables are potatoes in French fries!

Cheese consumption increased by 250% due to the increase in pizza and cheeseburger consumption.

According to a UNC-study, the calorie content of food has increased too! For example, calories content in soft drinks increased by 49, fries by 68, salty snacks by 93, hamburgers by 97, and Mexican food by 133.

Also, our visits to restaurants increased by 200%, resulting in higher fat and sugar consumption.

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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Popular diet plans and wight loss programs tend to promise unrealistic results and often lead to alot of disappointment. and This whole business of losing weight can be a frustrating, constant struggle!!! Many diets are so unnatural and so unrealistic that it can never become a REAL lifestyle that you can live with…let alone enjoy!

Most programs don’t even deal with our cravings and our desires, or how to attend to our feelings of hunger and fullness. Eventually, we become “just plain tired” of the hunger, lack of flavor, lack of flexibility, the lack of energy and THE FEELING OF DEPRIVATION.

We quit our diets and then GAIN BACK THE WEIGHT WE’VE LOST …AND SOMETIMES WE GAIN EVEN MORE!!!

A tragic statistic – Only 3% of diets and weight loss programs on the market are successful! Why is that? What are the common denominators? What are the common flaws of these diets? And more importantly, what is the SOLUTION to this medical problem with epidemic proportions? First piece of advice: STOP listening to UNQUALIFIED mass-marketers and START taking the advice of health care professionals who are QUALIFIED and trained in health and wellness, and in particular weight loss! So, if you are a health care professional, get trained and certified: not only will you truly help your patients lose that weight forever and make them healthy again, BUT you will also enjoy an extra stream of income! For the best available training, contact ELITE – Aesthetic, Medical & Business Training at 1-877-847-9200 or visit their website at eliteambt.com! Obesity is the disease of diseases, and YOU as a physician or other health care professional NEED to take responsible, now!

What are the common flaws of these ‘FAD’ diets and popular weight loss program? Well, there are many! For one, they are all “One-Size-Fits-All” approaches. That means that these diets are NOT individualized or customized. If 1000 people sign up for Nutrisystem (or any other diet for that matter) today, all 1000 people will be put on the exact same diet with the exact same guidelines. Does that make sense? Of course not! Should someone who is 150 pounds be put on the same diet as someone who is 270 pounds? I don’t think so! What about people’s medical history and specific dietary needs? What about their individual goals, body composition, eating behaviors, physical activity level etc.? Also, there’s NO physician supervision and therefore these diets can be potentially dangerous!

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Next, most of these popular diets and weight loss programs are low calorie diets (LCD), and that’s usually the ONLY reason why people lose weight on these diets. What is a LCD and what are calories, you may ask? Well, calories are basically energy. And all of us need a certain amount of energy or calories to sustain life on a daily basis (also referred to as BMR or Basic Metabolic Rate). People who are mostly sedentary and inactive may only require 1200 to 1500 calories per day, while Michael Phleps (so I’ve heard) burns over 5000 calories per day. Now, these LCD’s restrict your caloric intake. You are taking in less calories than your body needs on a daily basis, and end-up with a calorie deficit. Your body officially in a ‘starvation mode’ and is forced to get the energy it needs from somewhere else. It will break down your own valuable muscle tissue to retrieve energy from its proteins. And yes, you do lose weight on these diets, BUT mostly it will be muscle weight and water weight due to dehydration, NOT FAT! That’s why you will REGAIN weight after you stop these diets. Your body comes out of starvation and immediately starts storing fat in preparation for a possible next starvation period (your body has a memory and adapts to external conditions). That’s also why they call these diets, “yo-yo” diets: when you are on these diets you will lose some weight, when you’re off them you will regain the weight, and many times you will regain more than you initially lost! ALL these diets and programs only result in SHORT-TERM results.

Even more importantly, most of these diets and weight loss programs are UN-Balanced and therefore Un-Healthy! With un-balanced I mean that most of these diets promote the consumption of one food group and restrict the consumption of another…which is all BOGUS! Take Atkins for example (I often use Atkins as an example because most people know or heard about it): It promotes the consumption of meat and restricts the consumption of carbohydrates. In the long-term this drastically increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases, causes ketosis, and results in many, severe micronutrient deficiencies. NO GOOD!

Each time we go on another diet of deprivation, the weight becomes more difficult to lose and we become even more frustrated and discouraged. Then, we eat more and exercise less, causing ourselves more frustration, discouragement and depression.  Soon we find ourselves in this “vicious cycle”. No one can realistically live in the “diet” mode for the rest of their life, depriving themselves of the true pleasures of healthy eating and activity!

Then we think to ourselves…Oh, why bother??  We start to blame ourselves for having no will power when what we really need is a clear, scientifically-based, realistic program that we can follow and get results that are quick and permanent!

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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The Standard American Diet is SAD! I say “American” because I live in America, but this holds true for almost the entire world!

Our genetics have not changed BUT more and more diseases currently exist (including obesity) and affect more and more people worldwide, including our children…why is that? I will answer that question, but first you need to KNOW the following about YOUR BODY:

1. It is the MOST complex piece of machinery on planet earth! We easily can build and control a nuclear plant and sent a rocket ship into space; however we are far from figuring out the human body and its workings, and we have limited answers to many diseases (Parkinson’s disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, genetic diseases and so many more).

2. Your body continuously REBUILDS itself. All cells in your body replace themselves (some monthly, some every 90 days etc.). In other words, we are a totally ‘new’ person every few months (that’s just pure physically speaking).

3. In order for our body to replace itself, we need to provide our body with the RIGHT NUTRIENTS so it CAN replace itself! If you drive a BMW and continue to replace parts with second hand parts and parts from other brands such as Mercedes, Toyota etc…your BMW will encounter some mechanical and functional problems, and will not be a ‘real’ BMW anymore, will it? It will be a MUTATION (read: CANCER).

4. The ‘right’ nutrients your body needs to rebuild itself are nutrients your body recognizes; these nutrients are nutrients from NATURE (natural foods, whole foods). Your body is able to absorb, process and utilize these nutrients. Synthetic foods are not recognized by the body and the body has major difficulties to break these foods down in usable nutrients (it requires excessive amounts of enzymes, vitamins and minerals) or is unable to break them down at all (and forced to store them).

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5. Every cell in your body (I believe there are about 3 trillion) has about 10, 000 receptors. The RNA of each cell ‘tells’ the receptors what the cell needs to function optimally and replace itself. The receptors will ‘stick out their neck’ and scan the environment (extracellular fluid) to look for these necessary nutrients. Our S.A.D does NOT provide our body with these essential nutrients and therefore the cells have to settle for less (read: synthetic, 2nd-hand parts). As a result, cells don’t function properly, organs are affected, disease takes over, health is no longer in the dictionary, degeneration and mutation occur, and we fall apart (lucky we have drugs to provide a band-aid and keep things together).

6. Conclusion: We have to provide our body with the nutrients it needs to function optimally and stay in balance. How? Continue reading!
So, let’s answer this question: How come we have to cope with more and more disease, including obesity?

First, the world population has grown out of proportion and there is not enough food from nature (whole foods) available to feed every mouth. Industrialization and commercialization have caused the mass-production of synthetic and processed foods, containing harmful preservatives, colorings and toxins which are foreign to the body and cause plenty of diseases, including but certainly not limited to allergies, immune-diseases, degenerative disease, cancers and more. At the same time, these synthetic, processed foods do NOT contain any nutritional value. In other words, our body does NOT get the nutrients it needs to function properly and renew or replace itself; AND continuously has to utilize valuable nutrients like vitamins, minerals and enzymes to neutralize the harmful toxins we ingest.

In short,

WE DO NOT GET THE ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS FROM THE FOOD WE CONSUME…RESULTING IN DISEASE AND OBESITY.

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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The obesity epidemic is nothing NEW! The Venus of Willendorf, also known as the women of Willendorf, is a limestone statue of a female figure estimate to been carved 23,000 BC. The Venus represents an idealization of the female figure.

In Medicine, obesity was regarded as a disease since the 1700’s. Yet even now it is not fully recognized as a disease even by some members of the medical profession…duh!

However, today we have an OBESITY EPIDEMIC, and that is NEW!

TODAY, it’s a bitter irony that as developing countries continue their efforts to reduce hunger, some are also facing the opposing problem of obesity. Obesity carries a higher incidence of chronic illness including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. And while some of the poor are becoming plumper, they are not necessarily better fed. Obesity often masks underlying deficiencies in vitamins and minerals.

“We believe obesity is a significant problem that needs to be dealt with, along with the problem of the underfed,” says Prakash Shetty, Chief of Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Nutrition Planning, Assessment and Evaluation service.

Just a few years ago, such a statement was rare. Experts hesitated to draw attention to obesity when so many lives were crippled by hunger — and out of a total of 815 million hungry people around the world almost 780 million are in developing countries. But startling data released last year by the Worldwatch Institute challenged conventional wisdom: For the first time, the number of overweight individuals worldwide rivals those who are underweight. And sadly, developing nations have joined the ranks of countries encumbered by obesity.

A United Nations study found obesity in all developing regions, and growing rapidly, even in countries where hunger exists. In China, the number of overweight people jumped from less than 10 percent to 15 percent in just three years. In Brazil and Colombia, the figure hovers around 40 percent – a level comparable to a number of European countries. Even sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the world’s hungry live, is seeing an increase in obesity, especially among urban women. In all regions, obesity seems to grow as income increases.

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The existence of obesity in the developing world is not a surprise to FAO. “We already knew that the world produced enough food to feed everyone,” remarks Barbara Burlingame, Senior Officer in FAO’s Nutrition Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group. “Unfortunately, food doesn’t always get to the people who need it most.” Hunger is one result. Obesity is another.

In addition, practically all of the hungry and many of the overweight are weakened by a third type of malnutrition: A lack of vitamins and minerals referred to as micronutrient deficiency.

“The thinking used to be that if people get enough energy in their diets, the micronutrients will take care of themselves,” says Dr Burlingame. “But increasingly people are eating larger quantities of cheap food that fill the stomach but still leave the body without those micronutrients.”

Though data on obesity in the developing world are limited, preliminary studies indicate that some of the same nutrient deficiencies in the underfed also afflict the overfed. Two of the most common are iron deficiency anemia and vitamin A deficiency, which continues to cause widespread blindness in children under five years old.

FAO maintains that a sound approach to nutrition must focus on quality as well as quantity. “One of our most important roles is to promote a diverse diet including traditional foods, which are generally balanced and high in nutrition,” says Dr Shetty.

The American society has become ‘obesogenic,’ characterized by an environment that promotes increased food intake, non-healthful foods, and physical inactivity. Obesity has become the ‘disease of diseases’ with far-reaching pathophysiology and co-morbidities. It’s not just a will-power issue anymore!

Even though the facts and statistics are conclusive, there continues to be a lack of understanding and education in medical schools.

Physical Attractiveness.

A myriad of research also supports the importance of physical attractiveness. “Looking good” is an indicator of the teacher’s judgment of student intelligence and an indicator of the juror’s judgment in simulated trials. Physical attractiveness also predicts job success and compensation levels (lower likelihood of being hired, getting a raise or a promotion), and attractive people experience greater professional and personal success. Studies also indicate the existence of more negative attitudes towards the obese, even seen in young children, and that the obese less likely get help or favors.

Yours in Optimal Health,

Dr. Mike

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