Obesity 'cure is free - eat less'

[Nihil]

Source: MSN

Britain is facing an obesity "epidemic" that is killing millions and
will "wreck" the NHS, peers have been warned.

...

Lord McColl, a former professor and director of surgery at Guy's Hospital,
London, said the rise in obesity was "the worst epidemic to affect this
country for 100 years.

"It's killing millions, it's costing billions and the cure is free - eat less."


Read more: http://news.uk.msn.com/health/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=159417495

---

One quote in particular stands out to me: "What a strange world it is. Half the world
is dying of starvation, the other half is gorging itself to death."

[hlthe2b]

1. The problem is (of course) very real; Lord McColl, however, is an idiot

[izquierdista]

13. A "former professor and director of surgery" is an idiot

Right, whatever you say. :eyes:

If only behavior were that logical and easy to control. But with advertising pushing food that is empty calories with little nutrition, behavior modification hasn't even a chance. Time to go back to a diet of semi-palatable greens, rose hips, acorns, thistles, dandelions, with an occasional scrawny squirrel carcass to drop in the stew pot. That diet would really up the vitamin and fiber intake, while dropping the amount of calories consumed. Man evolved as a hunter-gatherer and is ill-suited for a diet of steak, potatoes, and chocolate cake. It's going to take a few thousand years for man's appetite suppressors to catch up with his new ability to put calories on the table.

[Javaman]

20. while humans did evolve as hunter gatherers...

the reality is, back in the "cave man days", humans were virtually always hungry, living from one kill to the next or gathering from morning to night. We were also far from the dominate species back then so we were also incredibly active. 24/7 type of active. We were always in a state of burning calories, that is why we were always hungry.

What we have "evolved" into is sedentary easy access food.

The ability to lose weight has always been with in us. I just lost 22 pounds simply by reducing my intake. I ate 80% of my usual intake and walked/run every other day.

The weight vanished.

bottom line: discipline. It's that simple. But if you allow yourself to be easily swayed by sugary foods, salty snacks and over indulging in more than you should be eating, well, then you won't lose weight.

[Thav]

24. What this guy should have added

"We were also far from the dominate species back then so we were also incredibly active. 24/7 type of active."

Move more, eat less. I also like to throw in "eat better" as well.

I have a feeling obesity is going to get worse over the next 5 years, as with the economy being crap, people will be more depressed - less apt to move and more apt to seek food s medication. Throw in $1.00 cheeseburgers and this is a recipe for expanding waistlines.

Move More, Eat Less!

[Javaman]

29. it will be interesting to see what happens...

It could go one of two ways, either food in general becomes more expensive forcing people to cut back or food becomes more expensive forcing junk food makers to devise cheaper crappier stuff.

[hlthe2b]

22. to say the answer is simply " eat less" is ignorant...

If he really said that without addressing sedentary lifestyle effects on metabolism--much less insulin resistance, then he is an idiot--pandering to the Faux news-type crowd that wants a simple soundbyte. Yes, it does matter WHAT you eat, as well as how much.

[panzerfaust]

25. OK. Had he added " or exercise more" would you like it any better?

Yet, true it is.

First law of thermodynamics: A change in the internal energy of a closed thermodynamic system is equal to the difference between the heat supplied to the system and the amount of work done by the system ...



We make our choice mouthful by mouthful - no other way.

[hlthe2b]

26. ...

To state it is simple thermodynamics is to deny any understanding of human endocrinology and the impact that hormonal influences, especially insulin resistance have on the thermodynamic system within human digestion/human metabolism. These kind of idiotic, simplistic--"just eat less" comments are simply those pushed by those who want to categorize the overweight and obese in such a way that allows them to be discounted--their problem only one of slovenly behavior--lacking in any self-restraint and to continue an overt societal bigotry based on weight. As one very well versed in 20 years of the physiological and global epidemiology literature on obesity, these outdated understandings of what is behind the worldwide obesity epidemic are not only unhelpful, but reinforce such biases, stereotypes, and overt bigotry.

But in answer to your one specific question, yes, exercise is critical because it has direct effects (over time on insulin resistance, besides its obvious direct impacts on calorie burn.

[Javaman]

31. still comes down to eating less.

and eating less crap. not drinking soda or eating anything that is processed within an inch of it's life. not eating anything that has HFCS in it. Which has shown to totally screw up the bodies digestion and directly influence the enzymes that control hunger.

It is a matter of eating less. A controlled diet via your doctor will help you lose weight, but more so, it also requires something that much of america grossly lacks when it comes to food and snacks: discipline.

Flame me all you want, but that facts are the facts.

The amount of people that have maladies that prevent them from losing weight against the general population is very small.

[hlthe2b]

41. the facts are...

as I stated and in your lay terms actually echo.. Go re-read what you wrote. No, it is NOT simply eating less. It is what you eat, when, how much, and those factors, including exercise (and endogenous hormone levels) that maintain insulin levels and thus ensure normal metabolism.

[tinrobot]

27. Eat less junk food, eat more real food.

Calories/thermodynamics are just one variable in the equation.

A super sized portion of french fries may feed you with calories, but it starves you from nutrients. Meaning, you'll probably still be hungry and want to eat more.

[TalkingDog]

30. Agreed, if he had said: Eat less empty calories. People are literally starving from foods they eat.

They think all food is nutritionally equal.

The dude needs to get a clue and run with it.

[Javaman]

34. +1000!

I have stated this on many other posts in the past.

It's been proven that the gross ingestion of refined fructose in the form of HFCS stymies the enzymes needed to control hunger.

the more HFCS you eat, the more you feel hungry.

simple rule of thumb, in this day in age, to lose weight: don't drink soda, don't eat fast food and don't eat processed food.

[BanzaiBonnie]

38. I was pleased that as soon as I cut out wheat

my tastes began to normalize. I now abhor "desserts". They are not pleasing in any way. I also eat very little in the way of fruit. My whole sweet palate has been changed by this.

[n2doc]

33. +1 n/t

[Historic NY]

2. He obviously hasn't looked at the stuff that passes for food these days either....

in my personal battle I've found one must also eat to lose weight too.

[Scuba]

3. ... said the wealthy man who shops at Whole Foods and has a personal trainer. n /t

[totodeinhere]

8. Probably a personal dietitian as well. n/t

[Javaman]

18. Nope..

Just discipline. just eat less.

everything else is just an excuse.

[Javaman]

17. I lost 22 pounds by just eating less.

I ate 80% of my normal intake.

I lost weight.

It doesn't matter where you shop, that's just an excuse.

it's has been and always has been about personal discipline. If you really want to lose the weight you can.

eat till full. understand what full means. Then decrease the intake. you will lose weight.

[Scuba]

19. The plural of "anecdote" is not "data".

[Javaman]

21. Yes it is. less calories in against calories burned.

has long been proven to show weight loss.

This isn't rocket science or my "anecdotal" evidence.

[hlthe2b]

49. It is the calories burned issue that is at play and why it is not merely calories in.

Metabolism is impacted by many many factors. Those factors that slow metabolism will result in less calories burned, no matter what. All things being equal, hormonal influences and those additional factors influencing insulin resistance will slow metabolism and thus, all things being equal, cease weight loss or even result in weight gain. As an obese sedentary person with insulin resistance or overt type II diabetes will find, they can continually reduce calories, but if they are existing off those foods that further reduce insulin response (e.g., high glycemic index foods that are typically cheap like ramen noodles) their metabolism will continue to slow. They will not ultimately loose weight and may even gain. This is what simplistic explanations that simply tell the obese to "STOP EATING" fail to take into account. Eating less by healthy individuals with normal metabolisms and relatively active lifestyles will cause them to loose weight (as you have experienced) and thus feel like they have all the answers... However, sadly, it will not work the same in many with long standing chronic weight issues.

[Iwasthere]

4. It is tough to lose in this atmosphere

I tried them all, seriously! Finally found a way that works, and FAST! I even became a certified health coach I am so excited about it. Lost 60 pounds in less than 4 months and never went hungry, a myriad of other benefits. Cost was a fraction of all other weight loss plans. http://healthyweigh.tsfl.com

[BanzaiBonnie]

5. What I've learned about how wheat reacts in my body

It causes me to crave food. Like a drug addict, I was overcome with hunger. It was like a fire running through my veins. I would then search through all the cupboards looking for ANYTHING to eat that might satisfy my hunger.

I stopped eating wheat. No more insane food craving episodes. I've lost 22 pounds over the last four months.

[Iwasthere]

6. You got it

Whole wheat is not what it used to be. Been hybridized as well as many other crops. Seriously bad for you, our foods are killing us! Eat only natural foods, no fast foods, no processed foods, and you will live. Also studys have determined that you add 10 years to the end of your life if you lose 50 pds and keep it off. Count me in.

[BanzaiBonnie]

37. I've found the book "Wheat Belly" to be invaluable

I was already cutting out gluten before this book came out. I made my own discovery about what wheat does to me by experimenting on myself. After two months without any wheat, I tried a portion of food that contained wheat. The next morning, after breakfast... I went nuts. What I was experienced scared the heck out of me. It felt like hunger burned through me. And I had already had my usual breakfast of protein and vegetables, something that has become entirely satisfying to me.

I then went looking for others who might have had the same experience or studies or something... I found nothing until in late summer I heard about the book "Wheat Belly".

What I found was astounding. Wheat is not only hybridized, modern wheat is also genetically modified. I've never been concerned about hybridization. It happens with plants in nature all the time and humans have been intentionally breeding for particular qualities for ten thousand years or more. The problem appears to be when the gene strand is broken open and something else is inserted.

The development of modern wheat was made in an attempt to feed the world. The unintended consequence is that it may be poisoning a bunch of us.


Just one of the reasons I am skeptical of GMOs.

[midnight]

9. I just found this web site for glutten free cooking... Not sure if it is the same thing as a Wheat

reaction that causes hunger but here it is: http://www.julesglutenfree.com/

[Dogtown]

7. That's overly simplistic

The inavailabilty of healthy, appetizing food vs the glut of fat-laden quick meals is a major factor.

Also, sedentary employment that leaves one too exausted for phsical training and excercise.

[Bosonic]

10. Not really

I do http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting">intermittent fasting, specifically the ADF variant. It essentially boils down to 'eat less'. May sound horrible/crazy/undoable; isn't really though, actually a lot less bother than the trillion regimes each with their own permutations of preferred food.

[BanzaiBonnie]

39. Glad you found something that works well for you

I understand that there are wonderful benefits from intermittent fasting.

[Javaman]

40. You don't need to fast to lose weight.

it's a matter of eating less crap. cut out HFCS, fast food, and soda.

prepare more meals at home. While we are all tired on our days off, use that day to cook meals for the week. It will not only help you lose weight, but in the long run, it will be less expensive.

also, don't eat until full, eat just a bit less.

bottom line is discipline.

I just lost 22 pounds. It can be done.

[Bosonic]

45. True, it is just one way

Of achieving a caloric deficit. I just find it easy and extremely low maintenance. Can't speak to any specific health benefits personally as I wasn't unwell before, but it certainly hasn't had a negative effect on my health, and my energy and appreciation/enjoyment of food are boosted.

YMMV.

[Javaman]

11. then it's a matter of personal discipline.

oh right, humans, never mind.

[wilt the stilt]

12. Sorry folks he is right

and it does take discipline.

I was 194 when I started. I am now 176. It has taken almost 4 months. I am going to be 60 in 2 days and I decided(with my daughters help) to lose weight. I was always a gym rat and used to work out intensely. I ran until I was in my forties and realized my body would not be able to sustain it. In my twenties I started to ride bicycles. I always try to buy quality and my bike is still quite nice(vintage Holdsworth).

I stared simple eat a piece of toast for breakfast with cream cheese(none of this light stuff-tastes terrible)
134 calories
Lunch- yogurt and fruit- 200 calories
Dinner- regular dinner- one portion of vegetable. starch and meat- 4 oz.

dessert- watermelon

approximately 1500 calories-
allowed calories per day- 2000 to maintain weight-
500 less calories per day = 1 pound a week
It takes a month to really get started but once the month is over it is pretty easy.

an hour on your bike burns 500-700 calories
I walk 18 holes of golf once a week

I went back to riding my bike with my brother and after I went on a twenty mile ride two weeks after starting back up I thought I was going to die. I said there is no way I am dragging 190 pounds up a hill( I live in Atlanta and there are great bike hills(my top downhill speed has been 45 miles an hour)and bike riding reminds us what we did as kids.

That being said my final goal is 172 and I am 176. It quite easy to ride 20 miles now. A hint to working out. If you are not producing great amounts of saliva you are not getting a decent workout.

I had a decision to make either I was going to be old at a young age and walk like an old man or I am going to be fit.

It is your choice.

My brother has been in touch with Holdsworth(British handbuilt bikes) and they asked us to take pictures with our Holdsworth Bikes. We will be on their website in the International wall of fame)

[Javaman]

14. I just lost 22 pounds...

It took me a year. I did it slow. I just reduced the amount I ate.

the basic problem with how we eat is, 1) we have no idea what portion size really means 2) eat only until full, never more. get to know what that feels like 3) if you want to lose weight, eat 80% of what you normally eat. You won't notice a difference. 4) remove high fructose corn syrup from you diet. 5) don't drink soda 6) don't eat fast food 7) try and make meals at home as much as possible. 8) try grow some of your own. even if it's a tomato plant in a pot on the sill. 9) get to know where your food comes from. 10) educate yourself about ingredients.

[BanzaiBonnie]

42. I am so pleased with what you've done

That is a tremendous amount of weight. I know. I'm down 22 pounds in 4 months. I agree with all you've listed. Four years ago, we cut out the HFCS. Poison I tell ya. Since then, we've instituted all you have espoused + eliminating wheat. That was my bugaboo. Everything else goes with that. If I had not, I am positive I would still be in the thrall of a ravenous hunger. It was something that rove me out of my right mind. I had trouble with the conflicting image I had of myself as a person of great self-control and the raging food addict I would become when I was triggered by wheat.

[Drale]

15. I was never Obese but I was overweight and

I stopped eating junk between meals and talking a short walk everyday, and I've dropped nearly 20 pounds since the end of August.

[David Sky]

23. That's WONDERFUL Congratulations!

Stick with it, you're doing everything right!

[formercia]

16. The Hormones used to fatten Cattle are doing the same to us.

Support your local community Agriculture. The Fast Food Poison is killing us all.

[dipsydoodle]

28. I see Pickfords have struck.

and this has been moved. :)

Back in the eighties my wife's doctor, who incidentally was Jewish quite aside from looking remarkably like Lilly Palmer who was also Jewish, had a saying she'd use whenever my wife persisted in her quest to get some "slimmers" on the NHS - "nobody came out of the concentration camps fat"

[n2doc]

32. So...they were suggesting concentration camps as a weight loss method?

Some 'doctor'

[dipsydoodle]

43. No

Less food.

[Scout]

46. well, gosh, if i wanted to lose weight by getting dysentery, i'd have done it by now....

and switched to a diet of 1/2 of a maggot-filled potato every other day!

why didn't i think of that!

[KurtNYC]

35. 'half starving, half obese'

and one is pulling stats out of his behind.

Food is fundamentally different than what was eaten 100 years ago. Blaming the victims will not help.

[Javaman]

36. While the way we prepare and eat food is vastly different from 100 years ago...

the basic principle behind losing weight has not. less calories in against calories burned.

plus, given the fact that food is much different than 100 years ago, there were still overweight people back then. Mostly due to sedentary lifestyles. aka wealthy. that is why the term "fat cat" refers to someone who is wealthy and has time on their hands.

losing weight is actually quite simple but it requires a few things 1) discipline (which it appears our society grossly lacks) 2) don't drink soda 3) don't eat fast food 4) don't eat processed foods

Those things will go a long way to stabilizing ones weight and health.

Then to lose the weight 1) prepare more meals at home 2) first eat till full and no more. 3)Then, over time, eat only 80% then no more.

you will lose weight.

These are the basic things I did and I lost 22 pounds.

it's a slow process, buy you will lose weight.

[KurtNYC]

44. My comment was aimed at this government official

The role of government in a public health crisis is to supply the information you gave and support healthier eating and life styles. But he cites the money cost and not the human toll.

The absence of nutrients in foods leave people hungry in spite of high calorie intakes. This is by design. Sugar free colas make people hungrier.

[Javaman]

47. Oh of course it's by design...

but I was talking about losing weight. But if I wanted to talk about the the mission of the corporations and food, I would liken it to feeding us like geese for pate'. LOL

[KurtNYC]

48. I think the corporate model is to sell low cost food at high mark up

potato chips, soda, HFCS, lipids in colorful packages.

[LeftishBrit]

50. Eat less *and/or* be more active.

It is not just a matter of people nowadays eating more than in the past. In fact, one study indicated that 40 years ago British people ate more than they eat now - but they also led much more active lives and were therefore less likely to be obese.

Also, it obviously depends to some degree on *what* you eat.

'What a strange world it is. Half the world
is dying of starvation, the other half is gorging itself to death'

This is actually not so strange in a way. In the past, food was scarce for most people much of the time, and the best way to reduce your chances of starving to death was to eat as much as possible when food was available. This may have led to natural selection favouring those who did have this tendency, which can lead to obesity in circumstances when food is usually available.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

51. Millions of people have dead thyroids and dead adrenals.

It destroyed my life starting when I was 11 years old. Hashimoto's Disease which is an autoimmune disorder.
Due to incompetent doctors who took me OFF thyroid, thus threatening my life, and not diagnosing and treating me with enough thyroid or the right kind, I have suffered for decades.

Millions of people have low thyroid, and low adrenals and the doctors are not treating them. And these people wonder why they can barely get out of bed in the morning. We're all suffering from adrenal exhaustion due to decades of horrible unrelenting stress from our jobs and our commutes, and our families.

Please check out these links if you think obesity is a simple thermodynamic equation, or if you think all obese people eat too much:

www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

http://thyrophoenix.com

http://thyroid.about.com Mary Shomon is great!!

http://www.adrenalsweb.org/
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHo rmonesADRENALS/
http://www.faqhelp. webs.com/
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/
http://www.thyroid-rt3.com/

[LeftishBrit]

54. Very true

And there are other medical problems that can lead to obesity; e.g. it is a side effect of steroid treatment.

The general increase in obesity in society may be largely due to a combination of lack of exercise with unhealthy or excessive eating; but obesity in an individual can have all sorts of causes.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

52. They NEVER TALK ABOUT THYROID TROUBLES.

Never.
Oprah said she had a thyroid problem and then said she didn't. Her fans BEGGED her to talk about it on TV but she wouldn't.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

53. kick