The Real Reasons We Gain Weight

Why Do We Gain Weight?

Here is the West we have an increasing epidemic of obesity. Obesity rates in the United States are among the highest in the world. A similar trend, toward weight gain and obesity, is seen in industrialized countries where dietary and lifestyle factors mimic those seen in the US. In 2010 37% of all adults and 17% of all children were classified as obese. This number continues to rise year over year. In 1997 the rate of obesity was 20%, the rate almost doubling in the last 13 years. Weight gain and obesity is a problem because as the numbers on the scale rise so do the cost to your health and well being.

Research has shown that as weight increases, the risks for the following conditions also increases:

• Coronary heart disease 
• Type 2 diabetes 
• Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) 
• Hypertension (high blood pressure) 
• Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides) 
• Stroke 
• Liver and Gallbladder disease 
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems 
• Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint) 
• Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility) 

In particular, diabetes is of great concern. Diabetes has become the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. In 2008 57 million adults, aged twenty and older were pre-diabetic, 23.6 million diabetic, with 90–95% of the latter being type 2-diabetic.

Obesity has also been shown to increase the prevalence of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Babies born to obese women are almost three times as likely to die within one month of birth and almost twice as likely to be stillborn than babies born to women of reasonable weight.

Obesity has been cited as a contributing factor to approximately 100,000–400,000 deaths in the United States per year and has increased health care use and expenditures, costing society an estimated $117 billion in direct (preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services related to weight) and indirect (absenteeism, loss of future earnings due to premature death) costs. This exceeds health-care costs associated with smoking and accounts for 6% to 12% of national health care expenditures in the US.

Besides the health complications associated with increased weight, there are the emotional costs to being overweight including lowered self esteem and confidence in oneself. Confidence is what gives you the inner strength to accomplish in life what you desire and as well as have healthy relationships and interactions. Confidence is diminished when you don't feel healthy or are feeling good.

Now we know that weight gain and obesity are real and present issues, for our society in particular. So why is it that we see such an epidemic of weight issues in the US? There are very specific reasons we in the West gain weight, none having to do with genetics.

Reasons We Gain Weight

Sugar

In the US we consume 156 pounds of added sugar each year. That is 31 five-pound bags for each individual. Only about 29 pounds of this comes from traditional sugar, or sucrose, the rest comes from foods. The biggest chunk, 26% of added sugars, comes from a variety of prepared foods like ketchup, canned vegetables, fruits, cereals, breads and peanut butter.

The body uses traditional sugar, carbohydrate as fuel, but it can only use so much fuel at one time. Once that threshold is crossed, the body begins to store any excess sugar as glycogen, to later be converted back to fuel. The body can only store a very minimal amount of excess fuel, approximately 2,000 calories, an excess day's worth of needed fuel. Once that amount is stored, the rest is converted to longer term storage, fat. The amount of sugar we consume in this country has a direct link with the amount of excess weight we accumulate. Our body cannot handle that much sugar, has no need for it and ends up storing it for years.

Fat

The body needs fat. Specifically it needs fat for energy reserves, to help cells work properly and help nutrients do their job. There are healthy fats, fats that we must get through our diet and need, and fats that are very unhealthy and health harming. All fats come to us through the foods we choose to eat.

Of the unhealthy fats we have:

Saturated fats come into our body exclusively through animal products. Saturated fats raise bad cholesterol and also interfere with the body's ability to utilize sugar as fuel, increasing your risk of diabetes.

Trans fats occur naturally in some foods, especially foods from animal origin. However, most trans fats are made during food processing through partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fats. This process creates fats that are easier to cook with and less likely to spoil so are a favorite of processed, refined and fast foods. Research shows that trans fat can increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol and lower healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. This can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.


Cooked fats are also unhealthy. Fats are especially vulnerable and sensitive making them a prime candidate for degradation. Especially degrading to fats is heat and light. Heating fats changes their structure, making them less digestible (useable) and having negative impacts on your health. Raw fats on the other hand, such as raw coconut oil, raw nuts, avocados and seed, contain living enzymes (lipase) which metabolize fat properly and completely. Lipase helps in digestion, fat distribution and fat burning throughout the body. With lipase present and active in a fat, the body is able to immediately use that fat for energy. Without lipase fat stagnates, is stored and accumulated.

Of the healthy fats we have:

Monounsaturated fat which is found in a variety of foods and oils and is the main fat in coconut oil. Studies show eating foods rich in monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) improve blood cholesterol levels, decreasing your risk of heart disease, benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control, which can be especially helpful if you have type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Weston Price traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those eating diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, despite the high fat concentration in their diet.

MUFAS also: 

• Promote heart health 
• Promote weight loss when and if you need it 
• Support your immune system health 
• Support a healthy metabolism 
• Provide you with an immediate energy source 
• Help keep your skin healthy and youthful looking 
• Support the proper functioning of your thyroid gland 

Polyunsaturated fat is a type of fat found mostly in plant-based foods and oils. Evidence shows that eating foods rich in polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) improves blood cholesterol levels, which can decrease your risk of heart disease and also help decrease your risk of type 2 diabetes.

One type of polyunsaturated fat, omega-3 fatty acids, are especially beneficial to your health including the health of your heart and brain. Omega-3s, found in some types of fatty fish, decrease the risk of coronary artery disease, protect against irregular heartbeats and help lower blood pressure levels.

Deficiency

Modern food from depleted soils, laden in toxic chemicals, refined and processed is striped of its naturally high nutrient content. For example, when whole wheat is milled and refined into white flour, the vitamin-and mineral-rich bran and germ of the wheat kernel are removed and discarded. The resulting white flour is high in starchy carbohydrate and calories, but depleted of vitamins and minerals. The calorie content is high while the nutritional content is low, which is a similar pattern found in all processed and refined foods. When fresh juices are processed into commercial store bought juice the fruits are subjected to high heats which destroys much of the vitamins and all of the enzymes and phytochemcials. Sugar and other additives are then added to give the juice a sweeter taste and longer shelf life, which increases calorie content, but decreases nutritional value. This is pretty much the same with any processed food, which is why over time the body can become depleted of needed nutrients.


When the body is depleted of nutrients it is perpetually hungry. The body uses calories for energy, but it is not the main determining factor of hunger. Hunger is turned off when the body gets the nutrients it needs, in addition to the calories it needs. However if the calories are nutrient deficient, as we see happening in processed foods, the body will continue sending hunger signals until it gets the nutrients it needs resulting in a cycle of perpetual hunger, overeating in empty calories, weight gain, back to perpetual hunger.

Deficiency also translates to more fat storage. When the body is deficient of nutrients it begins sending signals to store everything as fat, because it believes it is starving, which in fact it is, starving of nutrients. Once the body starts getting the nutrients it needs, it begins releasing excess fat stores as it thinks the “starving” crisis has come to an end. This can take a bit of time as many times the more fat storage one has, the greater deficient state present. Restoring a long term or severe deficiency can take some time. The caloric intake amount does not matter the most, what matters is your nutrient content, so pay attention to your nutrients.


Cooking further reduces the high nutrient content naturally present in foods. Heat kills all enzymes and phytochemicals. It also causes minerals to loose their ability to work and decreases vitamin content. Heat also changes the molecular composition of carbohydrates and fats, as previously discussed. It degrades amino acids and makes them less digestible and assimilable in the body. If eating mostly cooked foods over time the body becomes deficient in the nutrients lost through heat.

Toxicity

We live in a highly toxic world. Our efforts to make everything as convenient as possible has resulted in highly toxic food products. Additives and preservative are added to foods to retain shelf life while refining methods which strip foods of their nutrients create food products that can be quickly cooked. The additives, preservatives, flavorings and colorings included in foods are not able to be used by the body and result in toxic waste. Likewise personal care products and the air we breathe are both filled with a concoction of body toxic chemicals and pollutants. Anything that goes into your mouth, onto your skin or in through your lungs, gets into your body. Toxins are toxic to your body and so the body must find a way to get rid of them or at least eliminate their toxic impact on vital organs and processes. The body uses fat to neutralize, trap and store toxins away from vital organs. The more toxins in your body, the more fat needed to protect you from their toxic impact. As you begin to flush and remove the toxins from your body, fat stores begin to dissipate.

Acidic pH

The body likes to be slightly above alkaline. Your internal pH is a good indicator of how balanced your internal environment is and how well your current diet is working for your individual body type.

An acidic pH can be an indicator of several things:

1. Your digestive system is not functioning properly. Healthy digestive enzymes have a lot to do with how balanced the pH in your mouth is. Digestive troubles or upset can be a sign of digestive enzymes problems. If your digestive system is not functioning properly, your food is not being digested, assimilated or excreted in a healthy way which gives rise to an acidic environment in your digestive system. 
2. The foods you are eating, in the way and proportions you are currently eating them is not working for your body. Some people become acidic when eating higher amounts of protein, while others become acidic when they eat higher amounts of carbohydrates. Knowing which foods in what amounts work best for your body not only helps to balance your weight naturally, but also helps increase your health and energy levels. 
3. Your diet is far too acidic. The Western diet is a highly acidic diet. Refined and processed foods, sugar, stimulants, animal products and prescriptions drugs are all acidifying to your body. If your pH is acidic look to the type of foods you are eating. Foods in their natural, whole and organic state are naturally alkalizing. 
4. Your buffering system is depleted. The body does not like to be acidic so will use minerals, calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium, to buffer acids in the body. Over time if the internal environment remains acidic, the body depletes its reserves of these valuable minerals and can end up pulling calcium from the bones and teeth to buffer acidity. This is one of the reasons we see such high osteoporosis rates in the US. Restoring your pH balance prevents this from happening. 

When your pH is acidic your body also uses fat to neutralize the acidic wastes that are in the body. This goes hand in hand with toxicity. The body treats acid wastes in the same manner it treats toxins.
Poor Digestion


Our digestive system is one of the most energy consuming and active systems in your entire body. Its job is not only to digest the food we eat, but then transport and make use of the various nutrients we take in through our food. After which time it continues its work by getting rid of all the toxins and material we cannot use nor no longer need. This is a massive undertaking, comprised of many different organs, cells, systems and processes. This is also the most important overall function your body completes. Without proper digestion the body becomes stressed, worn down, less efficient and eventually sick. “All disease begins in the gut” is a famous saying by Hippocrates who recognized that without proper digestion the body becomes ill.

Overburdening our digestive system, disrupting the natural rhythm of the digestive process, irritation and inflaming various digestive organs through how and what we eat causes digestion to become less efficient. When this happens food does not get fully digested, assimilated or excreted resulting in a build up of toxins, a deficient and acidic state.
Emotional


We also eat for reasons completely independent of physical need. The purpose of eating is to nourish, sustain, balance and heal our bodies. Food was created with living and active components all of which do just this. However, in our society especially, we have been “trained” from an early age to use foods for a variety of other reasons, most of which are highly unhealthy, addicting and binding. This results in the accumulation of unwanted or unneeded weight and the degradation of our overall health. It is estimated that 75% of all overeating is caused by emotions. The key to this being free from emotional eating is connecting to your body and its needs on a deep level, thus becoming able to hear and respond appropriately to the body's varying need at the time it arises.

The 5 Reasons We Eat

1. Social - We eat because we are in social situations where eating is involved. We may be meeting friends at a restaurant, attending a birthday party, event or gathering all of which may have food present. The key is to find the healthy options and stick to those. Sampling of less healthy items is quite alright, but overindulging or binging is when it can become a problem. If you know there won't be any healthy options bring a healthy plate for everyone to share and make sure you eat well and feel satisfied prior to the gathering. 
2. Emotional - Many times we eat because we are feeling depressed, bored, lonely, angry, anxious, frustrated or stressed. Foods in fact help us to address some of the physiological reasons for our states of emotions. The nutrients contained in foods can help our emotional states increase but the key is to identify the feelings. Once the true feelings are identified we can go about devising a structure to our intake of foods in a way that brings the greatest levels of health and well being. Other emotions that can’t be addressed by food; loneliness, boredom, anger and stress, need to be identified in the moment and then other tools need to be sought to address these. 
3. Situational - We eat often when the opportunity presents itself. We may walk by a bakery, see an ad on television or be offered food at work. We may eat while we watch T.V. or when we go to a sporting event. These are all times when our body is not telling us it needs food, our mind is telling us we need food. We must become aware of these situations and know it is ok to say no to food when we are not in specific need. 
4. Thoughts - Many times we eat in response to negative self talk that we are not fully conscious or aware of. Thoughts such as, “You will never be able to loose weight.” or ‘What is the point?” can lead us to eat, even though we are not in need. 
5. Need - This and only this is when we want to eat. Our body sends us signals when food or nutrients are needed. We may be hungry, have low energy, feeling blue, have a headache or other health symptoms arise. Again, the key is to become conscious of these signals our body sends to us and become able to respond to them appropriately. It is entirely acceptable and needed to eat when our energy slumps, but we must reach for foods that address and resolve this need completely and healthfully. It is also completely acceptable and needed to reach for liquid or foods with a high water content when we have a headache. 

Being aware of these five eating triggers can help us to make more conscious choices when deciding when, where and how to eat.

When the true reasons for weight gain are understood then awareness can be used to begin making healthy choices. Weight must be addressed holistically, on every level, for real balance to be found and sustained. At Align Holistic Health & Well Being we have created a holistic 12 week journey into balancing your weight naturally and finding Your Perfect Weight once and for all. You can email or call our office for more information and to begin your own journey to better health and well being.

Blessings of health.

Align Holistic Health & Well Being, LLC

A Place Where Health is Transformed

www.alignholistichealth.com

720-277-9124

candice@alignholistichealth.com