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Archive for February, 2011

About Obesity

Though we all use the terms “fat” and “obese” casually in conversation, there is a medical definition of the condition and yes, obesity is considered a health “condition.”

It is a term used to describe body weight that is much greater than what is considered healthy. Measuring the exact amount of a person’s body fat is not easy. The most accurate measures are to weigh a person underwater or in a chamber that uses air displacement to measure body volume, or to use an X-ray test called Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry, also known as DEXA. These methods are not practical for the average person, and are done only in research centers with special equipment.

There are also other ways to determine if a person is obese, but experts believe that a person’s body mass index (BMI) is the most accurate measurement of body fat for children and adults. Adults with a BMI greater than 30 are considered obese. You will be surprised to know that nearly one-thirds of the world’s population is overweight. Rates of obesity are climbing. The percentage of children who are overweight has doubled in the last 20 years. The percentage of adolescents who are obese has tripled in the last 20 years. Morbid obesity is typically defined as being 100 pounds or more over ideal body weight or having a BMI of 40 or higher. Obesity becomes “morbid” when it significantly increases the risk of one or more obesity-related health conditions or serious diseases (also known as co-morbidities). According to the NIH Consensus Report, morbid obesity is a serious chronic disease, meaning that its symptoms build slowly over an extended period of time. Today 97 million Americans, more than one-third of the adult population, are overweight or obese. An estimated 5-10 million of those are considered morbidly obese.

Overweight and obesity

Overweight and obesity are both labels for ranges of weight that are greater than what is generally considered healthy for a given height. For adults, overweight and obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to calculate a number called the “body mass index” (BMI). BMI is used because, for most people, it correlates with their amount of body fat.

* An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.
* An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

It is important to remember that although BMI correlates with the amount of body fat, BMI does not directly measure body fat. As a result, some people, such as athletes, may have a BMI that identifies them as overweight even though they do not have excess body fat. Other methods of estimating body fat and body fat distribution include measurements of skin fold thickness and waist circumference, calculation of waist-to-hip circumference ratios, and techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The obesity epidemic covered on TV and in the newspapers did not occur overnight. Obesity and overweight are chronic conditions. Obesity has already reached epidemic proportions in the United States. One in three Americans is obese. Obesity is also increasing rapidly throughout the world, and the incidence of obesity has nearly doubled form 1991 to 1998. Overall there are a variety of factors that play a role in obesity. This makes it a complex health issue to address.

Causes of obesity

Overweight and obesity are a result of energy imbalance over a long period of time. The cause of energy imbalance for each individual may be due to a combination of several factors. Obesity occurs when a person consumes more calories from food than he or she burns. Our bodies need calories to sustain life and be physically active, but to maintain weight we need to balance the energy we eat with the energy we use. When a person eats more calories than he or she burns, the energy balance is tipped toward weight gain and obesity. This imbalance between calories-in and calories-out may differ from one person to another. If you look carefully at the energy balance scale ( given below), weight gain is a result of extra calorie consumption, decreased calories used (reduced physical activity) or both. Personal choices concerning calorie consumption and physical activity can lead to energy imbalance.

In most cases, obesity results from genetic, environmental and psychological factors. But sometimes certain illnesses can also lead to weight gain or obesity, e.g. endocrine disorders (such as hypothyroidism and Cushing’s syndrome) or neurological problems. In addition to this, certain drugs such as steroids and some antidepressants, can lead to either weight gain or increased appetite. Let us discuss these causes in details now:

Lifestyle Habits

Today, a changing environment has broadened food options and eating habits. Grocery stores stock their shelves with a greater selection of products. Pre-packaged foods, fast food restaurants, and soft drinks are also more accessible. While such foods are fast and convenient they also tend to be high in fat, sugar, and calories. Choosing many foods from these areas may contribute to an excessive calorie intake. This results in increased calorie consumption. If the body does not burn off the extra calories consumed from larger portions, fast food, or soft drinks, weight gain can occur.

Our bodies need calories for daily functions such as breathing, digestion, and daily activities. Weight gain occurs when calories consumed exceed this need. Physical activity plays a key role in energy balance because it uses up calories consumed. Despite all the benefits of being physically active, most of us are sedentary. Technology has created many time and labour saving products. Some examples include cars, elevators, washing machines, dishwashers, and televisions. Cars are used to run short distance errands instead of people walking or riding a bicycle. As a result, these recent lifestyle changes have reduced the overall amount of energy expended in our daily lives. According to the Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System, in 2000 more than 26% of adults reported no leisure time physical activity. The belief that physical activity is limited to exercise or sports, may keep people from being active. Another myth is that physical activity must be vigorous to achieve health benefits. Physical activity is any bodily movement that results in an expenditure of energy. But when we fail to do any physical activity, it just leads to calorie storage.

Environment

People may make decisions based on their environment or community. For example, a person may choose not to walk to the store or to work because of a lack of sidewalks. Communities, homes, and workplaces can all influence people’s health decisions. Because of this influence, it is important to create environments in these locations that make it easier to engage in physical activity and to eat a healthy diet.

For more information on Obesity – A Global Epidemic and Overweight and Obesity Issues, kindly visit :
http://www.aasthahealthcare.com/Obesity-Global-Epidemic.htm

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The best diet supplements does exist, however the issue here is how to differentiate the everyday supplements from the best diet supplement thing. Its not an easy thing to do, however well reveal to you how to spot the real thing from the fakes. Read on.

Tip: Check their backing

Almost all companies claim to have the best diet supplement. They would claim to have a reputable backing and all sorts of things, just to convince you.

We suggest you go out of your way to check their clinical backings, medical and media coverage. Dont just settle for what you read on there site or testimonials alone.

Now lets see why media backing is a good indication of the best diet supplement. First, no media is ready to put there reputation on the line by backing a fake product. They would have to believe in the results users are getting, before backing it or else they would have constant influx of negative criticism from their readers who are not getting the results they expect.

Now doesnt it make sense that a media must believe and trust a product first and that a product is actually delivering what it says it before putting its reputation on the line? Offcourse.

The Proof

In support of the above advice, proactol appeared in the Telegraph quite recently as one of the best diet supplements around. They had an article with the heading Top 5 tips for losing weight in 2008. Proactol was chosen as a top best diet supplement.

In case you are not aware, the Telegraph is a reputable publication, recognised for its contents on up to date scientific findings and news. They did feature proactol on many occasions in there publication for 2yrs running.

All comments on Proactol were all good reviews and recommendations. Now, for them to do this, they must have done there own research on the products and the users. To find out if it does work or not, and since it does, they rated it second best diet supplement in the market today.

Renown publications like the Daily Mail, New York Times and Florida Style Magazine have all featured proactol. Giving a strong indication that proactol is a diet supplement that gets results.

Apart from media backing, medical backing is also a crucial side to look into. Again, proactol has strong evidence that it sure does have a strong medical backing than most diet supplements.

There are very few diet supplement products that can boost to have undergone 5 successful clinical trials and backed by the Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC. Proactol can boost of all these. It is clinically confirmed to:

Reduce your food cravings

Hold back your appetite

Cut down your fat ingestion by 28%

Cut down your calorie ingestion by 150 calories per meal

Brings down your blood cholesterol

Enhances joint flexibility

Reduces aches and pains

Its easy to question if the best diet supplements exist, especially when youve bee burned. The market is filled with fake products. However, products like proactol reveals that in the midst of all the fakes exist the real thing. The true diet pill that get you losing weight fast and conveniently.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, or hCG, is a natural water-based protein hormone that develops in the body of a woman shortly after conception. Often called the pregnancy hormone, hCG levels in urine and blood can be tested and are used to confirm pregnancy. The purpose of the hCG hormone during pregnancy is to encourage the production of progesterone, which aids in thickening the lining of the uterus to give the fetus a safe place to grow. The development of the hCG hormone during pregnancy also helps to prevent the body from rejecting the new tissue. hCG also ensures that the developing fetus has all of the nutrients it needs to survive and grow by encouraging the body to release excess stores in fat cells.

The function hCG has on the human body in encouraging the release of excess fat storage has been a remarkable breakthrough in weight loss for the seriously overweight. It literally seems to work like a laser, pinpointing and dissolving fat storage so that the cells shrink to normal size, without any side effects common with other weight loss treatments like increased heart rates or nervousness. Several studies have shown that hCG, when injected into male or female patients, encourages the body to preserve lean muscle but burn fat. When combined with a reduced calorie diet and stretching exercises, weight loss might exceed up to a pound a day, and because of the way the hormone works, patients do not experience hunger or loss of energy while on the treatment.

hCG weight loss treatments have allowed seriously overweight and obese patients to achieve a significant amount of weight loss quickly and safely without having to endure the risk, complication, and recovery time of invasive surgery. Complications range from GERD, to infection, to additional surgery and occur with regularity in more invasive weight loss treatment, but hCG is delivered by injection. Often, patients can lose up to 40 pounds or more in the first month of treatment, and the benefits do not diminish with additional treatment cycles. With such significant weight loss, many seriously overweight patients are able to reduce or stop taking medicines for high blood pressure and diabetes.

More importantly, the significant weight loss in the seriously overweight is fat loss, not lean muscle loss, so metabolism is not diminished in the process. Many overweight patients who seek hCG treatment achieve health benefits that extend beyond losing weight; cholesterol levels and blood pressure are often significantly reduced.

Because the results occur more quickly than with traditional methods of diet and exercise, the overweight patient receiving hCG weight loss treatment is motivated to continue exercising and changing lifestyle habits because they are immediately rewarded with visible results. Many overweight patients who have tried different diets and weight loss plans see hCG treatment as a final attempt at preventing invasive surgery. With complications occurring in as many as 1/3 of all weight loss surgery patients, hCG is an effective and safe alternative for the overweight and obese to be able to take control of their health.