- Do you wonder what truly causes your weight gain?
- Do you know that losing even a small amount of weight loss has significant health benefits?
- Are you overweight or obese, like two of three Americans and need help losing a few pounds?
- Do you know that up to 90% of the information that is traditionally spread as good for weight loss was proven wrong?
- Could an underlying metabolic problem such as insulin resistance contribute to your weight gain especially in your belly and upper body?
Why should you lose weight?
Being overweight or obese can lead to many health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, arthritis and even cancer.
- What are the benefits of losing weight?
The good news is that losing even a few pounds can cut these risks.
How do you lose weight fast in Brooklyn NY?
Although the traditional thinking is that you need to consume fewer calories than you spend, this oversimplified approach of calories in and calories out may not translate in to anything meaningful in terms of helping people to lose weight.
The most important thing to understand in order to lose weight is to first determine what might be causing your weight to begin with!
Understand the true causes of weight gain!
According to Dr. Prab R. Tumpati, MD, founder of W8MD Medical Weight Loss Centers Of America, one of the leading causes of weight gain is insulin resistance, that affects up to 70% of the entire population.
DO YOU HAVE INSULIN RESISTANCE?
Affecting up to 2/3rd of the US population to some degree, the diagnosis of insulin resistance is fairly simple. Place a check next to any item that applies to you:
□ Do you have a family history of diabetes, being overweight, abnormal cholesterol such as high triglycerides, high blood pressure?
□ Do you crave sugary or starchy foods frequently or feel you are addicted to carbohydrates?
□ Is it difficult for you to lose weight, especially around your middle?
□ Is your waist over 35 inches in women or 40 inches in men?
□ Do you experience shakiness, difficulty thinking, or headaches (often in the afternoon) that go away after you eat?
□ Are you ten pounds or more over what you would call your “ideal” weight?
□ Do you exercise fewer than two times per week?
□ Do you have high blood pressure?
□ Do you have upper body or excess belly fat?
□ Do you have polycystic ovary syndrome?
□ Have you ever experienced Acanthosis Nigricans skin changes – velvety, mossy, flat, wart-like darkened skin on your neck or armpits or underneath your breasts?
Your Score: ________
If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, you are most likely insulin resistant!
HOW DOOES BELLY FAT LEAD TO HEALTH PROBLEMS?
Belly fat has been linked increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and even increased risk of many types of cancers! Since belly fat is considered visceral or unhealthy fat that produces many pro-inflammatory chemicals leading to increased atherosclerosis and increased risk of many health problems as most human pathology starts with inflammation!
HOW CAN I TELL IF I HAVE EXCESS BELLY FAT?
Doctors should look beyond BMI in assessing patients’ health risks and advise those with a large waist or a high waist-to-hip ratio to lose weight, even if they have normal BMI.
This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men. For Asians, the numbers are lower by about 5 inches in both men and women. To correctly measure your waist, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out.
WHAT ARE THE TWO WAYS I CAN ASSESS MY WEIGHT RELATED HEALTH RISK QUICKLY?
The two quick, self directed measures you can take to know your health risk quickly involve knowing your body mass index and your waist circumference as noted above.
A BMI of between 18.5 and 25 is considered normal; between 25 and 29.9 is overweight; and a BMI of 30 or more is obese.
WHAT ARE THE THREE THINGS WRONG WITH OUR DIET?
Human race has evolved as hunters and gatherers adapted to a diet of meat, eggs, nuts, fruits and vegetables. This diet, had relatively high quantities of protein, fat with unrefined carbohydrates along with antioxidants that come from colored fruits and vegetables. Agriculture is a relatively recent development having been in existence for only about 10,000 years considered small in evolutionary perspective. As a result, humans have not fully adapted to eating a diet rich in grain based carbohydrate rich foods.
In my opinion, the three things that happened to the modern diet contribute significantly to the obesity epidemic.
Insulin Resistance or Metabolic Syndrome
The first and the most important factor is insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. Affecting over two thirds of all adult Americans, Insulin Resistance is common and is believed to be a direct result of the now withdrawn Food Guide Pyramid as discussed above.
Lack of Antioxidants
Second thing that happened to our diet that increases inflammation is lack of polyphenols and other antioxidants in the diet. Before the modern food processing era, our diet used to have more than 50 percent unprocessed and uncooked food items such as coloured fruits, vegetables, and other natural ingredients that are high in antioxidants such as polyphenols. Studies have shown that lack of polyphenols leads to increased inflammation in the body.
Omega 3 to Omega 6 Ratio
The third thing that leads to increased inflammation is the ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids used to be 1:1 but is now at 1:16 which also increases inflammation. Learn more. With the above 3 factors, the inflammation levels rise significantly thereby increasing the risk of many health problems including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and even increased risk of certain types of cancers! in this context, it is important to remember that most human diseases start with inflammation.
Tips for reducing insulin resistance and to lose weight
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly two million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older in 2010. Since the grossly misleading food pyramid was introduced, the incidence of type 2 diabetes has gone up as much as 400 percent in the United States. Prediabetes, also called insulin resistance syndrome or metabolic syndrome, affects about a third of all Americans. If you have some extra weight around your waist, you might be insulin resistant.
§ Get enough protein. If the body gets carbohydrates without enough protein, it goes into insulin resistance. Most people need about 30 grams of protein at each meal. One egg is about 7 grams. As we evolved as hunters and gatherers, we are designed to eat a non-grain based diet rich in protein, fruits, nuts and vegetables.
§ Try to work more physical activity into your day. Both exercise and resistance training can help reduce your risk of diabetes, and also helps to control it once you have it.
§ Eat more fiber. Fiber helps reduce your risk of diabetes by improving your blood sugar control. Try more fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
§ Choose whole grains in small qauntity. When you do eat grains, look for the word “whole” in the ingredient list. Whole wheat, stone-ground whole wheat, brown rice, and oats are all whole-grain ingredients.
§ Eat fewer simple carbohydrates. These foods, with high glycemic index, break down quickly in the body, and can lead to rapid fluctuations in blood sugar levels.
Go easy on foods like white rice, white bread, white pasta, refined flours, candy, fruit juice, soda pop, and baked goods made with white flour. The key is to understand glycemic Index of foods and focus on low glycemic foods.
§ Get enough sleep. When you’re sleep deprived, your body drives you to eat more simple carbohydrates. Get at least 7-8 hours a night.
§ Get professional help if you think you might be insulin resistant or gaining weight in the middle or upper part of the body.
Tired of fad diets? Need help losing weight?
You probably tried many diets and wondering what really works and what does not for weight loss, what is really causing your weight gain, as you eat healthy but still cannot lose weight!
You might want to get help from physicians trained in Obesity Medicine that can help deal with the complex issues leading to weight gain.
About W8MD weight loss, sleep & medspasPronounced weightMD, our state of the art W8MD physician medical weight loss, sleep, holistic IV nutrition and aesthetic medicine programs can help you not only to lose weight, and sleep better but also look your best! |
Insurance weight loss programsSince its inception in 2011, W8MD’s insurance physician weight loss program has successfully helped thousands of patients succeed in not only losing weight but also keep it off with an ongoing maintenance plan. Weight loss testimonials“I lost 75 lbs with W8MD and feel great. I managed to come off many medications and off CPAP for sleep apnea. My only problem is that I now need new cloths, a problem I will trade for carrying the weight any day” J.W.Smith, CPA. More weight loss success stories |