In advanced societies, 87% of the population and up to 91% of women resolve to lose weight at the beginning of the year, although the majority do it for esthetic reasons and only a small percentage for health reasons. Obesity is the name given to excess accumulation of body fat, a condition considered the 21st century epidemic in opulent societies. Spain is the most obese country in Europe. Fifteen percent of adults and 12 per cent of children and young people are obese (although if we include the overweight and the obese, the figure soars to 60 per cent or one in three inhabitants).
Although fat was historically the body’s main mechanism for surviving catastrophes, famine and epidemics, nowadays fat, particularly abdominal fat, is known to release “low grade” inflammatory factors, which have a detrimental effect on other tissues and increase the risk of illness. For example, the obese are up to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and hypertension and their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus is more than three and a half times higher, not to mention problems with the musculoskeletal, endocrine, digestive systems, etc., that this condition can aggravate or trigger.
There are some people with a genetic tendency to become obese for whom there is still no preventive or therapeutic solution. There are also epigenetic factors (slight changes to the phenotype conditioned by genomic mutilations caused by the environment), but these can be controlled. Man’s metabolism has evolved over time, adapting to our changing circumstances. Our hormones are largely responsible for this. Every individual has his or her own energy requirements or basic metabolic rate, which is the minimum amount of energy needed to keep us alive (breathing, heartbeat, maintaining resting muscle tone and brain activity, hormonal functioning, etc., as well as body temperature control). All these are involuntary “mechanisms” over which we have no influence, which is why it is nonsense to talk about changing or “speeding up” the metabolism to deal with obesity.
There are two underlying reasons for Spain’s serious obesity problem:
1. The switch from a healthy Mediterranean diet to one that includes habitual, daily consumption of higher-calorie foods which contain more proteins and saturated and transfats and smaller amounts of fruits, vegetables and vegetable fibre, etc.
2. Today’s generation has more sedentary jobs and lifestyles.
In addition to these two aspects, the public is subjected to a constant barrage of information in the press, magazines and on television which encourage and enable unsuitable eating habits. Media advertising urges us to consume food, soft drinks, alcohol, etc…
How to prevent and treat obesity?
Prevention of obesity lies mainly in the hands of the public authorities, and should start with providing the public with appropriate, reliable, truthful information about what a healthy, varied diet should be. Healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, sports instructors, etc.) have an important role that goes beyond explaining purely nutritional aspects to dispel the endless myths, tricks and “falsehoods”, that are spread by some for profit and which now form part of the “collective consciousness”. There are so many false beliefs about the “causes” of obesity (fluid retention, thyroid disorders, cellulite, etc.) and ways to cure it (miracle diets of all types, “fat-burning” medications such as L-carnitine, polyglucosamine, Konjac extract, guarana seed powder, ephedrine, red crab shell, green tea, etc.). Nowadays, it is also true that the Mediterranean diet, nutritional pyramid and salt consumption recommendations, etc., are common knowledge, although most people merely pay lip service to this advice.
When it comes to the treatment, while low calorie diets (from the healthiest and most balanced varieties to the most abhorrent and improbable) are not the only treatment for obesity, they are certainly the main and the most demanding component of weight loss. A low calorie diet should be accompanied by moderate, daily exercise, which can be more strenuous if the person wanting to lose weight enjoys and tolerates it.
What about drug treatments for obesity? There are no effective treatments at the moment; otherwise things would be very different. If we had effective drugs to treat obesity we wouldn’t need perform bariatric (obesity) surgery in cases of morbid obesity, just as the appearance of streptomycin and simple hydrazides obviated the need for surgical treatment and sanatoriums for treating tuberculosis.
So what’s the solution?
The same one that kept our grandparents trim in the past… less food and more exercise. Social and economic conditions meant that it was much easier for them than it is for us because they had no choice.
Another fact that may encourage you is that recent studies have confirmed earlier trials showing that skipping occasional meals on a regular basis encourages cell regeneration by creating suitable conditions for the cell mitrochondria (the cell powerhouse) that help to repair cell membranes.
Dr. Vicente Miguel Holgado – Specialist in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Nutrition
The information published in this media neither substitutes nor complements in any way the direct supervision of a doctor, his diagnosis or the treatment that he may prescribe. It should also not be used for self-diagnosis.
The exclusive responsibility for the use of this service lies with the reader.
ASSSA advises you to always consult your doctor about any issue concerning your health.
