Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the world.
It comes with many other diseases, they come together and kill millions of people every year.
These diseases include cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, dementia and many other diseases.
Obesity and Will
In discussions about weight gain and obesity, it seems many people think that willpower is entirely responsible for this. In my opinion, that idea is real nonsense .
I agree that we have gained weight as a result of behavior, in this case eating behavior. If we eat more than we consume, we gain weight. If we eat less and exercise, we will lose weight.
However, human behavior is quite complicated. It is motivated by various biological factors such as genetics, hormones and neural circuits. Eating behavior is like sexual behavior and sleep, it is controlled by biological processes.
Saying that behavior is simply a function of will is too simple.
We do not need all the factors to decide what to do and when to do it. The willpower of most people is declining under the power of other signals, both inside and outside.
Here are 10 factors that I believe are the leading cause of weight gain, obesity and metabolic disease, they really have nothing to do with willpower.
1. Genetics
Genetics contributes greatly to obesity. Children of obese women are more likely to be obese than their skinny parents.
That doesn't mean obesity is completely predetermined because our genes aren't as fixed as you think. The signals we send to genes can have a big effect on what genes express or don't show.
Non-industrial society people quickly become obese when they start eating Western-style diets. Their genes do not change, what changes is the environment and the signals they transmit to their genes.
It seems clear that there are genetic components that affect our weight gain. on identical twins explained this very well .
2. Food waste is turned into "super delicious" (hyperpalatable)
Today, foods often contain refined ingredients mixed with a variety of chemicals.
These products are made in such a way that they are cheap, sell for a long time and have a taste so good that we will never get bored.
By processing "hyperpalatable" foods, producers make sure that we eat a lot and decide to buy them more to eat again.
Most processed foods today are not like food at all. These are carefully designed products, with huge budgets for making delicious food so delicious that we are "addicted".
3. Addiction to food
These carefully processed foods cause strong stimulation to the reward nervous system in our brain .
Do you know anything else that works like that? These are stimulants like alcohol, co-cocaine, ni-tin and cannabis.
The fact that junk food can be highly addictive in vulnerable people. People lose control over eating behavior, just like alcoholics can't control their drinking.
Addiction is a complex problem with a biological facility that can be very difficult to overcome. When you're addicted to something, you'll lose your freedom to choose and the biochemical cycle in your brain will start to decide what to do.
4. Bold marketing program (especially for children)
Companies are very aggressive marketers.
Their tactics can sometimes become immoral and they continually sell very unhealthy products under a healthy food label.
These food companies make misleading statements and they spend a large amount of money on scientists and large health organizations to influence their research and their way of doing things.
In my opinion, junk food companies are even worse than tobacco companies, because their marketing goals are specifically aimed at children.
Children are becoming obese, have diabetes and junk food before they are big enough to make conscious decisions about these things.
5. Insulin
Insulin is a very important hormone that regulates energy accumulation and other problems.
One of the functions of insulin is to tell fat cells to store fat and to keep the fat that they already carry.
Western diets cause insulin resistance in many people . This increases the amount of insulin throughout the body, carefully selecting a portion of the energy stored in fat cells instead of being used.
The best way to reduce insulin intake is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates, which often leads to a reduction in calorie intake and easy weight loss. There is also no need to control the amount calories or ration .
6. Some drugs
Have a lot of type Can cause weight gain due to side effects. Examples include diabetes medications, antidepressants, antipsychotics ...
These drugs do not cause "lack of will" - they change the function of the body and the brain, making it choose to store fat instead of burning it.
7. Leptin
Another type of hormone that is very important for obesity is .
This hormone is produced by fat cells and is thought to send signals to the hypothalamus (the part of the brain that controls the amount of food loaded) says we are full and need to stop eating.
Obese people have a lot of fat and leptin. The problem is that leptin does not work as it should, so for some reason the brain becomes resistant to it .
This phenomenon is called leptin resistance and is believed to be a leading factor in the process of obesity.
8. Food available
A major factor affecting the overall waistline of the world is an increase in the amount of food provided.
Food (especially food junk ) available everywhere. Even gas stations sell food and merchants have a whole bunch of tempting confectionery products in areas that maximize the chances of people buying.
A problem related to availability is that snacks are often cheaper than beneficial foods, especially in the US.
Some people, especially in poorer areas, cannot even choose clean food to buy. Convenience stores in these areas only sell processed and packaged soda, candies and snacks.
How is it a matter of choice when t literally pigs, you have nothing to choose from ?
9. Road
In my opinion Street is the worst part of modern dieting.
The reason is that when consuming too much sugar, it changes the body's hormones and biochemical mechanisms, contributing to weight gain.
The supplementary sugar contains half the glucose, the other half is fructose. We get glucose from all foods, including starch, but get the majority of fructose from sugar.
Excessive consumption of fructose causes insulin resistance and increased insulin concentrations . It can cause leptin resistance, at least in mice . It also does not create a full feeling like glucose .
All these contribute to energy storage and ultimately to obesity.
10. False information
People around the world are being misled about health and nutrition.
I think the main reason is food companies that sponsor scientists and major medical organizations around the world.
For example, the Institute of Nutrition and Diet (the largest organization of nutrition experts in the world) is heavily funded by companies like Coca Cola, Kellogg’s and Pepsico.
The American Diabetes Association is funded by millions of pharmaceutical companies every year, which benefit directly from unsuccessful slimming advice.
Even official government-led guidelines seem to be designed to protect companies' interests instead of strengthening people's health.
How can people make the right choice if they are continually deceived by the government, medical organizations and senior experts who are supposed to know what to do?
Messages to note
I do NOT suggest that everyone should take this article as an excuse to give up and assert that their fate is out of control. Not so.
If you do not suffer from any disease, the weight control is completely within each person's ability.
To do this is often very laborious and must have drastic lifestyle changes, but many people have succeeded in implementing it for a long time despite a very severe rate.
The point of this article is to be open to the fact that something that does not belong to "personal responsibility" can cause obesity epidemic.
The way our food and society are created are all important factors that need to be overcome if we want to reverse this issue on a global scale.
The idea that this problem is purely due to a lack of will is exactly what food companies want us to believe, so they can continue their unethical marketing program in peace. .
