Overweight People’s Health Risks

Being considerably overweight is unwise because it increases the likelihood of disease and early death (as shown in the statistical summaries to the right). The overweight condition also reduces the ability to enjoy life in the present. It makes physical activity more difficult... virtually everything is worse in life, which is why the pleasures that aren’t related to physical activity are the ones that overweight people mostly engage in, i.e. watching TV, listening to music and eating.

And being overweight is not just a body problem, but it is also a brain problem. Inflammation which is part of the overweight condition irritates the brain communication systems making it more work to think clearly.

These Three Things Are the Cause of the Overweight Condition

1. Elevated Blood Sugar Levels (The Beginning)
2. Elevated Leptin Levels (The “Actual” Cause)
3. Internal Toxicity (A Contributor)

The overweight condition begins with high blood sugar, which results in high Insulin levels which results in high Leptin levels. Once Leptin levels remain high throughout the day, the Hypothalamus can no longer manage fat levels correctly and so fat is continuously stored until fat cells become resistant to Insulin, at which point disease begins in earnest. Also, when internal toxicity is stored, the body continuously makes extra fat cells so that it can store toxins there.

So, for anyone who wants to become skinny and stay skinny, keeping blood sugar and Leptin low and reducing toxicity is THE WAY.

Here are more details about the Whys and Hows:

High Leptin Levels are a major contributor to fat storage!

High Leptin levels interfere with the brain’s ability to determine fat levels. When the brain cannot sense Leptin levels, it instructs the body to store fat as a prime directive. With this prime directive, one will have a very difficult time losing weight. It is possible, however, to retrain the brain to sense Leptin levels. Request our free booklet about becoming Leptin sensitive to learn how to get out of the fat storing mode by lowering Leptin levels.

High Insulin production is a vicious cycle that ensures one will stay overweight!

Stored fat in the body, especially belly fat, creates Insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means the body has to produce more and more Insulin to get sugar out of the blood.

Insulin is a fat storing hormone. It lowers high blood sugar by telling cells to turn sugar into fat. Fat, however, creates a vicious Insulin cycle because fat creates Insulin resistance... requiring more Insulin to get blood sugar out of the blood by turning it into fat.

So more fat forces higher Insulin production by the pancreas (overworking the pancreas). Because Insulin is a fat storing hormone... higher levels of Insulin cause more fat to be stored, causing more Insulin resistance... thereby forcing extra production of Insulin in a self-feeding cycle. Eventually, the endocrine system gives up, and diabetes and rampant weight gain can the result.

Internal Toxicity Also Stimulates Fat Storage

Being toxic is a real problem for the body. With toxins in the body, the body is constantly looking for safe places to put those toxins. Fat, along with subcutaneous fluid (fluid underneath skin), is the body’s preferred storage site for fat. So, by eliminating toxins in the body, you have eliminated one of the reasons the body has to store fat or increase water weight.

Remember that toxins come from environmental chemicals absorbed into the body, from a junk-food diet... and from inefficient digestion that is the result of microorganisms in the body, which are often the result of antibiotic use.

So, poor digestion and poor elimination result in numerous incompletely digested proteins that enter the bloodstream. A dirty intestinal tract introduces hundreds of poisons into the blood stream. These increase your body’s fat storage and subcutaneous fluid storage.

Here’s why Toxins elicit fat storage:

If toxins (things that would damage the cells of the body) circulate in the blood stream that cannot be neutralized quickly enough (probably because the liver is overburdened processing other toxins) are imprisoned, by putting the toxin inside a fat cell where the toxin can’t harm the rest of the body. (Fat cells don’t have much of a blood supply... so, they are effectively... out of the way toxic dumps.) Alternatively, the body can give the command for toxins to be sloughed off into joint, arterial or intestinal plaque or placed inside subcutaneous, cysts or lymph fluids where these fluids hold the toxins and dilute them (kind of like a toxic holding tank). This is another way the body becomes overweight.

The body aggressively counters any attempt to release toxins from their holding places into the bloodstream. This makes it harder for toxic people to lose weight. The body resists breaking fat apart or releasing toxin containing fluids in order to avoid releasing the toxins into the body.

We have even seen conditions where a highly toxic/overweight person could exist on virtually zero calorie diets and still gain weight because the body was trying to further dilute toxins by retaining fluid.

Therefore, one of the first and most productive steps for losing weight is to detoxify the body.

While detoxifying the body... one must protect him/her self from toxins by eating extra amounts of antioxidants and by drinking large amounts of water.

Once toxins are removed... one is ready to go on a low carb, nutrient dense diet because then the body will cooperate by burning fat instead of stubbornly retaining it.

Inadequate Nutrition also contributes to being Overweight!

When the body lacks needed nutrients, it signals the brain that we need to eat... in the hopes that in whatever food we eat will be found the nutrients that the body needs. In animals this is called “cribbing”. For some people... the reason they are overweight is purely and simply because their body has literally been demanding that they eat in order to satisfy these cravings for missing nutrients. Unless, they start eating nutritionally dense foods, instead of nutritionally empty foods, there is no hope for these people.

The nutrition that the body needs is not carbs. Modern people always get enough carbs. The nutrients that modern people lack are minerals, trace-minerals and many other phytonutrients, fatty acids, antioxidants, etc. When animals don’t get enough nutrients, they peck or bite at everything (it’s called cribbing) trying to pick up the minerals they need.

Being Overweight Increases the Likelihood of Virtually Every Disease and Lowers One’s Life Expectancy

All of these diseases are associated with higher risks for overweight people:

• Diabetes
• Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke
• Cancer
• Sleep Apnea
• Osteoarthritis
• Gallbladder Disease
• Fatty Liver Disease
• Pregnancy Complications

Abdominal Obesity Carries Great Health Risks

Patients with central or abdominal obesity, characterized by excessive visceral fat around the stomach and abdomen, have a higher risk of weight-related disease. Abdominal obesity is one of the core symptoms of cardiovascular disease and Insulin resistance syndrome. In women, central obesity is signaled by a waist circumference of about 35+ inches, while in men the danger waist measurement is 40+ inches.

Increased Health Risk of Premature Death

According to CDC researchers, an estimated 300,000** American deaths a year are related to obesity, but see note, below. The risk of premature death rises with increasing weight. Even moderate weight gain (10 to 20 pounds for a person of average height) increases the risk of death, particularly among adults aged 30 to 64 years. Individuals who are obese (BMI greater than 30) have a 50 to 100 percent increased risk of premature death from all causes, compared to individuals with a healthy weight.

Increased Health Risk of Heart Disease

The risk of heart attack, congestive heart failure, sudden cardiac death, angina or chest pain is increased in persons who are overweight or obese. High blood pressure is twice as common in adults who are obese than in those who are at a healthy weight. Obesity is associated with high triglycerides and decreased HDL cholesterol

Increased Health Risk of Stroke

Atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries, which may lead to the formation of an arterial blood clot, is an important precondition of many strokes. Atherosclerosis is accelerated by high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol and lack of exercise. Obesity, especially morbid obesity is frequently associated with a high-fat diet, raised blood pressure and lack of exercise. Thus obesity is now considered an important secondary risk factor for strokes.