Yes, it should be – and in fact it is. The science is simple, very simple, but we are human beings and our daily experience could be described as an extraneous variable. If we all consumed one food only, I can almost guarantee that the problem of obesity would be virtually unknown. This is because humans thrive on variety. We like variety in our music, variety in our entertainment and variety in our food, oh yes, we love variety in our food. Studies have found that if an individual is fed on one food only they will limit their intake to subsistence levels. If asked why they say they are “bored” with the food. But upon the introduction of variety the consumption levels rise. Variety really is the spice of life and it is the variety of foods on offer which tempt us to overeat.
Of course, variety is necessary and healthy in the diet. We need to eat a variety of food sources in order to ensure that we have a sufficient supply of vitamins and minerals to support the healthy function of our body. We need carbohydrates for energy and proteins for growth. There are certain vitamins which are only available in a fat soluble form and therefore we need a small but steady intake of healthy fats and oils. It has also been found that there are fats and oils which promote a healthy heart- what a surprise!
An alcoholic can avoid alcohol completely, a nicotine addict can simply avoid cigarettes and tobacco, but an obese person, who can be regarded in many contexts as a food addict, cannot simply give up food. Can you imagine asking an alcoholic to take 3 small drinks a day and no more? What a farce that would be? And how many times have you known someone give up smoking for years and years only to be tempted one evening and to find him or herself right back on the tobacco treadmill? Tobacco is insidious, one puff of smoke is sometimes enough to do away with years of self denial – and food can be the same for some people.
Studies using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) have shown that when cocaine addicts are shown images of drug paraphernalia the areas of the brain (namely the mesolimbic system) that light up are the same areas that light up when obese people are shown pictures of their favourite high calorie snacks and foods. This indicates that there really is an element of addiction involved in at least some cases of obesity. This is reassuring in that it offers some escape from condemnation for the obese. An addict cannot really be held responsible for their addiction can they? But then again, it goes nowhere towards explaining why it is that some people become obese food-addicts when the rest of the population does not. Having said that, the same can be said of alcohol consumption and tobacco use – not every user becomes an addict.
Why do the dieting methods proliferate with every passing day? Why are there so many books and clubs and schemes all with the stated aim of helping you regain your svelte figure (whilst, meanwhile, helping you to empty your purse in pursuit of the dream)? If all you have to do is consume less calories than you use, then it should be simple – right?
An addict is acknowledged at being at the mercy of his addiction, but let me qualify these remarks by reminding you that not everyone of us can claim to be addicted. So we try one method of weight loss- and we inevitably, eventually fail. Then we try another method – and that fails too. And we are constantly looking for another way to do it. It’s a bit like me and long-division – I have hunted long and hard for a method that works for me (and if you’ve found one, please let me know).
There are as many methods of losing weight as there are stars in the sky – and they all work, if they work at all, because they limit the calories you take into your body. There are dietary regimes which allow you to eat limitless amounts of very low calorie ingredients and items and there are others which require you to stick strictly to exact amounts of very specific foods. If a diet allows you to eat limitless amounts of whatever you fancy, it isn’t going to work – you can trust me on this one! Some diets attribute their success stories to mythical formulae about combing certain foods, or to generalised and widespread allergies which mysteriously make a body weigh more than it should if the allergen is consumed (no, I can’t make head nor tail of that one, either) but the only thing that actually works is consuming less calories than you use in your daily life.
Of course, you can speed things up by taking a bit more exercise, which will entail your body burns a few extra calories, at least, but it is surprising how few calories our body can subsist on, and thus it surprises people how (relatively) few calories they can manage to burn in a short session. They are often discouraged to discover that they will need to spend at least an hour engaged in strenuous exercise in order to burn a paltry 300 or 400 calories. They are busy (they say), they don’t have an hour to spend exercising when their favorite TV program is about to start any minute…. Get the idea? Exercise resistance is a big part of why the diet industry is a multi-billion dollar world-wide industry.
But the other part of the story is our boredom levels. We get bored following a limited regime. We start out on our diets with a zeal and enthusiasm which would rival an Olympic hopeful. We declare ourselves ready to eschew the oily, salty and sugary treats we hold so dear in pursuit of the willowy form we once possessed – and our dedication lasts until coffee time. We can live a live of self denial, but we can never hope to live in constant and unrelenting self-denial. Something has to give way – and it will be your resolution every time.
You see, in order to lose weight you need to eat (consume) fewer calories than your body needs to burn for its daily function. Thus, when your body finds that there is a calorie shortfall, it is forced to withdraw the deficit from your calorie “banks”, that is, your fat stores. Your body, in this way, is a bit like a bank account. If you make frequent deposits of higher value than required you will build up a stockpile of cash, which can then be withdrawn at a later date. Health wise, we should all aspire to having just a small amount of “ready cash” calorie wise (20-30 percent of total body weight for women, 10-20 percent of total body weight for men). High deposits are inadvisable.
So basically, once you are overweight, the only way to lose weight is to voluntarily enter a situation where your body perceives that it will be underfunded, energy-wise, and is obliged to access stored resources. To be precise, in order to lose weight you must place yourself in a state of undernutrition. And if you want to come out of the situation healthy, then you must do this without reducing the number of nutrients (vitamins, mineral and basic nutrients) that you consume.
To do this, you need to eat a highly nutritious diet which is low in energy – and this is the end goal of all the diet books and articles and websites you will ever encounter. Oh, a lot of them will dress it up in pseudo-science but that is the only way a weight loss regime can work (unless they advise amputation of a major limb, in which case, I doubt they would have very many takers).
rbaryal@talktalk.net
Related story
OCE mulling SEE question banks after multiple errors in questio...
-1200x560-1779450784.webp)
