Fat Kills, Don’t Become a Victim

By Darryl A. Hill, MD

Laurel Medical Associates, LLC

. http://laurelmedicine.com

More Weight Control, Nutrition & Exercise Articles

Fat Kills, Don’t Become a Victim

As Americans many of us believe that we have the best that life offers in the world – a strong military, beautiful homes and an abundant supply of food.

As a result of all of these benefits we also have some of the heaviest people in the world. Perhaps this helps to explain why heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death for us as well.

Studies show that 65% of Americans are overweight or obese. Obesity is an epidemic that is on the rise. These numbers affect all groups of people regardless of race or socioeconomic status.

Why is this important? Obesity has been linked to many health problems including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and sleep apnea.

Many wonder how we have gotten to this point where not only adults, but even children suffer from this problem. Is it the food we eat, the result of the success of our society or are we just too busy to exercise anymore?

One thing that is for sure is that it is a complex issue with multiple factors – kind of like a perfect storm.  At the most basic level obesity involves eating more calories than we burn. Eating food when we are not hungry or eating high calorie convenient foods are ways that make it easier to take in excess calories.

Combine that with the remote control, elevators, a car and trying to pay bills and it is easy to see that there is an imbalance of excess calories eaten daily.

So what can we do about it? Simply put we need to change how we live our lives. Not for a week or month but for the long term. Otherwise, we too will become a statistic. We don’t have to look far to see the consequences of our actions.

Many of us have a family history of diabetes, heart and kidney disease and have an idea of what is waiting for us. Surprisingly, we think that it will pass over us or just don’t believe we will have to deal with it.

My experience as a physician tells me otherwise. I have to look people in the eye and honestly tell them when these diagnoses are present. And it is not fun, but it is my job.

More and more these days the health community is learning that fat has a link to heart disease, as well as diabetes.

Another concern is that we cannot always determine how much fat one has, especially when we appear to not be what is considered overweight or obese. For this reason it does help to have some testing to identify how much fat we carry. Tests such as a bioimpedance test can help. It will help to give you an idea of how much fat you have and this test can be monitored.

There are multiple interventions that can be used to help lose weight in addition to lifestyle changes.