Reducing the Risk for Obesity
The Global Burden of Disease Group is a collaborative research network of scientists and health experts who evaluate and report on the worldwide impact of various diseases and health conditions, measuring the impact they place on populations, essentially quantifying the combined impact of premature deaths and years lived with disability caused by a disease. According to them, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in over 70 countries since 1980 and has continually increased in most others. It’s currently estimated that nearly 30% of the world population—more than two billion people—meet the criteria for obesity. It’s unclear that any government-sponsored interventions have significantly slowed the increasing prevalence of obesity, so it’s up to each of us individually to take action to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Here are some tips:
- Eat more produce! Fruit and veggie intake is associated with increased gut microbe diversity, especially the inflammation- and insulin sensitivity-reducing kind—both of which are associated with obesity.
- Give added sugars and processed foods the cold shoulder. A 10% increase in ultra-processed foods increases a person’s risk for obesity by 6%. Alarmingly, half of the average American’s caloric intake comes from this stuff. A big contributor is fancy beverages. Try heading toward water, and unsweetened tea with no added sugar OR artificial sweeteners.
- How About Some Push-backs (from the table)! It should be obvious that people consume more calories if their portion sizes are larger. Intermittent fasting has also been shown to aid in weight loss.
- No Smoking! In addition to countless negative effects on health, smoking inhibits one’s taste capability for sugary and fatty foods leading to consuming more of these unhealthy foods.
- Avoid alcohol. Alcohol affects fat distribution in the body leading adipose tissue to accumulate around the heart, liver and kidneys. This fatty build-up is linked to a risk for heart disease, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.
- Get Up and Go. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, weekly physical activity in addition to strength training the major muscle groups twice weekly to help reduce the risk of obesity.
- Like I said…Get Up. Sedentary behaviors like watching TV, reading, surfing the net are linked to slowed metabolism, increases in insulin resistance and excess calorie consumption. Exchanging sedentary time with physical activity of any intensity can lead to improved insulin sensitivity, blood sugar regulation and liver health, reducing one’s risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
- Hit the Sac. Seven to nine hours of consistent, quality sleep can diminish errant fat storage and muscle breakdown.
- Tamp Down Stress. Stress leads individuals to unhealthy behaviors like stress eating, inactivity, lost sleep which raise the risk for weight gain. Stress also triggers inflammation in the body, also linked to an elevated obesity risk. Healthy stress management habits like meditation, breathing exercises or getting regular exercise can help.
The best part about applying these lifestyle behaviors is that they tend to work together. For example, people who are physically active tend to sleep better. People who sleep better and eat a healthier diet tend to be less affected by stress. And healthier people are happier people.
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