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Battle against the bulge Cold temps and chili peppers help burn fat Health Notes
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Battle against the bulge Obesity is characterised by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body. In accordance with mass index of body, an increase 25 per cent total body fat in men and 30 per cent total body fat in women is considered as obese. The definitions of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents differ from those in adults. In children and adolescents from two to 20 years, a BMI in the 85th to 94th percentiles for age and gender is consider overweight; a BMI in the 95th percentile or higher is considered as
obese.
Tips to trim the fat
Avoid high-calorie food. Chapattis or bread is an integral part of the Indian diet. Avoid chapattis and switch to a lighter bread. This way you can cut down up to 100 calories. Don't eat out or have street food, always carry home-cooked food. Eat as much green vegetables as you can. If you have a craving for sweets, avoid chocolates, mithais, desserts, have fruits and yogurt instead to satisfy the cravings. By following these simple tips you can steadily control your calorie count.
Social stigma Obesity is the fastest growing medical problem all across the world and has a huge negative impact in society. It is considered as a social stigma, obese people most often become a laughing stock, incapable of performing any task due to their excess weight. They have to face failure at every front for being obese. Incidences of suicide are also very common among obese people due to a poor self-image.
Health hazards There are severe health complications related to obesity. It is the single-most cause of 53 associated diseases. Higher than normal body weight greatly increases the risk of diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes leads to serious complications such as high BP, heart attack, brain stroke, blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage with
amputations. In obese people, there is an increased fat deposit around the airways and the muscles controlling breathing and coughing reflexes. During sleep, the muscles relax, the tongue tends to fall back, the airway narrows - and breathing slows down. In obese patients, this leads to reduced flow of air into the lungs and cause loud snoring. There may be episodes of sleep apnoea - where the spontaneous breathing stops completely for a few seconds. Starved of oxygen, the brain cries out for help, and patients wake up with a choking sensation.
Gout is a medical problem that affects joints. In gout people have increased uric acid levels which results in painful, red and inflamed joints.
Increased body mass index raise the levels of triglycerides and bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body. High level of LDL and low level of HDL are major causes of atherosclerosis which results in narrowing of blood vessels leading to heart
attack. The other related repercussion is the pressure on joints; excess fat puts extra stress on the joints, such as the knees, and consequently becomes a risk factor for developing osteoarthritis. Increased body weight puts more stress on joint surfaces causing
damage. Reports indicate that men and women with increased body mass index (BMI) are more likely to be infertile than those of normal weight. Statistics suggest that 70 per cent of women suffering from infertility also suffer from obesity. Lifetime risk of cancers is also more among obese individuals. They have higher chances of getting bowel, breast and oesophageal
cancers. Fight against obesity Prevention is the first and for most treatment of every condition. Therefore in order to fight obesity excess weight in childhood should not be ignored. Parents should be cautious about not to overfeed their children, for the sake of keeping them healthy.
Awareness about obesity should be encouraged not only in urban areas but in rural areas too, because masses are not aware of the serious complications related to
obesity. Exercise vs games As the people who are inactive are more likely to gain weight therefore it is essential to burn the calories that they take in from unhealthy eating habits and overeating. It may not be possible for everybody to go to the gym every day and exercise. Instead of following a heavy exercise pattern, one should play his/her favourite sport and do some outdoor activity like playing cricket, tennis, dancing or swimming - any activity which burns calories but it should not be performed under pressure or
stress. Dieting drawbacks The most common misconception sifts through society in terms of reducing weight is dieting. We start starving our body for the sake of dieting and starving poses other health complications instead of losing weight. Therefore, while dieting one should keep a few things in mind —keep your diet low in carbohydrates, eat whenever feel hungry; never eat junk food and fast food, have some real food instead. Women should avoid fruits in excess while men should avoid beer when they want to lose weight. Artificial sweeteners should be avoided. A good sleep is a must as is less stress. Quantity of dairy products and nuts should be reduced. One should some vitamin and minerals supplements while dieting but only under medical supervision and exercise smart. There should no strain on body for reducing weight and while reducing weight. If you can't control your cravings for eating lots of food, always drink a glass of water before every meal. Water before a meal will give a feeling of fullness and your chances of overeating will drastically reduce. Don't eat immediately when you feel hungry, wait for some time. You will automatically feel not as
hungry. The focus should be on the long-term goals of healthy eating and achieving weight loss instead of hurting the
body. For morbid obese people who are not able to control their weight, bariatric surgery is an option. It is generally considered for patients who are unable to achieve and maintain a 5 per cent decrease in weight with diet and lifestyle modifications. Bariatric surgery can help resolve medical problems like diabetes, infertility, hypertension, snoring etc. It also improves self-esteem, employability, interpersonal
relationships. The writer is Director, Department of Minimal Access, Bariatric and Surgical Gastroenterology, B L Kapoor Hospital, New Delhi |
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Cold temps and chili peppers help burn fat
In the study, researchers exposed eight people with little or no brown fat cells to moderately low temperatures of 17°C for two hours daily, over the course of six
weeks. Compared with the control subjects, the cold-exposed people had about 5 per cent less body fat at the end of the study, and also burned more energy when exposed to
cold. Capsinoids appear to induce brown fat in the same way as cold, by "capturing" the same cellular system that the body's nervous system uses to increase heat production, Yoneshiro
said. Yoneshiro said the experiment might not have continued for long enough to see white-fat-burning effects of the
compounds. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. — PTI |
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Health Notes The study has been published in The American Journal of Medicine. — ANI
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Obesity is the fastest growing medical problem all across the world and has a huge negative impact in society. There are severe health complications related to it. It is the single-most cause of 53 associated diseases
Sleep patterns are disturbed, and patients feel lethargic and drowsy during the day, with reduced productivity and increased risk of accidents at the workplace or while driving. Patients suffer from memory loss, headaches, depression, sexual dysfunction etc. There is a significantly higher risk of developing diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiac disease (including heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths), strokes, acid reflux and impotence. Besides problem of sleep, this result in high BP, heart failure
etc.
New York: Want to lose weight? Just stay cold and eat spicy food! Exposure to cold and consuming chemicals found in chili peppers could help burn fat, a new study has
found. Spending time in low temperatures and consumption of chemicals found in chili peppers both appear to increase the number and activity of so-called brown fat cells, which burn energy, rather than store it as typical "white" fat cells do, said Takeshi Yoneshiro, a researcher at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine in
Japan.
The researchers also looked at people who ate capsinoids, which are normally found in chili peppers, for six weeks, and found they also burned more energy than the control group when exposed to cold, but didn't lose any more white fat than the control group, LiveScience
reported.
Washington: A new randomised controlled trial has found that overweight and obese adults following a community-based weight loss intervention, namely Weight Watchers, lost more weight than people who tried to lose weight on their own. Those in the Weight Watchers group were provided with three access routes — group meetings, mobile applications, and online tools — and further analysis found those who used all three access routes together lost the most weight. Of the 292 overweight and obese adults who participated in the six-month trial, those assigned to the Weight Watchers group were eight times more likely to achieve at least a 5 per cent weight loss than those assigned to lose weight on their own. The 5 per cent weight loss threshold is important because, according to the CDC, it is the amount associated with improved health markers, such as cardiovascular risk factors and blood sugar
levels.