Overweight America.
Being overweight or obese is considered a risk factor for all
the major killers including cancer, heart attack, and stroke.
With 180 million Americans overweight and 60 million considered
obese, weight disorder can be seen as an epidemic.
Most dieting is an out and out failure, often doing more
harm than good. Many people suffering from weight disorders
have tried in vain to loose weight.
High glucose, insulin resistance and weight gain.
Two major factors underlying weight disorders are high glucose
and insulin resistance. In my practice 60% of people
over 40 have elevated glucose and insulin resistance. It is
common and widespread among contemporary Americans.
Once fasting glucose begins to rise and stay elevated, many
things happen in our body that are harmful. One of these
things is weight gain, especially around the gut, the butt
and upper thighs. Another fact is that the body holds onto
water weight. A key physiological point is that under the
influence of elevated glucose and insulin the body will not
burn fat. If you crash diet with an underlying pattern of high
glucose and high insulin the weight you loose will be water
weight and muscle mass. Your body will break down the
muscular protein and not the fat. Often people who crash
diet rapidly gain their weight back, replacing lost muscle
with more fat. When you quickly reduce calories (as in crash
dieting) your body thinks you are starving, so it reduces
your metabolism by turning down your thyroid, burning
less calories and holding on to extra pounds longer.
Properly executed, weight programs raise metabolism and
burn fat. If you want to lose weight and maintain weight
loss you need to regulate glucose and insulin. Bring them
down to a normal level and the weight will follow. One way
to get glucose and insulin under control is by developing
good eating habits.
Good eating habits.
When I am working with someone who wants to loose weight
I make sure they understand the basic principals of what
they are doing and why. One thing I emphasize with my clients
is that they eat a good breakfast (or at least a special
high nutrition shake designed for blood sugar balance). Fifty
percent of Americans do not eat breakfast. Eating breakfast
is foundational to getting blood sugars regulated and developing
a normal appetite response. Running on an empty
stomach forces the body to release cortisol to maintain
blood glucose levels. Due to high stress and poor diet many
people already have too much cortisol. It is not a good thing,
it adds to high blood sugar and insulin resistance.
Eat a good breakfast and lunch and a light dinner and you
will take a big load off the liver. The liver is intimately involved
in regulating blood sugars, so keeping it in harmony
is vital. Late dinner- heavy eating stresses the liver, making
it hard for it to do its job well.
Fats and oils.
Low – no fat diets are ideas that do not hold to the laws of
health. We need fats and oils to maintain normal body
weight. The question becomes which fats? We are grossly
short on essential fatty acids. We need essential fatty acids
to help our body burn fat for energy. They come from things
like fresh flax oil, fish oils (omega 3’s) or borage and primrose
(omega 6’s GLA’s). These oils should be part of a supplement
program for people trying to lose weight. Throw
out the margarine; stop the deep-frying, use virgin olive oil
and some butter as your dietary fats.
Carbs and sugar.
Refined carbs and sugar wreak havoc on blood glucose and
insulin levels. After studying people’s diets I realized how
many are subsisting on this type of non-foods. People with
a blood sugar imbalance may have to stop all carbs for a
period until balance is achieved. Then when they reintroduce
carbs they must be in a complete and complex form
(oatmeal, good whole grain bread).
Exercise, at least a little.
Our bodies need some exercise. It does not have to be long
or hard but it does need consistency. Our muscle cells have
their own delivery system for glucose, they do not need
insulin. A program of mild resistance and aerobic exercise
is necessary to get this system up to optimal functioning.
This will help bring down blood sugar, reduce insulin and
burn fat.
These are some of the overall principals I use to help my
clients lose weight and keep it off. Programs are fine tuned
for each person. If you follow how the body works well and
help it along, you’ll lose weight, maintain muscle mass,
have better and more consistent energy and eventually attain
the weight loss goal you set out.
Harry Chrissakis Herbalist, M.T., Natural Healing. (530) 933-8244