The Battle of the Bulge: an American Health Crisis

America is under siege. A major health crisis has been brewing while we have been looking the other way. It is amazing, if you look at the greatest cause of illness today and the greatest contributing factor to mortality in this country, how little attention it really gets in our media and in our society in general. For the majority of adults in our society this disease has become a scourge that most fight in isolation with very little effective help out there.
When you look at the latest statistics on obesity and overweight rates, it is truly mind boggling. It is estimated that 65% of adults today are afflicted with being overweight and fully 30.5% are now classified as obese. This means that the rate of being overweight has increased almost 50% in the last 20 years and obesity rates have more than doubled in this same period of time. What is even more frightening is when you look at adults 25 years and older where overweight rates are now at 80%. Not only are adults affected but our children and teenagers are too. A total of 15% of this group as a whole are estimated to be over weight with approximately 25% of teenagers. For most people vanity is the most prominent casualty of this problem, but far more important are the health consequences. For example it is estimated that the rates of type 2 diabetes has doubled in the last 15 years and is now astoundingly seen with significant frequency even in teenagers and older children. Being overweight also dramatically increases your risk of an almost infinite number of other maladies including hypertension, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, arthritis, chronic back problems, sleep apnea, cancer of the breast, colon and prostate, gallbladder problems, and on and on goes the list. Approximately 600,000 deaths are attributable to obesity related illnesses. This is more than tobacco related deaths and is now estimated to be the leading contributor to mortality in this country. Obese individuals have a 50-100% increased risk of death from all causes, compared with normal-weight individuals. The total cost to society of overweight and obesity is estimated at $122 billion.
Here is the other catcher. This problem turns out to be one of the most resistant to conventional medical treatments, and commercial weight loss programs overall have a horrible track record as far as long term success is concerned. Americans spend $33 billion annually on weight-loss products and services. In spite of this, with one exception (weight watchers), not a single commercial weight loss program has been shown to give lasting benefits as far as medium to long term weight loss is concerned, and even weight watchers' statistics don't look very good overall although still better than other programs. It is estimated that 95% of those that try to lose weight through traditional methods, will gain all of their weight back and more over 2 years and 98% over 5 years. This is rather shocking and disheartening if you consider the tremendous amount of money and effort that is being applied to this effort. What is also astounding is when you look at the overall cost of this health problem to our society which is estimated at over $122 billion.
So why are we failing so miserably in fighting this problem. Again, there are some eye opening statistics. We like to blame heredity as the main culprit, but this does not bear out when you look at this problem objectively. For example, physical activity levels have fallen off dramatically in the last 50 years with the advent of high tech and the corresponding decrease in the need to perform physical labor. For example it is estimated that only 31.5% of American adults get regular leisure-time physical activity and in a survey done, a whopping 4 out of 10 American adults said that they NEVER engage in physical activity during their leisure time and fewer and fewer Americans have professions that involve significant amounts of physical activity. Our eating habits also should get a lot of the blame. Americans are eating more and more calories, with more of them coming from refined carbohydrates than ever before. We like to blame fat intake, but this is simply not the worst culprit. Our love affair with sugars and starchy foods is far more relevant as a major contributing factor. It is also interesting to note that the majority of those afflicted by weight problems suffer from malnutrition. Not the classical form associated with starvation but the kind associated with certain micronutrient deficiencies. Numerous other contributing factors such as stress, psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, poor self esteem, relationship challenges and even spiritual issues come into play.
So what is the solution? It is obvious that there are no easy, painless solutions to this problem. First and foremost, we have to get our heads out of the sand and realize the magnitude of this problem as well as its causes. We need to do the obvious things like getting off the couch and into our exercise clothes and we need to figure out individually with assistance if necessary, what the healthiest eating habits are for each of us. Every one is different and there simply is no one diet that is going to fit everyone. Find out for example what your metabolic type is and what the foods are that you may have a significant sensitivity to. Food sensitivities are extremely common and symptoms are often non specific i.e. increased water retention, bloating, weight gain, fatigue, mental fuzziness, etc. This can be hard to figure out through traditional testing, because there is often a very poor correlation between traditional test results such as skin testing or blood work-ups and clinical symptoms associated with this problem. An astute health care provider that thinks outside of the traditional box can often do better at finding these answers. They are often also often very effective at being able to figure out what nutrient deficiencies may be contributing to the problem and what can be done about it facilitate replacement of these nutrients.
It is also critical to realize that all individuals suffering from over weight, have toxicities that need to be cleared in order to facilitate effective and long term weight loss. It is therefore critical to ensure that bowels, liver, kidneys and lymphatic systems are working optimally. The main reason why people gain weight and why it is so difficult for most to lose, is because of toxin build up in the matrix (the spaces between the fat cells). This results from either an overload of toxins entering the body overwhelming the body's capacity to eliminate these effectively or poor excretory organ and system function that can't keep up with demand for toxin elimination. This leads to water retention and slowed metabolism in the fat cells. To solve this problem, work has to be done on both sides of the equation. Reduce the intake of toxin and alkalinizing the body by cleaning up eating habits, and improve the body's ability to excrete toxins by increasing the intake of purified water, optimizing bowel habits, liver function, kidney function and lymph drainage from the body tissues. There are numerous techniques to accomplish the latter including exercise in general, a new technique called non surgical body sculpting (mesotherapy), far infrared sauna, chi therapy, skin brushing, rebounding and the use of certain nutriceuticals which all help to improve lymph drainage from the affected tissues. It is also critical to identify and eliminate if possible, any medications that may be contributing to weight gain. There are literally dozens of common drugs that can contribute to weight gain i.e. most psychiatric drugs such as antidepressants, certain diabetic medications including insulin, steroids, certain antihypertensive drugs, certain synthetic hormones, etc., etc. Healthier alternatives can often be found including certain natural approaches.
Even more important than anything else is to help people get and stay motivated. This is absolutely essential for long term success. That is why diets don't work. Most people are simply not into self torture, and if one feels deprived in any way for an extended period of time, the program is going to fail for you. On the other hand, if you teach people to eat healthy for their body type for example and help them figure out what foods they are sensitive to, it becomes a lot easier to help them to stay motivated with their eating habits, simply because they feel so much better, more energetic and clearer minded when they eat right!! It also makes a huge difference to help people improve their self esteem through self discovery even before they start losing weight. Lack of self esteem contributes to increased stress levels which is very counter productive when you are trying to lose weight. Learning to love ourselves unconditionally is an absolute prerequisite to long term effective weight loss. This also means finding and healing emotional wounds that stem from as far back as early childhood (or maybe even beyond). Techniques such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) can be very helpful here. It is also very helpful in my experience for overcoming obsessive compulsive behaviors such as binge eating and bulimia and to control cravings.
Also realize that knowledge is power, but in order to truly learn, you have to start with an open mind and be willing to put common everyday belief systems aside. For example for the past twenty plus years or more we have all been told to eat according to the food pyramid. Come to find out that it's completely wrong. Yes, even the government has finally figured this out and is changing it. Yet, you were liable to get bashed over the head till just recently if you were to dare say that the food pyramid was wrong. Even the vast majority of health care providers have been guilty of misplaced righteousness regarding this subject. Another failed belief system that many still hold onto, is that one of these days we are going to find the magic bullet that will cure this problem once and for all. Unfortunately this too is a pipe dream. You are far more likely to find the answer if you look within and start listening to your intuition.
Also, don't forget the extraordinary power of spiritual healing. If you want to change habits, increase self esteem, heal emotional wounds, increase motivation, etc. it is critical to learn to align the body and mind with the spirit. Prayer and a close personal relationship with your creator is still the most underestimated source of healing around. This is being shown now by more and more studies that have looked at this aspect in healing. So don't forget to pray and also don't forget to be grateful for even the challenges in life that teach us so much about ourselves and about life. And Don't Forget to Love: Yourself first and then you will be able to love others. Happy new year!!
Pieter J De Wet, M.D., FAAFP, AHMB.
Medical Director.
Quantum Healing Institute,
212 Grande Blvd., Ste. C-114, Tyler, TX, 75703.
Tel: 903-939-2069

Exercise and Dieting*
· At any given time 33-40% of women and 20-24% of men are trying to lose weight