My chapter 2 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity (note if you click on the title, an electronic version can be wired to you from Amazon.com for $3.99, with no shipping charge) treats nutrition and the prospects for eternal life. I have, thus, now and then, provided postings on health and wellbeing.
Today, I return to obesity in reaction to a front page headline article in USA Today:
I've retained the link on this subject at the top of the right column for more than a month now because control of your weight is important to your quality of life and longevity, but, more importantly, something you absolutely can do something about if you try. Clearly, we are getting fatter and fatter, from only 13% 50 years ago to almost triple that today:
My philosophy of life has been to do well in what you can control, for there is a lot you can't. For example, be on time, eat well, sleep at least 8 hours (when you can), regularly exercise and don't get fat. Here is just one summary why, for if you get overweight, you could suffer from:
- Hypertension or high blood pressure
- Dyslipidemia -– An abnormal concentration of fat in the bloodstream.
- Type 2 diabetes – Insulin resistant diabetes
- Coronary heart disease – The buildup of plaques in the main arteries of the heart.
- Stroke – The blockage of blood flow to the brain
- Gallbladder Disease – Can cause nausea and fever, caused by gallstones.
- Sleep Apnea – Problems breathing during sleep.
- Respiratory Problems
From the beginning of us Homo sapiens to only recently, it was a hand to mouth existence. Humanity in a relative blink of evolutionary time reached the stage of overabundance, but your brain remains primitive, demanding maximal consumption, for it take thousands of years for natural selection to adapt the human system. It is thus unnatural to override your hypothalamus in your limbic system. (I could get a lot more scientific, so if you're interested, click on Appetite and Metabolism and Obesity.) Some can, as, for example, those with anorexia nervosa and people who have learned to fast. Hawaiian Royalty were mostly morbidly obese because they were fed whatever they wanted. You need to overcome the tendency for natural engorgement with unnatural control. There is also that matter of exercise. As a chemical engineer, the equation is simple: eat only as many calories as your body uses. Consume anything more and you get fat. ONE ONCE PER DAY ADDS UP TO 23 POUNDS/YEAR. A one pound steak is equal to 16 ounces, if you have no sense of an ounce.
There is a measurement called the Body-Mass Index (BMI). If you are 5 feet 9 inches, and weigh 162 pounds, like me, your BMI is 23.9:
If you typed in your height and weight, and failed to get your BMI, sorry. Click HERE and try again.
If your score is from 18.5 to 25, you are considered to be of normal healthy weight. However, in Japan, a reading of 24 and above is considered to be overweight. Whew, I just made it! In the USA, from 25-30, you are overweight. However, anything over 29 and you're classified as obese. For the record, morbid obesity starts at 40.
If your score is from 18.5 to 25, you are considered to be of normal healthy weight. However, in Japan, a reading of 24 and above is considered to be overweight. Whew, I just made it! In the USA, from 25-30, you are overweight. However, anything over 29 and you're classified as obese. For the record, morbid obesity starts at 40.
Obesity, simply, kills. If you live, you will suffer from all those symptoms listed above, plus be much more prone to dementia, Alzheimers, and a lower quality of life. Sure, smoking also kills, and wars and pollution and hurricanes also do. But smoking is something an individual can personally control. All those medical PR campaigns have worked, for since 1965 the rate has been cut in half. A similar strategy should prevail for obesity.
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