Diabetes Talking

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Well…it’s not rocket science either.  Losing weight simply requires consuming a few less calories per day than one burns. And running a 4 minute mile simply require running a mile under 4 minutes. Not everyone is able to run a 4-minute mile – it’s not physically possible. Rubish. It’s just mind over matter. Just eat less exercise more. Wait, that’s for weight. But, it is physically possible for anyone to consume a few less calories than they burn each day. And you know this how? As we are just learning about most of these mechanisms and we are only a generation or two into the world of plenty without exercise- there’s no way for you to know. All evidence is going the other way. Many yogis can control their breathing so they can stay in a coffin for days. It’s possible. Can the other 99.999956% of humanity? Unlikely.

So, we should all just give up then?  Look for help through drugs and surgery? A wise person once said, "If you think you can, or you think you can’t…you are correct." GG

Response:

Well…it’s not rocket science either.  Losing weight simply requires consuming a few less calories per day than one burns. And running a 4 minute mile simply require running a mile under 4 minutes. Not everyone is able to run a 4-minute mile – it’s not physically possible.

Rubish. It’s just mind over matter. Just eat less exercise more. Wait, that’s for weight. But, it is physically possible for anyone to consume a few less calories than they burn each day.

And you know this how? As we are just learning about most of these mechanisms and we are only a generation or two into the world of plenty without exercise- there’s no way for you to know. All evidence is going the other way. Many yogis can control their breathing so they can stay in a coffin for days. It’s possible. Can the other 99.999956% of humanity? Unlikely.

Response:

The rate of obesity is skyrocketing…are you saying that’s due to genetics? Why were so few people obese 50 years ago?

We are genetically programmed to eat like crazy because that’s what is required to survive. Eating is an organisms number one job, even before reproduction, and we have lot of overlapping mechanisms to keep us eating and few to stop eating. The reason you want to eat is genetic. In the past food was not highly available so this made a lot of sense. In a scarce food environment you need a strong drive to eat. Otherwise would you eat? Not really. No more than you take out the garbage regularly. What stops you from eating? Very little and for good reason. Can you imagine having a fresh kill and saying no thanks, i’ll wait a week for the next one? Can you imagine have a big haunch of deer and saying i don’t feel like finishing it when you know your next meal could be in another 3 days? It’s not really rational to expect our biology to work in a world of plenty when it was "designed" for a world of scarcity. We also have no instinct to exercise. It’s the reverse because it not exercising wasn’t an option. Hunter-gathers walked something like 6-12 miles a day. What we wanted to do was conserve energy. So when we don’t have to do anything we don’t. Now add in that 100 calories extra a day is 10 extra pounds a year. Over 10 years that’s 100 pounds. So it takes very little extra for us to become obese. 50 years ago we simply didn’t have the availability of high caloric density food and we didn’t have a drive everywhere do nothing culture. McDonalds had a goal of making a store available to everyone in the world in under 5 minutes. That’s very different than a few generations ago. I remember my grandma’s stories about the depression. Fast food has for the first time made highly caloric fatty and sugary food availble to the masses at and affordable price. These ingredients activate our reward systems just like heroine does. Not to the same extent, but it’s really the first food that has had the same effect. Why does the body make this food addictive? So you’ll eat it! Fat is calories. Those calories are what allowed us to develop bigger brains. Sugar is fruit which is vitamins. That’s how the body gets you to do what it wants. Just like it uses leptin and ghrelin and a zillion other chemicals to control your hunger. Now can you exercise? Yes. Can you stop from eating? Yes. Can you hold your arms up for half hour? Yes. Can you hold your breath until you pass out? Yes. Can you control your heart rate? Yes. But realize how much we are going against the tide here. And depending on your genetics it can be a lot harder than for others.

Response:

Well…it’s not rocket science either.  Losing weight simply requires consuming a few less calories per day than one burns. And running a 4 minute mile simply require running a mile under 4 minutes.

Not everyone is able to run a 4-minute mile – it’s not physically possible. But, it is physically possible for anyone to consume a few less calories than they burn each day. It can be challenging, because of they availability of food, and the way it is consumed recreationally and socially. Is it easy to lose weight? No. Is it possible? Yes. As with many other things in life, anything that requires patience and persistence will tend to have a low rate of success.  It’s just a lot easier for most people to reach for the bag of snacks and the remote control, rather than get up off the couch and go for a walk.  But, that’s more an issue of personal priorities than metabolism. Why is it easier? You don’t forget to breath. You don’t over drink water. Why do you want to eat the snacks and use the remote control? It could be different, but it’s not. The influences are so built-in we don’t even recognize they are at play.

I didn’t say it was easy…but, it’s not as impossible as you make it sound. One does have to become "aware", and make more intelligent choices with respect to food choices and portions, and exercise.  But, plenty of people manage to do this. GG

Response:

When you say ‘obesity is said to be related to genetics’, what does it mean? Is it the tendency to overeat? the bigger apetite? the taste for high calorie food? or do obese people really have a slower metabolism? or better absorption?

It can be lots of things. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-01/slu-jtt011905.php http://fatnews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/two-thirds-of-a-persons-… http://fatnews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1497/ http://fatnews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/lower_metabolism_and_les… http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60D12FE3B550C738EDDAA… http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-02/ru-ona020303.php http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0210.mencimer.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&… http://www.ima.org.il/imaj/ar02sep-13.pdf http://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/oehp/obesity/section1.htm      *  http://www.the-scientist.com/2002/04/29/22/1 Genes Do Play a Role in Obesity For some people, overeating is not the only culprit By Myrna E. Watanabe Sedentary people who enjoy high-caloric diets