Obesity is a national epidemic. It is estimated the one out of every three children is obese. With the long list of health problems associated with obesity it is simply a gaurantee that if these children remain obese they will face huge health problems in their lives. In an effort to raise awareness about the obesity epidemic and offer some solutions, First Lady Michelle Obama launched her “Let’s Move” campaign in February. The American Academy of Pediatrics also has a simple formula for helping prevent childhood obesity.
It’s 5-2-1-0, and it breaks down like this:
5: Eat five vegetables and fruits a day (the majority of this should be vegetables).
2: Limit screen time — TV in particular — to 2 hours or less a day. The AAP says to avoid any screen time for children under the age of 2.
1: Do one hour of physical activity a day.
0: Have zero sugar-sweetened drinks.
Dr. Mercola recently wrote an excellent article about the obesity epidemic and gave specific suggestions for how parents can deal with it. You can find it at the following link.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/06/how-to-win-the-food-battle-with-your-child.aspx
Did you know your body has Two Types of Fat ?
Subcutaneous fat is found just under your skin and is noticeable. It’s the type of fat that jiggles, dimples, and causes cellulite.
Visceral fat is fat on the inside of your body, under your abdominal muscle. It is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat because it can surround vital organs like your liver and heart.
Visceral fat is linked to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, strokes and other chronic diseases.
Belly fat is also dangerous because it produces inflammatory molecules that enter your bloodstream. High inflammation levels in your body can trigger a wide range of systemic diseases linked with metabolic syndrome.
While it’s often referred to as “belly fat” because it can cause a “beer belly” or an apple-shaped body, you can have visceral fat even if you’re thin.
Not All Body Fat is Bad
You may think all body fat is the enemy. The fact is, fat cells are an active and intelligent part of your body, producing hormones that impact your brain, liver, immune system and your fertility.
Research indicates that the subcutaneous fat found just under your skin is different from visceral fat in a number of ways.
It has been discovered subcutaneous fat can actually improve glucose metabolism and communicate with your organs to elicit beneficial effects.
The Leptin Connection
Most people are not aware that leptin plays an enormous role in the development of obesity. Leptin is a hormone your body produces which is just as important as insulin in determining your risk for Type 2 diabetes and other serious diseases. The hormones your fat cells produce impact how much you eat and how much fat you burn.
Leptin resistance causes an increase in the visceral fat your body produces.
Simply put, here’s how you become leptin resistant:
You eat a diet which includes too many sugars and grains (grains turn to sugar once you consume them)
The sugar metabolizes to (turns into) fat and is stored in your fat cells
This activity in turn causes a surge in leptin
Your body becomes resistant to leptin just as it can become insulin-resistant
When you’re leptin-resistant, your body no longer hears its own signals to stop eating, burn fat, or pass up sugary foods.
The result? You stay hungry, you crave sweets, and your body stores ever more fat.
When your body routinely stores this much excess visceral fat, you increase your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, vascular disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of your arteries) and an increased thickness in the walls of your heart.
Measuring Your Diabetes Risk in an Instant
You probably have the most powerful tool available to determine your risk of diabetes right at your fingertips – a simple tape measure.
Your total body fat and overall level of fitness are not the best indicators of insulin sensitivity, your waist size is.
Studies clearly show that measuring your waist size is one of the most powerful ways to predict your risk for diabetes.
Determining your waist size is easy. With a tape measure, figure the distance around the smallest area of your abdomen below your rib cage and above your belly button.
If you’re male, these guidelines apply:
Ideal waist measurement: between 31 and 36 inches
Overweight: between 36 and 40 inches
Obese: over 40 inches
For women:
Ideal waist measurement: between 28 and 33 inches
Overweight: between 33 and 37 inches
Obese: over 37 inches
The Two Keys to Getting Rid of Belly Fat
1. Eliminate sugars and grains from your diet.
Did you know refined sugar is far more addictive than cocaine? In fact, it’s one of the most addictive substances you can consume.
And refined sugar is not the only thing you must avoid when you’re craving sweets.
Starch, in the form of grains and potatoes, metabolizes into sugar in your body and should also be eliminated from your diet if you suffer from excess weight, diabetes or high cholesterol.
Following my nutrition plan is a simple way to automatically reduce your intake of both grains and sugars.
2. Exercise regularly.
Studies show regular, ongoing exercise is extremely important in getting rid of visceral fat and staying rid of it. Exercise also reduces the inflammatory properties of visceral fat that are linked to metabolic syndrome.
One of the keys to using exercise to normalize your insulin and leptin levels and eliminate visceral fat is to do enough of it.
There are three important variables with exercise:
Length of time
Frequency
Intensity
If you’re healthy enough to exercise, you should gradually increase the length and frequency of your workouts to one hour per day.
This is where you should stay until your weight and insulin levels are normalized. When you reach that goal, you can reduce your exercise frequency to three to four times per week.
Maintaining your exercise program can be a challenge during the winter months – freezing temperatures, rain and snow can deplete anyone’s motivation for staying in shape. As tempting as it might be to stay on your couch during the winter months, one of the best things you can do for yourself is exercise. During the winter months especially our bodies need the activity and fresh air. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola (www.mercola.com) some of the benefits to maintaing your exercise program are:
1. Exercise helps boost your immune system, which means fewer colds and flu during the winter months.
2. Exercise has been shown to decrease your risk of diseases as wide ranging as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cancer. In addition, there is evidence regular workouts can cause healthy structural changes in your heart.
3. Exercise is also a great way to relieve tension and manage the dangerous physical symptoms of stress. When you exercise, endorphins are released in your brain. Endorphins are all natural tranquilizers and mood elevators which create feelings of relaxation and renewal.
Dr. Mercola has written an excellent article about how to beat the winter blues with exercise. We’ve included the link below.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/23/Winter-Workouts-Can-Boost-Your-Mood.aspx
