Being overweight in America is an epidemic, with sixty percent of Americans in that category. It is more of a problem than aesthetics, it is a significant health issue and over forty years of research has proven that losing weight is a better strategy for health than staying obese.

Recent research (The New England Journal of Medicine, April 24, 2003) found that a higher Body Mass Index indicates a higher risk for death from cancer. The number and kinds of cancer deaths revealed by the 16 year study surprised researchers (the list includes:colon and rectum, esophagus, pancreas, kidney, gallbladder, ovary, cervix, liver and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma). The heaviest men had death rates 52% higher, and women 62% higher, than that which occurred among those of normal weight.

Evidence indicates that excess levels of hormones in the bodies of fat people are responsible for most of the observed cancer deaths by triggering existing but inactive cancer cells.

Researchers also found in numerous studies at several research universities that seventy percent of the variation in a person’s weight may be genetically based, meaning that a tendency to being overweight may be inherited more than any other condition, including mental illness, heart disease and breast cancer!

The studies showed that losing weight in many obese people triggers a response by the body that results in not a normal body state but one that looks like that of starved non-obese people. And, it is basically the same mechanism that prevents normal weight individuals from staying fat after forcing themselves to gain weight.

The body’s metabolism doubles when people gain weight and slows down by half when people lose weight. This is a “set point” or natural range of weight that our bodies tend towards, all else being equal.

“Those who doubt the power of basic drives, however, might note that although one can hold one’s breath, this conscious act is soon overcome by the compulsion to breathe,” notes Dr. Jeffrey Friedman of Rockefeller University, one of the lead researchers in the study. He further writes that “The feeling of hunger is intense and, if not as potent as the drive to breathe, is probably no less powerful than the drive to drink when one is thirsty. This is the feeling the obese must resist after they have lost a significant amount of weight.”

Many people turn to fad diets that promise rapid weight loss, achieve their goal weight and then experience rapid weight gain, called rapid weight cycling after stopping the diet. This frustrating fact of dieting has been implicated in causing illness and even death, but no proof exists that it is truly harmful over the long term. After a few weight cycling experiences, overweight people give up and assume that they are incapable of healthy weight loss and reason that staying fat is better than risking illness and more disappointment.

So, with all the above, is it hopeless to expect to lose weight safely and permanently? No, medical authorities have long recognized that losing excess weight slowly through reasonable calorie cuts and increased exercise is the ideal method and has a higher probability of more permanent weight loss. And, the dieter will not experience the rapid weight cycling, especially if the dieter exercises.

So, what are the four magic words of weight healthy loss? Eat properly, exercise more!

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