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Monthly Archives: April 2019

Fat is Your Friend – Why you don’t need Weight Loss Diets

White Fat Cells

White Fat cells - Electron Microscope image

Be grateful for the fat.

The moment you realize your fat has been your greatest asset, and you are thankful for it, you will finally be able to lose it. Body fat is a number of things that many people do not consider. The main thing we have been taught is that it is a bad thing and needs to be removed by any and all methods.

Here are some facts about your body fat you may have never considered:

Fat is essential for life. It surrounds every nerve, encircles every cell, is the structure of every hormone, and makes up roughly 65-70% of your brain matter.

Fat is the cleanest and most efficient energy/fuel source for all your cells but most significantly your brain.

Fat is an insulator and keeps you warm and protected.

Fat is a great storehouse of dangerous toxins. Fat stores toxic poisons away from your vital organs such as your brain and liver. Your fat cells are loaded with these toxins to protect you from allowing them to create massive damage by circulating in your bloodstream. Your fat cells keep your brain from being exposed to more DDT, mercury, aluminum, zinc, glyphosate, lead, antibiotics, sulphur drugs, plastic estrogens, etc. Think about that for a moment.

Your fat could very well have saved your life.

This is so important, I will say it again: your fat cells are protecting you from all the dangerous poisons you couldn’t safely process out of your body. It saved your life.

Fat is an endocrine gland that releases leptin. Leptin is the “master” hormone and regulates body weight by communicating directly with your brain via the hypothalamus. Did you know your fat is the largest endocrine gland in your body? No, you probably didn’t, because you have been trained to hate it, not to love and appreciate it. Leptin is the hormone that tells your brain you are full and satiated and to stop eating. A big problem with our current weight epidemic is the poor hormonal regulation of leptin.

Fat is the product of and therefore a sign and symptom of chronic inflammation and chronic high blood sugar; fat is a great biofeedback device to allow you to make changes in your behavior to increase your overall health and vitality.

If that is the case then why does every weight loss program you see tell you that in order to lose weight, you need to lose fat.

The fact is that the weight loss industry is built on the premise that a thin or slight body shape is what we all should aspire to. That belief is promoted by all the marketing and advertising materials that constantly surround us.

Is this thin or slight shape the right shaper for all of us? We are all individuals with slightly different DNA sequences that makes each of us unique even with 6 billion plus people on this planet. One size does not fit us all.

So why does the bulk of Western Society look huge when compared to the people who live in Asia?

Is it solely because of their genetic background or is it because of their diet?

Let’s have a look at why that is the case.

The weight loss industry

The weight loss industry is rife with gimmicks and scams, and you may have tried everything under the sun and you are STILL dangerously high in body fat. Why? 

Large Fat Burger
Fat laden junk food
Seemingly healthy lasagna loaded with fat

It wouldn't have anything to do with the food we eat. Would it?

2/3 of all Americans have an unhealthy body fat percentage and are classified as overweight. 1/3 of all Americans are obese, which is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 30. This includes 1 in 6 children being clinically obese. This is a serious health crisis, and looks likely to get significantly worse before it gets better. The current estimate is that by 2020 (that is only next year), over 50% of all Americans (and most of Europe as well) will be classified as obese and likely to be diabetic.

What is going on? Why has it become so hard for people to stay lean and healthy, and how has it got this bad?

Stop blaming yourself.

The cards are stacked against you. Farmers and food have been replaced by a “food industry.” Food has been replaced with laboratory designed “food by-products” engineered to make you addicted to their products and increase your appetite. This scenario sets you up to consume more manufactured chemical-laden artificial foodstuff products and to increase profits for the industrial food complex.

We, the people, have been brainwashed into believing "marketing and profits" are the same thing as "science" and the basic truths of life. When most Americans eat what they think is a “healthy choice” for a meal, it is often the very type of meal that causes obesity and other inflammatory diseases that accompany obesity. You are left “trying so hard” and yet get terrible results, and you think that you are “weak” or lack willpower.

Farmland to housing reduces real food and makes profits for fat manufacturers

We have allowed Greed to become an epidemic in our society. Productive farms have been purchased and turned into suburbs by greedy developers. As we lose more and more of productive farmland to these developers the “food industry” replaces the farmers with accountants and shareholders, and the quality of our food supply slips down another rung on the ladder. This is compounded by the refusal of our Governments to look beyond the next election to safeguard our precious productive farmland before it vanishes forever.

In order to improve your health you must forgive yourself.

The first step to making any progress is letting yourself off the hook. You have been lied to and deceived by multiple industries. We (scientists) understand physiology and how the body is built to thrive. You haven’t been taught to eat based upon these principles. But you can learn. You are not weak. I have never met a single repeat dieter whom I would ever describe as not having tremendous willpower. You are strong. You just need to learn the truth. If you need permission, let me give it to you: this is not your fault, and you can learn how to get the results you desire in a safe and comfortable way.

You can find the real science, not marketing or advertising claims, by becoming part of DestroyDisease.org when the Fact Checkers make sure the information they share is the truth. Most scientific studies that demonstrate that disease can be eliminated from your body without using drugs and surgery are ignored by the “Medical Industry”.

You can Start Over by coming on one or more of our Health Journeys.

Yes, you can start over and achieve success in your body fat and body weight maintenance goals. Losing weight is a difficult long term goal, but being your healthiest self is a great one. Teaching you how to maintain your best self for a lifetime of pleasure is my goal.

We offer multiple ways for you to learn how your body fat is your friend and how to maintain it at healthy levels.

Courses: 7 day, 30 day, 120 day True Cellular Detox programs, and a year long life changing program.

Bowel Cancer Symptoms

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK – here are the symptoms

Bowel cancer. It may sound scary but the truth is the earlier it’s diagnosed, the better the chances of survival – but only two in five bowel cancer patients are diagnosed at stage one or two. Highlighted Colon

With the recent news that a well-known BBC journalist has bowel cancer, there’s been a rise in people getting tested for the disease.

As the second biggest cancer killer in the UK, it’s vital that people get tested if they have any symptoms, but so many of us are just too embarrassed to talk about our trips to the toilet.

The testing will detect hidden blood in the stool, an early symptom of colon cancer. It’s the first step to finding out if you may have bowel cancer so rather than determine if you definitely have colon cancer, it indicates that you may require further testing in the form of a colonoscopy.

Bowel cancer can be fatal if left undiagnosed.

Symptoms can include:

• Persistent bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your stool
• A persistent change in bowel habit – needing to go more often, with looser stools
• Unexplained weight loss
• Extreme tiredness
• Persistent pain in your stomach
• A lump in your stomach

Get yourself tested today if you have any of the above systems. It might just save your life.

Are Modern Quality Systems useful?

British Standards Logo
ISO 9001 Logo

Modern Quality Systems are useless.

Bureaucracy and paperwork have replaced what QA systems were designed to do.

Namely, ensure the product being produced meet the manufacturers’ specifications, and the end users expectations.

If the prospective purchaser does not like those specifications then they have 2 options.

  1. Don’t make the purchase
    2. Suck it up.

Now though, all published Quality standards (ISO, BRC, etc) require that the supplier meets the Customers requirements.

That in my view is the tail wagging the dog.

Also QA departments of the purchaser add extra requirements, such as;

  1. Having the supplier add the purchaser to their liability insurance
  2. Having personal guarantees from the suppliers directors (especially if they are small operations),
  3. Requiring all testing that THEY require be carried out, guaranteed and paid for by the supplier even if those required tests are outside the scope of the suppliers specification.
  4. Demanding copious quantities of paperwork that does not have anything to do with the products being produced or purchased,

Companies are now more concerned about getting the paperwork right, than worrying about what they actually receive.

When I first started as a QA consultant and registered auditor back in the 1980’s there were 3 ISO Quality Standards;

ISO 9001 covered design and research, testing and the initial work done for the production of a new product.

ISO9002 covered the process to produce the final product of the item produced to the manufacturers specification; and

ISO 9003 which covered the final tests and checks to show the product met the manufacturers specification.

The producer could select what standard they wanted to use, and a number of manufacturers used ISO9003 where the final test results were checked against the manufacturers’ specifications only.

Over the years all these standards have been rolled into ISO9001 which to my mind makes for a bloated set of requirements that are completely over the top and not necessary for at least 90% of all current companies and businesses.

Why has this happened?

I think it comes down to the normal explanation of bureaucracy making things complicated so that people are forced to employ expensive “consultants” to help them make sense of the paperwork.

What do the consultants produce?

  1. A number of manuals that get nicely bound and shoved in a bookcase that are very rarely looked at until an audit is required, and then only by the auditor (maybe).
  2. An invoice from the consultant that has provided the boilerplate paperwork for the bookcase. When you read the number of QA manual I have, you see that the majority are all the same with minor changes namely with the company name. The SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) are supposed to be unique to the company, but that isn’t always the case either.
  3. An ongoing bill from the consultant for updates, visits, audits and anything else they can add to the bill, including excessive travel charges.
  4. An introduction to a Certification Organisation that has paid their fees to the national ISO accreditation organisation which gives them the ability to give you another larger invoice for checking the paperwork. Most times this is done using the “desk audit” method which means nobody does a physical audit, and so long as the supplied paperwork meets their interpretation of the standard then you receive a certification certificate.

What do you end up with?

Well, first of all you receive a certificate that says that you meet the requirements of the appropriate standard. Most times this happens even though no one from the Certifier Agency has ever set foot on your premises.

So now you have a piece of paper which says you meet the requirements of the standard, but no one has determined if the final product is actually suitable for the purpose it was produced for.

Let us look at an example for a product produced by a company that claims ISO9001:2008 certification from an internationally recognised Certification Organisation.

The company in question makes plastic clothes pegs. Not very high tech but it demonstrates the inadequacy of the various modern certification systems.

The initial ISO9001 back in 1980’s said that the product being designed and produced should be fit for purpose.

The current ISO9001 says that the product must be produced to the customers’ requirements.

Now this does not seem to be a change at all until you look at the underlying reason for the change.

Originally it was aimed at making sure that the end user received a product that did the job it was designed for in a reliable and consistent manner. Namely that the housewife had pegs she could use to use to hang up her washing on the wash line in the sun, with the expectation that the pegs would last a long time (like they used to with wooden pegs).

Now, the customer is the person, organisation or business that is buying the pegs to on-sell to the housewife. This removes the ultimate end use from consideration because the end user is not the customer. Most businesses want pegs that enable clothing to be attached to the wash line at the best possible price. The fact that the manufacturer is forced by the Customer (company who placed the order) to use plastic that degrades very fast in sunlight instead of the fibre reinforced nylon plastic that is UV tolerant is irrelevant to the standard.

So the housewife gets an inferior product that is not fit for purpose (in her mind), but does meet the requirements of the standard.

By changing the wording from end use to customer requirements it has allowed most standard certifications to not be worth the paper they are written on.

There is nothing stopping the customer requiring that the product breaks or destroys itself after one use, when the end user expects it to last a lot longer than one use. Under the new standards, failure for the manufacturer to meet these requirements set by the business purchasing their product means that they cannot claim that they are ISO 9001:2008 certified. They are therefore forced to supply an inferior product in order to get the business, and retain their certification.

In my view, this is not an ethical or acceptable business practice, and yet it is the current methodology of nearly every business I have worked with since the 1980’s.

Who is at fault?

All parties to this charade are at fault.

The QA Managers at the manufacturer and purchaser who are more concerned with getting the paperwork right and filed correctly so that their backside is covered.

The sales and purchasing people who are more concerned about saving a few pennies, with absolutely no care or interest about the ultimate end user of the product.

The engineering group who do not point out that the inferior product will eventually back fire on the producer and the buyer.

The consultants who are full of BS who do not understand the industry or processes they are supposed to certify or audit.

The Certification companies who take money under false pretenses.

The customer whose only method of making a difference is voting with their money, but as everyone is on this roundabout they are forced to choose between many bad choices.

Is it any better with Food Product and Safety Certification?

The short answer to that is a resounding NO!

My experience is that calling something Organic, Natural or using similar words does not make the food true to label, or any better for you than the similar product next door.

When certification started becoming fashionable (1980’s) then the people who were involved then were committed to the cause. Much the same as everything else, shysters and others who were only interested in making money moved in.

Why did growers want certification?

Because such a certification enabled the seller to get 50 – 100% price premium over similar products without the certification sticker.

Is that the day today?

Sadly no. The price premiums are still there, but lower than previous. What has happened is that the certification sticker is so widespread that it has become meaningless. In theory all “Organic” farms and processing premises are supposed to be inspected on a yearly basis. This used to be done by dedicated inspectors who physically went and got dirty. They moved stuff to see what was underneath, and rummaged through rubbish, took soil and air samples and spoke to the works in the field or processing plant. They did this to make sure that banned substances were not on site, and had not been used on site and hidden away from prying eyes.

Do the inspectors still do that?

The answer to that important question is a resounding NO in most cases!

Most “inspectors” these days do a desk audit only, never going outside the office and certainly not going somewhere where they might get their polished shoes and expensive suits dirty.

You see, what has happened is that consulting companies and other large organisations have taken over. They are only concerned about making money, and have no real passion for what they are doing. So long as the paperwork says that no banned substances or methods were used then the approval is given and a certificate is issued.

In some cases, too many to be comfortable with, a little koha (gift) will make the paper pusher inspector forgetful about something not quite right in the paperwork.

Current situation

The current situation is that any certification for any product, not just food, can be purchased for cash after a few days asking around.

This is a shameful situation that I can only see getting worse in the coming years.

Trust a food Quality Certification at your own peril. Do your own tests to make sure the product you are using meets YOUR requirements.

Kosher, Organic, Vegan, Halal, Gluten Free, etc, etc, certificates are all available no questions asked for the right amount of money.

Should it be like this? No.

This is just how life is these days. Sadly!

Your comments are welcome below.

 

Antidepressants that cause Obesity

Weight gain is a possible side effect of many antidepressant drugs. While each person responds to antidepressant treatment differently, the following antidepressants may be more likely to cause weight gain during your treatment.

It can be a sad state of affairs that you go along to the Doctor because you are depressed about your weight and the Doctor, (who probably isn't really listening) prescribes an antidepressant that causes you to gain even more weight.

This might seem a bit far fetched but this occurs too many times to be regarded as unusual.

The next time you take your antidepressant tablets check against this list to see if you need to get the prescription changed to something that doesn't cause weight gain. [Download the PDF file below - no email required].

Is Obesity a Disease?


Well, back in 2013 the American Medical Association (AMA) decided that obesity met all the requirements of a Disease, and therefore now classifies obesity as a Disease.

Follow the Money

I must admit that my cynical side (all of me really) wondered why the AMA would fall on that side of the fence, when most people in the streets regard obesity as the sign of overeating. Even now, 7 years later that is still the case.

Did the declaration of the AMA mean that the bureaucrats immediately declared a war on obesity similar to the one that Nixon declared on Cancer back in December 23, 1971? [The signing of the National Cancer Act by President Richard M. Nixon on December 23, 1971, was considered a declaration of War on Cancer (although researchers had never slowed in their efforts to combat this multi headed disease). The law earmarked $1.5 million for cancer research over a 3-year period and broadened the scope and responsibilities of the National Cancer Institute. Equally important, the law designated the fight against cancer a national priority.]

In fact at the time (1971) the copy read, "Dr. Sidney Farber, Past President of the American Cancer Society, believes: 'We are so close to a cure for cancer. We lack only the will and the kind of money and comprehensive planning that went into putting a man on the moon'."[1] [In reality, the War on Cancer has turned into a Cash Cow for all parties involved with Cancer, and it is unlikely that this war will ever be won by the human race. There is just too much money involved to justify finding a real solution.]

So here we are some 48 years later with no end in sight for the demise of Cancer in any form using the treatments approved by the AMA and FDA, and they now add another disease - obesity to the ever growing list of human ailments.

This is partly due to the fact that the Medical Industry was now able to claim weight loss clinics and methods as part of their domain. This is especially true when you realise that the weight loss industry as a whole was a $64 billion market in 2014.[2] Purely from a "follow the money" outlook this large non-medical market was too tempting for the AMA to ignore.

9 out of 10 of the causes of death in high income countries are related to being overweight, obese or morbidly obese. These are preventable.

All of the blue causes of Death shown opposite are the result of being obese or even overweight.

Obesity was declared a disease so the Medical Industry could get involved in the $64 billion (2014) weight loss market.

What was the reasoning behind the AMA making this decision?

It is interesting to note that in the meeting minutes the A.M.A. House of Delegates voted AGAINST the conclusions of the association’s Council on Science and Public Health, which had studied the issue over the last year. The council said that obesity should not be considered a disease mainly because the measure usually used to define obesity, the body mass index (BMI), is simplistic and flawed.

Some people with a B.M.I. above the arbitrary level that usually defines obesity are perfectly healthy while others below it can have dangerous levels of body fat and metabolic problems associated with obesity. [There is no indication of any scientific reason why the BMI levels defining overweight, obese or morbidly obese are set at these levels. I have been unable to find any studies that support these numbers, and I feel that they are just arbitrary numbers pulled out of the air by the initial publisher of the BMI.]

“Given the existing limitations of B.M.I. to diagnose obesity in clinical practice, it is unclear that recognizing obesity as a disease, as opposed to a ‘condition’ or ‘disorder,’ will result in improved health outcomes,” the council wrote. [This has been shown to the case as now 50% of EU citizens and 2/3 of the USA population are defined as obese. This just makes the market for weight loss and obesity clinics manned by members of the AMA to make even more money.

The council summarized the arguments for and against calling obesity a disease.

One reason in favour, it said, was that it would reduce the stigma of obesity that stems from the widespread perception that it is simply the result of eating too much or exercising too little. Some doctors say that people do not have full control over their weight.

Supporters of the disease classification also say it fits some medical criteria of a disease, such as impairing body function. [So does losing a limb, but that isn't classed as a disease, yet.]

Those arguing against it say that there are no specific symptoms associated with it and that it is more a risk factor for other conditions than a disease in its own right.

They also say that “medicalizing” obesity by declaring it a disease would define one-third of Americans as being ill and could lead to more reliance on costly drugs and surgery rather than lifestyle changes. [They got the numbers wrong on that as it is now 2/3 of Americans are classified as obese.]

Some people might be overtreated because their B.M.I. was above a line designating them as having a disease, even though they were healthy.

The delegates rejected the conclusion of the council and voted instead in favour of a resolution pushed by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American College of Cardiology and some other organizations. [The fix was obviously in as the rejection of a special council who studied the obesity problem for over a year was thrown out in favour of chasing the $64 billion weight loss market [2] that the Doctors were not currently involved in at a single meeting.]

This resolution argued that obesity was a “multi metabolic and hormonal disease state” that leads to unfavorable outcomes like Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

“The suggestion that obesity is not a disease but rather a consequence of a chosen lifestyle exemplified by overeating and/or inactivity is equivalent to suggesting that lung cancer is not a disease because it was brought about by individual choice to smoke cigarettes,” the resolution said. [Once again this comment is self serving as you do not need to be a smoker to get lung cancer. See Lung Cancer article here.]

What causes Obesity?

Eating more calories than you burn in daily activity and exercise (on a long-term basis) causes obesity. Over time, these extra calories add up and cause you to gain weight.

Eating more calories than you burn in daily activity and exercise (on a long-term basis) causes obesity. Over time, these extra calories add up and cause you to gain weight.

You see this shown again and again when you see malnourished or starving people - none of these people are obese or even overweight.

Common specific causes of obesity include:

  • eating a poor diet of foods high in fats and calories
  • having a sedentary (inactive) lifestyle
  • not sleeping enough, which can lead to hormonal changes that make you feel hungrier and crave certain high-calorie foods
  • genetics, which can affect how your body processes food into energy and how fat is stored
  • growing older, which can lead to less muscle mass and a slower metabolic rate, making it easier to gain weight
  • pregnancy (weight gained during pregnancy can be difficult to lose and may eventually lead to obesity).

Certain medical conditions may also lead to weight gain. These include:

  • polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): a condition that causes an imbalance of female reproductive hormones
  • Prader-Willi syndrome: a rare condition that an individual is born with which causes excessive hunger
  • Cushing syndrome: a condition caused by having an excessive amount of the hormone cortisol in your system
  • hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid): a condition in which the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough of certain important hormones
  • osteoarthritis (and other conditions that cause pain that may lead to inactivity)

Who is at risk for obesity?

Basically, anyone - man, woman and child are all at risk from becoming obese. This is especially true if they indulge in any of the actions mentioned above. The main ones are eating fatty foods (fast food is the greatest contributor), processed food and not doing any exercise, such as walking for 30 - 60 minutes a day. TV, Video games and always going everywhere by car instead of walking or using a bicycle  also do not help. 

According to the Food Research & Action Center - and everyone else - more than 2/3 of Americans and 50% of EU citizens are overweight or obese. Two decades ago that was only ¼ of the population. Put simply, significantly more people should be losing weight. The difference, however, between now and 20 years ago is a change in focus away from deprivation dieting to a more holistic, healthy lifestyle all the time. Instead of saying, “I’ve got to lose this extra weight right now,” people are saying “I’ve got to live a healthier life.” Folks that were dieting are at least trying to eat fresher, greener foods, exercise more regularly and in general take better care of themselves. An interesting statistic to illustrate the point: a whopping 77% of Americans claim to be trying to eat healthier - against the 19% that claim to be on a diet.

Physicians and health insurance providers are not shy about pitching weight loss as preventative health care. Medical weight loss plans as a niche weight loss business have been making a lot of money and likely will into the future.

73% of men in the United States are overweight, compared to only 63% of women. But memberships in weight loss programs are dominated by women - an estimated 90% of Weight Watchers members are women. The discussion about why can be long and varied - and controversial at points - but the fact remains: men are overweight and have still barely been touched by weight loss services.

Genetics

Some people possess genetic factors that make it difficult for them to lose weight. This group is a very small proportion of the population and does not include 2/3 of the people in the USA or EU. The Medical Industry would like you to believe that being overweight or obese in your case is genetic and should be dealt with solely by Doctors. Unless you suffer from any of the 5 medical conditions shown above then there is a 99% chance that being overweight or obese is a personal choice determined by what you put in your mouth.

Apple shapre or Pear shaped bodies

Environment and Community

Your environment at home, at school, and in your community, can all influence how and what you eat and how active you are. Maybe you haven’t learned to cook healthy meals or don’t think you can afford healthier foods. If your neighborhood is unsafe, maybe you haven’t found a good place to play, walk, or run.

If this is your problem then join our 7 day and 30 challenge to start you on your way. While we can support you in helping yourself by supplying recipes, food lists, and exercise suggestions we cannot do it for you. Moving through these courses will give you the confidence which will change your life for the better. 

Psychological and other factors

Depression can sometimes lead to weight gain, as people turn to food for emotional comfort. Certain antidepressants can also increase risk of weight gain. Check out the list here to find out if your prescription is part of the weight gain problem. If it is then ask your Doctor to change your medication.

Smoking

It’s a good thing to quit smoking, but quitting can also lead to weight gain. For that reason, it’s important to focus on diet and exercise while you’re quitting.

Medication

Medications such as steroids or birth control pills can also put you at greater risk for weight gain. Check with your Doctor to find out if that is part of the weight problem.

How is Obesity diagnosed?

Supplied by BMI Calculator USA

Most times the Doctor or Nurse will measure how big you are around your stomach, take your weight and your height.

They then will check the BMI [3] Obesity charts. Calculate your own BMI on the left. 

Obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or more. Body mass index is a rough calculation of a person’s weight in relation to their height.

Doctor measuring Obese male

Other more accurate measures of body fat and body fat distribution include skinfold thickness, waist-to-hip comparisons, and screening tests such as ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

Your doctor may also order certain tests to help diagnose obesity as well as obesity-related health risks. These may include blood tests to examine cholesterol and glucose levels, liver function tests, diabetes screen, thyroid tests, and heart tests, such as an electrocardiogram.

A measurement of the fat around your waist is also a good predictor of risk for obesity-related diseases.

When you get the bill for all these tests you might begin to understand why the AMA wanted to declare Obesity as a Disease.

What are complications of obesity?


Obesity leads to much more than simple weight gain. Having a high ratio of body fat to muscle puts strain on your bones as well as your internal organs. It also increases inflammation in the body, which is thought to be a cause of cancer. Obesity is also a major cause of type 2 diabetes.

Obesity has been linked to a number of health complications, some of which are life-threatening:

  • type 2 diabetes
  • heart disease
  • high blood pressure
  • certain cancers (breast, colon, and endometrial)
  • stroke
  • gallbladder disease
  • fatty liver disease
  • high cholesterol
  • sleep apnea and other breathing problems
  • arthritis
  • infertility

How is obesity treated?


If you’re obese and haven’t been able to lose weight on your own, medical help is available. In addition there are a number of of Weight Loss Clinics that will work with you (for a fee) to support you in losing weight. Most of these tend to be food based - i.e. buy our food and lose weight.

Start with your family physician who may be able to refer you to a weight specialist in your area.

Your doctor may also want to work with you as part of a team helping you lose weight. That team might include a dietitian, therapist, and/or other healthcare staff.

Your doctor may work with you on making lifestyle changes. It is most likely that they will recommend medications or weight loss surgery as well.

Lifestyle and behavior changes


Your healthcare team or Weight Loss Clinic can educate you on better food choices and help develop a healthy eating plan that works for you. A structured exercise program and increased daily activity — up to 300 minutes a week — will help build up your strength, endurance, and metabolism.

Counseling or support groups may also identify unhealthy triggers and help you cope with any anxiety, depression, or emotional eating issues.

Medical weight loss


Your doctor may also prescribe certain prescription weight loss medications in addition to healthy eating and exercise plans. Medications are usually prescribed if other methods of weight loss haven’t worked and if you have a BMI of 27 or more in addition to obesity-related health issues.

Prescription weight loss medications either prevent the absorption of fat or suppress appetite. These drugs can have unpleasant side effects. For example, the drug orlistat (Xenical) can lead to oily and frequent bowel movements, bowel urgency, and gas. Your doctor will monitor you closely while you’re taking these medications.

Weight loss surgery


Weight loss surgery (commonly called “bariatric surgery”) is the prefered option in the USA as it does not require a commitment from patients that they will change their lifestyle. Surgery forces the patient to change their lifestyle and food intake, otherwise the patient is likely to die when the internal surgery ruptures.

These types of surgery work by limiting how much food you can comfortably eat or by preventing your body from absorbing food and calories. Sometimes they do both. It does not rely on the willpower of the patient to eat less.

Weight loss surgery isn’t a quick fix. It’s a major surgery and can have serious risks. After surgery, patients will need to change how they eat and how much they eat or risk getting sick or dying.

Candidates for weight loss surgery may have a BMI of 40 or more, or have a BMI of 32 to 39.9 along with serious obesity-related health problems.

Patients will often have to lose weight prior to undergoing surgery. Additionally, they will normally undergo counseling to ensure that they’re both emotionally prepared for this surgery and willing to make the necessary lifestyle changes that it will force on them.

Surgical options include:

  • gastric bypass surgery, which creates a small pouch at the top of your stomach that connects directly to your small intestine. Food and liquids go through the pouch and into the intestine, bypassing most of the stomach.
  • laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), which separates your stomach into two pouches using a band
  • gastric sleeve, which removes part of your stomach
  • biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, which removes most of your stomach

What is the long-term outlook for obesity?

There’s been a dramatic increase in obesity and in obesity-related diseases. This is the reason why communities, states, and the federal government are putting an emphasis on healthy food choices and activities to help turn the tide on obesity.

Ultimately, however, the responsibility is on each of us to make these healthy changes.

How can you prevent obesity?

Help prevent weight gain by making good lifestyle choices. Aim for moderate exercise (walking, swimming, biking) for 20 to 30 minutes every day.

Eat well by choosing nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. Eat high-fat, high-calorie foods in moderation.

Risks

The weight loss business is an industry fraught with misinformation. False claims about potential results and benefits run rampant. In the last decade alone the Federal Trade Commission has brought more than 80 law enforcement actions against companies making deceptive weight-loss claims. For patients considering joining a weight loss clinic it’s important to understand how and why it does what it claims to do - and if it really does it!

Do-it-yourself diets have also stormed onto center stage. From Atkins to South Beach to eating like a caveman - and a thousand others - diet information is easier to find than ever. Online support communities offer many of the benefits of in-person support, but have the added benefit of anonymity.

The number of bariatric surgeries have increased by 10% in the last decade alone. This surgery reduces the size of the stomach and has been an effective weight loss technique - without a lot of the work required the old fashioned way.

No matter what type of solution you you pick to stop you being overweight or obese - it all come down to one thing - less food in and weight goes down. Check out our 7 and 30 day challenges.

Fact Checked References

1. Mukherjee S. A moon shot for cancer. In: The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. New York: Scribner; 2010: 180.

2. MarketResearch.com: The U.S. Weight Loss and Diet Control Market (11th Edition)

3. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

CDC.gov: Adult Obesity

Healthy People.gov: Archive

Adult obesity facts. (2018).
cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

Body mass index: Considerations for practitioners. (n.d.).
cdc.gov/obesity/downloads/bmiforpactitioners.pdf

Child obesity facts: Prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States. (2018).
cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

Facts and statistics: Physical activity. (2017). https://www.hhs.gov/fitness/resource-center/facts-and-statistics/index.html

F as in fat: How obesity threatens American’s children. (n.d.). https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/reports/2010/rwjf62003

Guo X, et al. (2017). High fat diet alters gut microbiota and the expression of paneth cell-antimicrobial peptides preceding changes of circulating inflammatory cytokines. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5339499/

Hall KD, et al. (2016). Calorie for calorie, dietary fat restriction results in more body fat loss than carbohydrate restriction in people with obesity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4603544/

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2015). Obesity.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/symptoms-causes/syc-20375742

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Cushing’s syndrome.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cushing-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351310

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothyroidism/symptoms-causes/syc-20350284

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Prader-Willi syndrome.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prader-willi-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20355997

Obesity. (n.d.).
endocrinefacts.org/health-conditions/obesity/

O’Neill AM. (2016). High-fat Western diet-induced obesity contributes to increased tumor growth in mouse models of human colon cancer. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27866828

Polycystic ovary syndrome. (n.d.).
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0024506/

Position of the American Dietetic Association: Fat replacers. (2005). https://jandonline.org/article/S0002-8223(04)01853-X/fulltext

Lung Cancer kills 30% in 90 days or less

Lung Cancer has now passed Breast Cancer as the Deadliest Cancer Killer for Women in the Western World.

This is because of the very large and intensive marketing push started by the Tobacco industry some 50 years ago which targeted women specifically. This marketing continues today aimed at young girls and women throughout the Western world.

The number of men smoking has steadily declined over the past few decades, while the number of women who smoke has increased.

The cause of Lung Cancer in the majority of cases can be traced back to what we put into our lungs. Whether that is tobacco smoke or polluted air or even industrial byproducts and waste.

The cause of Lung Cancer in the majority of cases can be traced back to what we put into our lungs, whether that is tobacco smoke or polluted air or even industrial byproducts and waste.

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In some cases your genetic heritage may be a factor in getting Lung Cancer, but that is insignificant when compared to cigarette smoking.

It is well known that cigarette smoking is the most important risk factor in getting Lung Cancer. That risk increases with how much you smoke and how long you have been smoking.

Cigar and pipe smoking also increases your risk, as does the use of chewing tobacco, which is responsible for a number of other types of cancer, such as throat and mouth.

Marijuana smoke contains many of the same carcinogens as those in tobacco smoke.[1] However the effect of smoking cannabis on lung cancer risk is not clear.[2][3] A 2013 review did not find an increased risk from light to moderate use.[4] A 2014 review found that smoking cannabis doubled the risk of lung cancer.[5]

Lung Diagram

This is where the lungs are in the body, showing the areas where lung cancer is likely to appear. Firstly in the lung itself and then traveling to those parts of the body closest to the lungs.

The Secondhand Tobacco smoker is at risk because Secondhand tobacco smoke comes from burning cigarettes or other tobacco products, or is exhaled by smokers. Inhaling secondhand smoke exposes you to the same cancer-causing agents as smokers, although in smaller amounts.

While in most of Europe the smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco products is banned in any public place, office, restaurant or bar you see plenty of people standing outside the building smoking and polluting the air for all the passersby.

In the West, tobacco smoke is estimated to cause about 90% of all lung cancers.

There is no reason to expect this estimate to be any different for anywhere else in the World.

Even if you are a non-smoker, do not associate with smokers and wear a face mask (filter) when going outside you may get lung cancer from a colourless, tasteless, undetectable gas that might be in your house. This gas is Radon, which is a naturally occurring radioactive gas found in soil. This gas decays into solid radioactive particles which can, and do, deposit themselves into your lungs. It is these tiny radioactive particles that cause lung cancer. If you are concerned about Radon and live in the USA then check here

Radon, like other known or suspected external risk factors for lung cancer, is a threat for smokers and former smokers. This was clearly demonstrated by the European pooling study.[6] A commentary [7] to the pooling study stated: "it is not appropriate to talk simply of a risk from radon in homes. The risk is from smoking, compounded by a synergistic effect of radon for smokers. Without smoking, the effect (of Radon) seems to be so small as to be insignificant."

According to the European pooling study, there is a difference in risk from radon between lung cancer types. Small cell lung carcinoma, which is practically only caused by smoking, has a higher risk of developing when coupled with Radon. For other lung cancer types that primarily affects non-smokers, the increased risk from Radon appears to be lower.[8][9]

Other exposures of concern include asbestos, certain metals such as chromium, cadmium, arsenic, and some organic chemicals. Although the risk of lung cancer from such exposure is not as great as the risk from cigarette smoke, your risk increases more if you are a smoker and you are exposed to these agents in the workplace or elsewhere.

A new Product called Sawa Lung Cleanse for Smokers is available here

Drinking large amounts of alcohol is linked to an increased risk of Lung Cancer.

Taking beta-carotene supplements (pills) can increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers who smoke one or more packs a day. The risk is higher in smokers who also drink one or more alcoholic drinks every day.

The human body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A (retinol). We need vitamin A for healthy skin and mucous membranes, our immune system, and good eye health and vision.

Beta-carotene in itself is not an essential nutrient, but vitamin A is.

A new Product called Sawa Lung Cleanse for Smokers is available here

About 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with lung cancer are older than 65. Less than 3% of all diagnoses are made in people younger than 45.

Thirty percent of people with lung cancer will die within 90 days of being diagnosed in the UK.

This strikes me as a strange fact as the implication here is that either;

  1. The patients doctor did not detect the lung cancer early enough to do anything, or
  2. The patients gave up the will to live on diagnosis.

The medical establishment tells us that Lung cancer is one of the hardest cancers to diagnose and has a poor prognosis – they regard it as a death sentence. It is obvious that Doctors need more training in identifying cancer when you ask for their opinion. 

The outlook for patients with lung cancer is improving with the advent of new drugs. Prevention is better than the cure, you need to avoid places and circumstances that may cause Lung Cancer. 

What’s more, early interventions have shown that a few relatively easy and cheap measures can improve the rates of earlier diagnosis. As with all cancers, early diagnosis is the key to successful treatment.

“This is a curable cancer if it’s caught early enough,” stressed Riyaz Shah, a consultant medical oncologist at Kent Oncology Centre, UK.

Among the barriers to early diagnosis, is the fact that the symptoms of lung cancer are often vague and nonspecific. Even where patients has chest symptoms they sometimes don’t think they are dangerous. Other patients said they had been unable to get to see their usual GP or that they couldn’t get an appointment to get their symptoms checked out. Research shows that patients who died had visited their GP an average of five times in the months before diagnosis. This indicates that GP’s need more or better training, or access to better testing procedures (such as chest X-rays) to detect lung cancer earlier.

40% of all lung cancers are not diagnosed until the patient arrives at an emergency clinic with serious breathing problems. It is at this point that the patient has virtually no chance of survival, as they are is in the last stages of lung cancer. Chest X-rays are cheap, and the radiation is a very low dose, and the use of a chest X-ray even if there is a low-level chance of Lung Cancer, may very well save your life.

Lung cancer is more prevalent among lower socioeconomic (poorer) groups.

Surgery is the preferred method for treating early lung cancers. As lungs are a lot less accessible to surgeons than, say, the breast you will normally be told to opt for chemo instead.

And also, if you are old or nor very well you will not be offered surgery, but pushed towards chemo. 

However, it appears that if you know you have lung cancer early enough there is an opportunity to alter your lifestyle (stop smoking, eat cancer killing foods, stop or reduce drinking alcohol) to either kill or control the lung cancer. If you don’t know you have lung cancer then there is nothing you can do until it is too late. Start a Preventative regime now irrespective of your age and gender.

A new Product called Sawa Lung Cleanse for Smokers is available here

The Environment

Almost half of Americans live with unhealthy levels of air pollution

A report finds 148 million people living in areas where smog and soot particles are a health risk with deteriorating climate change likely to increase your health risk.

With China being the most polluted country in the world, and India not far behind it, together with Eastern Europe in the same position it appears that there is likely to be a massive explosion in Lung Cancer all round the world in the next decade. The rest of the world is also suffering from worsening air quality caused by such disasters as nuclear power plant meltdowns (Fukushima), wildfires (California), deliberate forest burn offs (Amazon), vehicle exhausts, coal and waste burning, smoking and general industrial pollution in every city and town. The amount of untested chemicals and aerosols being introduced to the public every year increases this pollution load continually.

There is growing concern globally about the health risks of air pollution. The fact that smog and soot that travel across state lines and country borders kills the people next door rather than you is cold comfort – especially when the wind direction changes.

Scientific research shows that smog and soot are far more harmful at lower levels than previously thought. A growing body of research over the last decade has connected air pollution to increased deaths from heart disease and respiratory illnesses.

The World Health Organisation said in 2014 that particulate pollution causes lung cancer.

Air pollution linked to higher risk of lung cancer and heart failure

Air pollution, chiefly from traffic exhaust fumes in cities, is having a serious and sometimes fatal effect on health, according to two studies that link it to lung cancer and heart failure.

Air pollution increases the risk of lung cancer even at levels lower than those recommended by the European Union, says a paper in the Lancet Oncology journal. Although smoking is a far bigger cause of lung cancer, a significant number of people will get the disease because of where they live and what they breathe.

The study, codenamed Escape, combined data from 17 large studies in nine European countries covered a total of almost 313,000 people. The size of the research gives it greater authority than previous work.

Air pollution comes from traffic – mostly diesel fumes – household heating and industry. In cities where people live close together, "there is no reason to believe this [risk] is restricted to people of higher or lower socio-economic status," said an author of the study. They found a link with lung cancer even at low levels of air pollution, he said, "the less the better and the more the worse".

The second study published by the Lancet, shows that short-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of being admitted to hospital with and dying of heart failure.

"Heart failure is a common, costly and fatal condition … and is one of the most frequent reasons for hospital admission," Mills said. "While the role of air pollution is well recognised as a risk factor for heart attacks, it has been less clear whether exposure increases the risk of adverse events in patients with other cardiovascular conditions like heart failure.

"Since the entire population is exposed to air pollution, even modest reductions in air pollution could have major cardiovascular health benefits and substantial healthcare cost savings."

Governments have acted to curb air pollution, but the study showed the problems were still real. "Most of the studies have been from the last 10 years, well after most of the major legislation to reduce air pollution. This relationship is still present, even at levels in some countries which are very low," he said.

There is concern about pollution in the developing world, where data was not comprehensive enough to carry out studies. Air pollution in some cities in China and India may be 10 or 20 times higher than in the UK. Nobody yet knows whether the health impact will be of the same increased magnitude.

Prevention is better than the cure (and a lot cheaper).

It is apparent that we are all surrounded by the very thing that keeps us alive, namely air. However, it is ironical that the very thing that sustains us may contain the means of giving us Lung Cancer, and killing us (and not very nicely either).

Unless we live in a filtered bubble for the rest of our lives we must take our chances out in the world and its polluted environment.

You can reduce your chances of getting Lung Cancer by;

Not Smoking Cigarettes and other Tobacco products

Not smoking marijuana

Not chewing or ingesting any tobacco products

Reduce or stop completely your alcohol intake

Improving your immune system to fight lung cancer cells while they are still small

(A new Product called Sawa Lung Cleanse for Smokers is available here. )

Having regular chest X-rays using low level radiation

Seeing your GP on a regular basis and informing him/her of any chest and breathing problems immediately. The most difficult part about this is getting the Doctor to listen, understand and get some tests done (such as  a low radiation chest x-ray). It doesn't matter what the GP thinks, it is your body, not theirs - demand to get the tests done.

Consuming Cancer Killing foods on a regular basis.

Fact Checked References:

1. Greydanus, DE; Hawver EK; Greydanus MM (October 2013). "Marijuana: current concepts". Frontiers in Public Health 1 (42).

2. Owen, KP; Sutter, ME; Albertson, TE (February 2014). "Marijuana: respiratory tract effects.". Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology 46 (1): 65–81.

3. Joshi, M; Joshi, A; Bartter, T (March 2014). "Marijuana and lung diseases.". Current opinion in pulmonary medicine 20 (2): 173–179.

4. Tashkin, DP (June 2013). "Effects of marijuana smoking on the lung.". Annals of the American Thoracic Society 10 (3): 239–47.

5. Underner, M; Urban T; Perriot J (June 2014). "Cannabis smoking and lung cancer". Revue des Maladies Respiratoires 31 (6): 488–498.

6. D'Antonio; Passaro A; Gori B (May 2014). "Bone and brain metastasis in lung cancer: recent advances in therapeutic strategies". Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology 6 (3): 101–114.

7. Parikh, RB; Kirch, RA; Smith, TJ; Temel, JS (12 December 2013). "Early specialty palliative care--translating data in oncology into practice.". The New England Journal of Medicine 369 (24): 2347–51.

8. Kelley AS, Meier DE (August 2010). "Palliative care—a shifting paradigm". New England Journal of Medicine 363 (8): 781–2.

9. Prince-Paul M (April 2009). "When hospice is the best option: an opportunity to redefine goals". Oncology (Williston Park, N.Y.) 23 (4 Suppl Nurse Ed): 13–7.

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