Obesity Means Too Much Body Fat - But How Much Is Too Much? Read These 5 Typical Causes

Obesity means that there is too much body fat. All human beings need some amount of fat for storing energy, keeping the body warm, metabolizing certain vitamins, and many other functions. The healthy percentage of body fat for men is between 18% and 23%; for women, it should be between 25 and 30%. Percentages beyond these limits earns us a diagnosis of overweight or obesity.Obesity is a national epidemic, meaning it is widespread, out of control, and there is no end in sight. So, what's going on? What has happened in the past few decades to account for the fact that two-thirds of adults and at least half of our children are overweight?
Look at the 5 most typical causes of obesity:
1. Sleep deprivation. We are a nation of "busy bees". Who has time to sleep anyway? Right? Wrong! The hormone "leptin", regulates perceptions of hunger. It is produced during sleep. If we have an inadequate amount of leptin in our bloodstream we are likely to feel hungry more frequently (the fact that if we're up late at night we're probably "grazing" which doesn't help the matter either).
2. Stress. We're a nation of stressed out "busy bees"! "Cortisol" is another hormone which comes into play in times of stress. Stress is likely to put us in an internal state of survival mode which tells us a crisis is coming and we'd better fuel up for it (also, the types of foods we usually reach for during stress are "comfort foods" which are typically high calorie, high fat).
3. Time pressure. Many of us feel "behind" from the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed. Who has time to cook? Fast food restaurants with their high fat, high sodium, high calorie, high sugar offerings seem to offer engraved invitations as we pass by on our way home from work.
4. Medications. Some of the drugs which are commonly taken during the times in which we live are also associated with possible weight gain. Antidepressants, anti-inflammatory agents such as steroids, drugs for mood disorders and diabetes, along with many other classes may be at the bottom of weight gain.
5. Hormonal conditions. Some underlying medical conditions may contribute to weight gain. Anything that interferes with hormone regulation, such as low thyroid function, menopause, adrenal disorders, and polycystic ovarian disease can cause weight gain.
What can be done? First of all, if you suspect your medication may be cause for weight gain, do NOT, under any circumstances, stop taking the medication without your doctor's approval. If you do, you may be putting yourself at great peril. Even if your doctor agrees that you can stop the meds, many drugs (such as cortisone) require weaning off of them, rather than stopping them abruptly. Also, some drugs have acceptable substitutes which may not have the same effect on your weight.
Sue Bristol, R.N. specific advice on what you can do about obesity
Here's the "Secret Weight Loss Diet" that virtually EVERY successful dieter uses. (Whether or not they are even aware of it!)
Get your Free e-book, which will give you the "Weight Loss Secret" You don't need to be overweight: Learn how to lose weight in a scientific and effective way.

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The Causes of Obesity And How To Lose Weight Fast

Obesity is a medical disorder in which the body has accumulated too much body fat, which may cause adverse effects to the body. Obesity increases the threat of having other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and specific types of cancer. Obesity is a result of many factors. These factors include family history or genetics, slow metabolism, lifestyle habits, too much food intake, and lack of exercise.The main reason why people become obese is that they take in more calories than what is required by the body on daily basis. The unused calories will be converted into fat. If this continues for a long period of time, it will lead to obesity.
Since obesity exposes a person to many risks in diseases, losing weight can help. An obese person should learn how to make permanent changes in their diet in order to solve weight problems. Here are some foods to avoid in order to lose weight:
• fatty foods such as margarines, butter, meat products, and fried foods
• foods with high salt and sugar content
• alcohol
How can you lose weight fast? Well, here are several suggestions for you to lose weight and get rid of obesity.
1. Have a water diet. This diet involves drinking a total of 64 fluid ounces of cold water at regular intervals. Drink a glass of water before eating your meal or your snack. This is done to suppress your appetite by making you feel full. There should be no sweeteners added to water and meals should not be replaced with water.
2. Have a juice detox diet. This kind of diet generally lasts for one to three days. Only fruit and vegetable juices can be taken during this diet. The juices will flush out toxins and eliminate pound of water weight from your body.
3. Have a cabbage soup diet. This kind of diet is said to make you lose as much as 10 pounds in your weight for one week.
4. Have the salt-free diet. In this kind of diet, you are not allowed to eat anything salty. This diet helps you lose water weight by eliminating water retention in the body.
5. Develop a healthful personalized meal plan. Figure out how much you will be eating in each meal and choose meals that have healthy balance of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole grains. You should do the planning in advance to avoid eating high-calorie foods.
6. Don't skip meals. Eating a healthy breakfast will help you have a good metabolic process for the rest of the day.
7. Drink water instead of soda, alcohol, coffee, and juice.
8. Take time to exercise and burn some fats!
Losing weight fast entails as lot of self-discipline and perseverance. Nevertheless, doing things to lose weight will surely yield favorable results for you and for your body. Being healthy and fighting obesity generally results in a longer and happier life.
Aven Guan is a professional health consultant. If you want to learn more about how to lose weight fast, visit his website.

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The Hidden Causes of Obesity

Some important causes of obesity are hidden from the public in plain sight. There are powerful industries profiting greatly from keeping these substances in the food supply and out of the public eye. They have the money and public relations experts to make sure it stays that way.I am not claiming that there is a diabolical conspiracy to make people fat, but it just works out that way. In the process of major industries going about their mission to make the most profit for their owners and managers, the public -- and the health of future generations -- is being harmed.
Meanwhile, public watchdog agencies are pointedly looking the other way or even actively protecting what science tells us are major health hazards for millions of people worldwide.

So, What Are These Hidden Causes of Obesity?
The hidden causes of obesity are a class of flavor-enhancers known as excitotoxins, the fluoride in our drinking water, and the near-ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup. These are the big ones that are hardest to avoid -- and least well-known!
There are some other suspected factors, such as PET and other chemicals used in plastic packaging of food and beverages, plus the effects of stress on weight gain. I don't have space here to consider these, which are already fairly well publicized elsewhere.
Most of the public is aware of MSG, but less familiar with its many pseudonyms and analogs. This is one reason excitotoxins like MSG are hard to avoid in our food and drink. The names of these ingredients are changed repeatedly, so it is hard for the public to know what they need to be avoiding.
What is more important is that few are aware that excitotoxins such as MSG and Aspartame also have been shown to cause obesity in many varieties of laboratory animals -- even without increasing the calories being consumed!
This excitotoxin-caused obesity is not a rare occurrence, but rather a defining characteristic effect, noticed early in testing the additives for safety on animal subjects. They all got obese.

The Food Industry Has Been Very Effective in Silencing the Whistle-Blowers
This is what I mean by saying these major factors in the obesity epidemic are hidden in plain sight. We are vaguely aware of MSG, Aspartame, and other food additives having some negative effects, but causing obesity by themselves is not one the public is aware of.
So it naturally follows that what we aren't aware of can hurt us, especially if we have no idea of how serious the threat is! More to the point is the fact that, if you don't know what is actually causing the obesity, your efforts at correcting it will not succeed. And that is what we are seeing.
I am very sensitive to the effects of excitotoxins and high fructose corn syrup, in particular, so I have been avoiding them for years. I had no idea about the dangers of fluoride until I heard a lecture by Dr. Myron Wentz in the year 2000. Fortunately, I live in a state where fluoride is not widely added to our drinking water supplies, but avoiding it in toothpaste is still a challenge.
Most restaurant foods are now prepared and shipped frozen with a myriad of flavor-enhancing chemicals already in place, so it is very difficult to avoid these excitotoxins when eating out. About the only sure defense is to cook at home from basic ingredients.
Fluoride is a very interesting story among the hidden causes of obesity. Did you know that most of the fluoride used in the U.S. water supply comes from China, where it is an industrial waste product?
Yes, you read that right: We pay China to ship us their industrial toxic waste, which our "public health authorities" place in our water!
Even more amazing is the fact that this industrial waste is not pharmaceutical grade and is not even particularly effective in preventing cavities.
The real capper on the story of fluoride in our water is that fluoride was used for years in Europe as a prescription drug for effectively reducing thyroid function. According the Fluoride Alert Web site, and other sources deemed trustworthy, Fluoride -- by reducing the thyroid gland's regulation of our metabolism -- may be a key factor among the hidden causes of obesity.
With obesity about to bankrupt the American health care system through its causative effects on multiple diseases, the public needs to ask loudly, "Why are these obesity-causing substances being allowed in our food and water?
This article only reveals the "tip of the iceberg", concerning the health damages brought on by these toxic additives in our food and water. Visit my Web site for my scientific sources and the rest of the story on the Hidden Causes of Obesity

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Overeating Disorders As Well As Its Causes and Symptoms Easily Explained

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 20% young women report that they have had compulsive overeating problems. Unlike anorexia and bulimia, compulsive overeating is also rather common in men, who account for approximately 40% of overall compulsive overeating disorder cases.Overeaters and Compulsive Overeaters are often obese and are susceptible to many health problems due to being overweight, some of which are high blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. Those who are obese increase their risk of heart diseases, many types of cancer and gallbladder disease. Compulsive overeaters often feel fatigued.
The majority of Overeaters feel as if they have no control over their overeating behavior, and eat in secret and when they are not hungry. They also feel shame and remorse over their behavior. Indeed, most times they simply don't have control over their habits.

What are the causes of overeating?
Causes of overeating vary, but there are usually a variety of contributing factors. A traumatic event, which may have taken place years before compulsive overeating manifested itself, is often a cause. Such events may include, but are not limited to:
Sexual abuse or rapeEmotional abuseParents' divorceDeath of a loved onePhysical violence
The overeating begins gradually and often starts when children first start developing overeating patterns. Some children turn to food whenever they are upset. They begin to use food to soothe and comfort themselves. If left unchecked, this habit follows them to adulthood, and ultimately, obesity.
A friend was only four years old when she began putting on weight by overeating. At the time, her parents were going through some difficult times, and one of them may have been having an affair. Being a very sensitive child, she could have picked up on this, and started to soothe herself with food, resulting in weight gain. For the rest of her life, her weight went down and then back up again. In adulthood, she became obese.

Signs and symptoms of an Overeater, or Compulsive Overeater:
Rapid weight gainEating large portions of food even when not hungryDisgust and shame after overeatingDepressed and anxious moodEating food to the point that one is uncomfortable and even in painGoing from one diet to the next constantly, searching for answers to permanent weight lossFeeling out of control over foodEating late at nightUsing food to entertain when aloneHiding food around the home, anticipating the next bingeDoes not use any measures at all to purge the binged foodConstant weight fluctuationsSexual avoidanceExhibits an abnormally low self-esteemAttributes any successes or failures to weightAvoids many social situations due to low self-esteem, or simply feeling uncomfortableUses food as a "drug" to self-medicate feelings

Practical advice for the Overeater:
Larger plates mean larger servings; up to 25%-28% more, so buy smaller plates as a start.Watching TV while eating can cause you to eat up to 40% more food. Don't eat while watching TV!It takes 20 minutes after we eat before the stomach tells the brain that it is satisfied. If you start feeling full, put your plate down. Wait 15 minutes, and you will more than likely find that the desire for more passes. If not, continue eating. But at least become aware of the feeling of satiety.It was found that both children and adults pour up to 76% more liquid into short, wide glasses than they do in tall, slender glasses. This is because we focus more on height instead of width, what's known as the vertical-horizontal illusion. Don't use short, wide glasses!As far as food cues are concerned, visual matters! An example: students at an all-you-can eat buffet, ate chicken wings nonstop when their tables were continually cleared. They simply didn't notice how much they were actually eating because there was no evidence in front of them. In contrast, people at buffets who gathered all they planned to eat, including dessert, before they sat down, ate 14% less than those who just take a little at a time and go back and forth for seconds. Take all you plan to eat up-front!Put the amount of a snack you want to eat in a bowl or on a plate, so you can see exactly how much you're putting into your body, and don't eat straight from the packaging.
If you need help to break the destructive habit of overeating, http://www.get-thin-for-good.com/ offers a free "Get Thin for Good" program which aims to help you change the way you relate to food which is the reason you are overweight in the first place. The program does not focus on dieting, slimming products or deprivation.

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What Causes Sugar Cravings?

Do you have a problem with sugar cravings? Many women and men too find they often have that feeling of wanting something sweet. You can almost taste the sugar in your mouth and you get a great sense of satisfaction while you are consuming sugar. Then, you find you want more of the taste and end up eating more sugary treats than you intended to.In most cases, these food cravings are not true eating disorders, but are signs of an imbalance in your system. Many people say they have a "sweet tooth" or a just a general lack of will power when it comes to resisting sugary treats. Really though food cravings mean that the body is not in balance and is seeking out something to bring it back to equilibrium.
What happens when we consume sugar? When your body notices that the sugar level is elevated, it is a sign that you have more sugar than you need right now. Your body is not using it and therefore it is accumulating in your blood. Insulin is released to take care of the sugar and store it. The sugar is stored in the form of glycogen. Your body does not store much glycogen and the excess sugar is stored as saturated fat. Also, sugar makes us feel good because it stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, and probably other mood-elevating substances. Scientists report that eating chocolate initiates a brain response similar to falling in love.
So we know eating sugar makes us feel good for a short period of time and that is certainly one reason we crave it but what are the other causes. Too much yeast in your system is one of the more common causes of sugar cravings. Candida albicans is the most common yeast found in the human body. Yeast is one of the many types of micro-organisms normally found in the human digestive system.
When your body is in balance it usually causes no problems. When the internal environment is out of balance from stress or fatigue, the yeast can overgrow. You can also trigger an overgrowth of yeast by consuming too much sugar. Yeast feeds on sugar so anything that increases your blood sugar will cause yeast to grow out of control. Since the yeast feeds on sugar, it makes your body crave more sugar to feed the yeast growth. The whole thing becomes an out of control cycle. Experts recommend reducing your sugar consumption and adding a probiotic supplement to your daily diet. Probiotics help reduce the growth of yeast and bring the body back in balance.
Many women experience increased sugar cravings right before their monthly cycle. Hormone levels are changing during this time which means they are out of balance. Dieticians recommend getting more exercise and making sure you consume fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. They caution though you should let yourself have small amounts of treats. Buy your indulgences in small size packages so you are not tempted to consume a large bag of sweets all at once.
Another cause of food cravings is adrenal imbalance. If you are stressed out and not sleeping well, then you are probably fatigued much of the time. So your body signals your adrenal glands for more stress hormones to act as an energizer, but over time, your adrenals become less able to respond appropriately. You may resort to sugar to get your energy level up which exacerbates the problem.
Now that you know what causes sugar cravings, don't see them as a weakness or lack of will power. Attack the cause and not the symptom and you could soon see an end to your "sweet tooth."
Do want to learn more about what causes sugar cravings and how to beat them? See our post what causes sugar cravings at Curepure.com
Curepure.com is devoted to bringing you information about natural cures from a wide variety of sources. We review books, newspapers, magazines and the web to bring you the latest information about alternative medicine. Curepure believes that the best choice is an informed choice so we want to make sure you have good information from reliable sources when you consider natural cures.

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