Obesity is a big health problem the world confronts now. Many of us think that weight gain and obesity are caused by a lack of willpower to reduce weight. But the truth is just the opposite and indeed more complex to understand. Some people just cannot control their eating habits and it has nothing to do with will power. Here are 8 factors that are leading reasons how a person can become obese.
Hereditary Reasons or Genetics
Children of parents who are obese are much more likely to be obese or overweight than children of parents who are lean. Though this factor is generally true, what we eat can have a major say. Adopting a new eating habit that arises out of economical betterment is a major factor in the exponential growth of obesity. In such cases, the genes did not change, rather the environment and the signals they sent to their genes changed. Given this background, genetic components contribute favorably to gaining weight if positive lifestyle changes are not adopted.
Eating Junk Foods
Processed foods are a major culprit. They often have refined ingredients mixed with additives that are calorie-rich and provide no valuable nutrients to the body. They generally taste good and are hard to resist. This promotes overeating and the result is binge eating leading to weight gain or obesity.
Addiction to Food that contain Sugar
Junk foods can cause addiction. This is because many junk foods have sugar in them. Sugar has often been compared to drugs like alcohol, cocaine or nicotine because of its property to cause addiction. People who lose control over their eating behavior often become addicts to junk food and the reality is they cannot overcome their addiction.
Insulin
Insulin is an important hormone that regulates energy storage also along with its known function of controlling the blood glucose levels. The hormone signals the fat cells to store fat and to hold on to the fat they have already. Diets that are high on refined carbohydrates promote insulin resistance in many overweight and obese individuals. This shoots insulin levels in the body and causes energy to get stored in fat cells in the form of fat. So the obvious way to lower insulin levels is to cut back on junk foods that are loaded with refined carbohydrates and substituting it with more fibrous food. This ensures less calorie intake which promotes weight loss.
Certain Medicines
Some medicines can cause weight gain as a side effect. Common among them are diabetes medicines and antidepressants. They alter the function of the body and brain, reduce the metabolic rate, increase appetite, and cause modest weight gain over a period of time
Leptin Resistance
Leptin, produced by the fat cells, is another hormone that plays an important role in obesity. The hormone’s level in the blood elevates with higher fat mass. Hence leptin levels are high in people who are obese. In people who are of normal weight, higher leptin levels means reduced appetite. But this does not happen in obese individuals. Leptin does not work as it should and this condition is called leptin resistance. In such conditions, there is no signal to the brain on satiety and hence the vicious cycle of becoming more and more obese.
Abundant Availability of Food
Food availability has never been so high in human history. But unfortunately most of this available food is junk, especially after Western fast food has taken root in many countries. Junk foods are tempting and they are often cheaper than healthy, whole foods. Poor people could not afford healthy foods like fruits and vegetables in needed quantities. This factor is a major culprit in increasing the waist line of individuals.
Zero Knowledge on Nutrition
Most people do not have even the basic knowledge about nutrition. They tend to think that anything that satiates hunger is food. For example, South Indian food these days is loaded with carbohydrates in the form of rice. Few decades ago, millets and other grains rich in fiber and other nutrients were equally consumed. At those times, people would also perform hard labor and hence obesity was almost non-existent in our society. But that is not the case anymore. Even informed people get duped by many websites and whatsapp messages that provide inaccurate information about health and nutrition.
Weight loss is not just about eating balanced food and performing moderate to vigorous exercises, but also knowing all the above factors and acting prudently.