Why Do We Gain Weight

Why Do We Gain Weight?

I am often asked by the people in my office,

“What is a good supplement for weight loss?”. To many weight is a constant battle. Some are concerned with their numeric weight. We have been programmed to think that lower numbers are better. Compare a bag of cotton balls to a tube of toothpaste. The toothpaste weighs more than the cotton balls. It is the same with the weight, if you have a good body fat percentage and muscle mass, it is all right to weigh more. If you have a lot of body fat and weigh less, you still look fluffy like the cotton ball.

In my experience, weigh issues are quite complicated. Two people will not loose weight on the same amount of calories and foods. What accounts for this difference? There are many answers to this question, such as proper food choices, food sensitivities, activity level, organ weakness and metabolism.

Basically, if you if you eat more calories than you expend, you will not loose weight. If you make the wrong food choices, you retain weight and have a health concerns. If you eat too little, your metabolism will slow down for protection from starvation. Exercising builds muscle than burns more calories.

Food sensitivities also can affect people’s weight. Sometimes people crave the foods they are sensitive to. For example, a common food sensitivity is wheat. People eat whole grains, which are healthy, in the right proportions and they still can’t loose weight. I have seen many people who give up their “ food sensitivity” and magically drop that extra ten pounds.

Another common problem with overweight people is organ weakness. Health practitioners have ways of testing and correcting these imbalances. The liver, adrenals, thyroid, and endocrine system are often involved in fat retention. The liver is part of the digestive tract. It makes bile to help break down fat, metabolizes toxins and processes hormones. If you don’t digest fats well, you may wear them as weight instead. Toxins are often deposited into fat cells for safekeeping.

The adrenals are small glands that sit on top of the kidneys. They excrete adrenaline, cortisol and produce estrogen. If you have excess cortisol and adrenaline, you don’t digest food well. The body sends blood away from the digestive tract into the limbs for the “fight or flight response”. We have this evolutionary mechanism to help us run or fight against a wild tiger chasing us. We would be a lot slimmer if we really did have wild animals chasing us! Unfortunately, we have unseen stresses that have complicated emotional solutions. Higher cortisol and adrenaline cause weight gain around the middle. Adrenals are affected by the use of cortisone, caffeine and excessive emotional stress. Vitamin c, essensial fatty acids, vitamin B complex can be very helpful to support adrenal functions.

The thyroid is a gland that sits in the throat area. It regulates body temperature and metabolism. If you have a sluggish thyroid you will feel cold, dry skin and hair, tired and gain weight easily. The thyroid is fueled by iodine. Certain conditions cause thyroid imbalance, eating excessive starches, diet, genetics and poor digestion. Make sure you get adequate iodine containing foods, such as fish and sea vegetables. Other nutrients that can be helpful for thyroid support are l-tyrosine, Multiple Vitamin, vitamin E complex and essential fatty acids.

Many people eat to comfort themselves in times of stress. It is natural to enjoy eating. As a health professional, I recommend people ask themselves at what cost is this behavior to me? It is fine to indulge occasionally. It is a problem when you make bad choices daily. A saying is “if it is meant to be, it is up to me”. We are all responsible for our choices. Uninformed or poor decisions about our diet lead to many health consequences. Make the right choices for you today.

Tariq Ahmed is a Doctor of Naturopathy from USA with 17 years North American experience in natural medicine who practices in Karachi. For more information or nutritional consultation call 021-426-9502