A Heavy Problem for Thailand’s Monks
Every morning in Thailand, Buddhist devotees bring food offerings to the monks holding donation bowls. Today they load up the monks with sugary juices, full fat and sugar dishes, snacks, and fast foods. Monastic life is very sedentary, also. Over 48% of monks are obese and 42% have high cholesterol, 23% hypertension, and 10% are diabetics. Consequently,…
Read MoreKidney Failure and Obesity
Are "metabolically healthy obese" (MHO) individuals--those without risk factors like hypertension, poor lipid profiles or insulin resistance--free of health risks? South Korean researchers found that compared with normal-weight individuals those with MHO consistently had higher rates of chronic kidney disease after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, alcohol intake, and physical activity. These findings add to the growing…
Read MorePoor Kids More Likely to be Obese
A large British cohort study has found children living in poverty were two to three times more likely to be obese than the wealthiest. A poor diet, insufficient exercise, irregular bedtimes resulting in loss of sleep, the introduction of solid foods before 4 months old, and having a mother that smoked were all significant risk factors. Over time, obesity…
Read MoreJust One Night of Sleep Deprivation?
When thinking about treating obesity, most of us think of diet and exercise. However, sleep loss increasingly appears to be an important factor. Dogs deprived of sleep for one night suffered a 33% drop in insulin sensitivity. The same 8 dogs had a 21% drop when fed a high-fat diet for 6 months. These results cannot be…
Read MoreWhich Country Leads the World in Childhood Obesity?
Looking for a really sobering number to share with your friends? Here it is. One in every five children 5-17 years old is overweight or obese--in the 34 countries monitored by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Believe it or not, the U.S. is not the leader. Take a look yourself at the countries that lead…
Read MoreCan Some Babies be Hardwired for Obesity?
Early research on fetal stem cells found an obese mother may "program" her child's cells to accumulate extra fat. This epigenetic study found cells from babies of obese mothers had greater accumulation of fat and a higher content of biomarkers for fat cells. This research is continuing, but these findings remind us the Bible teaches…
Read MoreTeenage Obesity and Colorectal Cancer Risk
A study of almost 240,000 Swedish males, 16-20 years old were measured for height and weight. After 35 years of follow-up those in the upper overweight (BMI 27.5 to <30) or obese (BMI 30+) at the beginning were more than twice as likely to develop colorectal cancer as those who were normal weight. PositiveTip: Establishing habits of regular physical activity…
Read MoreObesity Increases Risk of Stroke in Younger Adults
Researchers compared 1,201 people who had their first stroke between ages 15-49 with a control group who had no strokes. After adjusting for age, race, smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure the obese men had a 34% higher risk of stroke and women a 7% higher risk than the normal weight controls. Because this studied relied on…
Read MoreFit and Fat or Fit and Lean?
Almost 32% of obese adults who did not have multiple metabolic risk factors at baseline had developed them in 5 years time. The percentage rose to 40.9% in 10 years, and 51.5% after 20 years. This data was gathered from the long-running Whitehall II study in Britain. Only one in 10 of these people lost…
Read MoreProcessed Foods Carry a Penalty
Do processed "diet" foods leave you with lingering hunger and a desire to nibble on other foods, thus leading you to consume more calories than if you had prepared a wholesome meal? Researchers have found we burn 50% more calories metabolizing whole foods (WF) than comparable processed food (PF) meals with the same number of calories. Diets with…
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