Obesity

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Excessive Fat Consumption

43.     One important reason for being obese is that we eat too much fat especially saturated and hydrogenated trans-fat varieties. The fat we eat makes our bodies fat in several ways: –

(i)           Fat is most concentrated form of calories, so it is easy to gobble down more than your body needs without knowing it.

(ii)          Fat on your plate is easily converted into body fat. Calories come from fat, protein and carbohydrates. The body spends about 30 calories converting 100 calories of excess carbohydrates or protein to body fat, but it takes only about 5 calories to convert 100 calories of excess dietary fat to body fat.

(iii)        Food prepared with fat is generally very tempting and tasty and you tend to eat more than the body needs and gain weight.

(iv)        Fat-laden foods don’t have much fibre, so you don’t feel full and tend to overeat leading to weight gain.

 Excessive Salt Intake

44.     Some salt is needed for body functions but salt intake above a certain level (5,750 mg, about a teaspoonful) can, in addition to raising blood pressure and causing osteoporosis and other ailments, tends to attract and hold water in the body resulting in weight gain. Salt also makes a person thirsty to drink more water, which means more weight. Just one teaspoonful of extra salt will retain 3 litres of water in the tissues of the body. So reducing salt and salt-laden foods is an easy way to slim by shedding liquid weight only but not fat. However, eliminating salt will generally help to reduce appetite and the bulges of fat too, for salt is a stimulant and excites the appetite by increasing the flow of saliva, thereby creating a greater desire for food.

 Excessive Use of Alcohol

45.     Alcohol is a weight promoting high density carbohydrate loaded with sugar and calories (about 80 calories in 30 ml.- about the same as in an ounce of fat) like all other highly processed carbohydrates. Alcohol’s value as a source of nutrients is almost nil. Alcohol causes changes in our appetite, affects our mood, eating patterns, sleeping patterns, thought process and personality. So after excessive consumption of alcohol, you may not want to eat because you feel full after gobbling huge amount of calories, even though your body is not getting any nutrition. On the other hand, intake of alcohol in moderation excites your appetite and you generally tend to overeat and gain weight. So either way you tend to put on weight. Alcohol also depletes the body of many precious nutrients; including Vitamins A, C and B1, Zinc, magnesium and causes erosion of stomach and intestinal lining and damage to the liver which is the basic organ for fat metabolism. Alcohol also slows down your ability to burn body fat and it may even lead to the storage of fat in the “beer belly” where it is more dangerous. People of Asian origins are not able to metabolise the quantities of alcohol that Europeans do.