Don't believe everything you hear...

got this comment once:

"Go peddle your "fat love" somewhere else. I hope YOUR children that you keep poping out even though you can't afford them are the ones not left without a mother. It is dangerous to be so fat when you are pg. . .Take a look at yourself for who you really are. Only the risks you are taking are not in an effort to get better, they are so you can contunie to stay fat and unhealthy"

wow... its time for... a fresh perspective.

The news, diet industry, society, your neighbor, government, and Michelle Obama would all like you to know that being fat is UNHEALTHY... and it will KILL YOU... and cost untold health care dollars in the meantime.

Accepting your body is bad for you right? Being ok with whatever size you are is akin to throwing in the towel and giving up on your health right?

NO. NO. and no.

You can strive to be healthy without hating yourself. And society can just shut up about the lies they spew.

We are victims of Fat Politics.

"Obesity costs us millions of dollars in health care expenditures."

So say some pundits in another well publicized report. How did they arrive at this figure? They calculated the expenses associated with treating a host of conditions, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, gallbladder disease, and cancer, assuming that susceptibility to all of those is caused by fat. Nowhere did they account for mitigating factors that might cause these conditions, such as genetics, activity habits, or diet - nor did they account for the fact that thin people are subject to these conditions as well.

The problem with epidemiological research (research where two groups are compared) is that it shows associations not causes.

Take for instance:

"It is well established through epidemiological research that bald men have a higher incidence of heart disease than men with a full head of hair. However this doesn't mean that baldness promotes heart disease or that hair protects against heart disease. Nor is it recommended that bald men try to grow hair in order to lessen their disease risk...instead further research indicates that high levels of testosterone may promote both baldness and heart disease."

So basically every time you hear the woes of extra weight and how damaging it is remember there is a LOT of bad science out there and journalists, diet industry and weight loss surgeons benefit from these scare tactics - you don't.

It really comes down to 2 things:

Eat nutritiously

Move your body

But for grins and giggles lets look at this a little closer:

Obesity and hypertension:

"High blood pressure is more common in obese people than lean people, however it is unclear if this is caused by fat... It may have more to do with weight cycling that results from trying to control weight than the actual weight itself. One study showed that obese women who had dieted had high blood pressure while those who had never been on a diet had normal blood pressure...

Also it is well documented that obese people with hypertension live significantly longer than thinner people with hypertension and have a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or early death."

Does weight loss reduce hypertension?

Many studies document that blood pressure improves during weight loss... however, the long term results are disappointing even when weight loss is maintained - including massive amounts of weight loss after bariatric surgery... But a healthier eating has been shown to lower blood pressure successfully, even without lowering weight.

Obesity and athersclerosis (cholesterol laden plaque)

Since obese people have more weight on their body they must of more fat in their arteries right? Research does not support this. Five decades of autopsy studies consistently show no relationship between body fat and atherosclerosis. Obesity has no relationship to either the presence of atherosclerosis or its progression over time.

The largest, most comprehensive angiographic study examined 4,500 angiograms and concluded that every eleven pound increase in weight was associated with a 10-40 percent lower chance of atherosclerosis.

In other words, fat men and women had the cleanest arteries... Heart disease death rates have been falling for more than five decades.

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which people have a reduced sensitivity to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is much more common among obese individuals than leaner individuals.

80% of people with type 2 diabetes are obese.

And because of those statistics diabetes is commonly blamed on weight.... But this is unfair and there is strong evidence to support that the genes that play a role in causing diabetes cause weight gain....

Chew on that though for a while. Maybe people are not diabetic because they are fat, maybe they are fat because they are diabetic.

Research shows that high levels of insulin appear before weight gain in future diabetics. In other words, weight gain is actually and early symptom of type 2 diabetes.

Though body fat & type 2 diabetes is the strongest card that the obesity alarmists hold- numerous research studies document that type 2 diabetes can be improved or reversed through changes in nutrition or activity habits, even when little or no weight it lost. Eating better and becoming more active are much more effective for curing, preventing, or controlling diabetes than shedding pounds.

Obesity and Cancer

Fat gives you cancer right? I mean its a risk factor listed for almost every cancer there is but maybe skin cancer ...The American Institute for Cancer Research was all over the media claiming that overweight and obesity increases risk for six cancers... All that was lacking in their 517 page report was convincing evidence to support these claims.

Of the fifteen case control studies only one showed a statistically significant increased risk - and one showed a statistically decreased risk.

Investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also contradicts the obesity cancer link. In their words "There is little or no association of excess all cancer mortality with any of the BMI categories."

So what to think?

Did you know there is a long list of conditions less common in heavy people than their thinner counterparts? (Lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, mitral valve prolapse, anemia, type 1 diabetes, premature menopause, and osteoporosis)

Obesity is also associated with improved survival in several diseases. Obese persons with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease all have greater longevity than thinner people. Also obese senior citizens live longer than thinner senior citizens.

My best advice would be - turn off the news, mute the commercials, and ignore the billboards (is it just me or is every other billboard in Dallas for weight loss surgery?

Read the Word of Wisdom, eat whole, real food and go for a long walk.

All credit to Health at Every Size

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