As a health professional, I feel like I should respond to this.
Yes, diet absolutely plays a role in health. But losing weight is not inherently a healthy thing to do.
Our bodies store toxins in our fat cells and when we lose weight our bodies must metabolize and eliminate all of the toxins being released from the fat cells. This process makes the liver, kidneys, and entire digestive system work overtime. Imagine every chemical you have been exposed to suddenly being released into your system all at once. This is not a healthy scenario. Losing more than 2 pounds of weight per week can cause liver disease, gallstones, kidney disease, nausea and body aches.
The diseases in this picture are developed through environmental exposures, medication side effects, genetics and eating habits. Being "overweight" does not cause these diseases. Weight gain is often a symptom of disease and not usually the cause. We have to raise our expectations of scientific research related to obesity and health. Most of the studies on this topic begin with the assumption that obesity is a health risk and then draw conclusions based on that assumption. However, if data are analyzed from these studies it is obvious that what the evidence shows is that being sedentary increases the risks of the diseases listed in the above graphic. Unfortunately, most people have neither the interest nor the background necessary to critically assess the data. Most people just encounter media messages about obesity health risks.
It is our cultural association between laziness and being "fat" that creates this myth that obesity is a cause of illness. Scientists who should be analyzing data objectively are not fulfilling their obligations to do just that. They are looking at data and skewing it based on their assumed correlations between fatness and sedentariness, when the evidence does not support this relationship.
There are indeed "fat" people who are not sedentary, not lazy, and who are very healthy. I have known people who fit the BMI definitions of "obese" who have perfect lab results, better cardiovascular health than the average person, who exercise regularly, and who eat a diet of whole foods.
Eating pre-packaged foods full of chemicals, having a high baseline stress level, eating foods inappropriate for your body type and not exercising cause the channels of the body to become blocked. Then, poor digestion leads to an inability to eliminate toxins. Sweating is a major detoxification process for our bodies, so when we don't exercise regularly we rob our bodies of a natural detoxification process that needs to take place daily.
When our bodies cannot digest and eliminate properly, toxins accumulate and affect weak sites. Weak sites in the body are created through viral and bacterial illness, chemical exposures through personal care products/food/environment/drugs, injury, psychological trauma, and emotional issues. This interaction between genetics and life experience determines how each individual will react to a diet that is incompatible with their body type. For people who are born with a genetic makeup that predisposes them to inflammatory issues, channel blockages caused by poor diet will lead to illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver, ulcerations, acid indigestion, heartburn, urinary incontinence, migraines, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, anxiety, depression, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis. In these types of people, eating an anti-inflammatory diet of only cooked whole foods can resolve these illnesses.
At the same time, channel blockages can cause weight gain due to high stress or poor fat metabolism. High stress alone can cause weight gain, even if someone is eating properly and exercising. So weight gain must be evaluated according to the individual person and their symptoms. By clearing channel blockages, excess weight will naturally metabolize and weight loss will occur.
Further, ideal weight is specific to the individual and should not be evaluated according to BMI. BMI is a standard of measurement developed by a Belgian mathematician 200 years ago. This man was not a health professional and he himself cautioned against using BMI to measure individual obesity.
We should be careful about promoting weight loss as good for everyone. It's just not true.
Yes, diet absolutely plays a role in health. But losing weight is not inherently a healthy thing to do.
Our bodies store toxins in our fat cells and when we lose weight our bodies must metabolize and eliminate all of the toxins being released from the fat cells. This process makes the liver, kidneys, and entire digestive system work overtime. Imagine every chemical you have been exposed to suddenly being released into your system all at once. This is not a healthy scenario. Losing more than 2 pounds of weight per week can cause liver disease, gallstones, kidney disease, nausea and body aches.
The diseases in this picture are developed through environmental exposures, medication side effects, genetics and eating habits. Being "overweight" does not cause these diseases. Weight gain is often a symptom of disease and not usually the cause. We have to raise our expectations of scientific research related to obesity and health. Most of the studies on this topic begin with the assumption that obesity is a health risk and then draw conclusions based on that assumption. However, if data are analyzed from these studies it is obvious that what the evidence shows is that being sedentary increases the risks of the diseases listed in the above graphic. Unfortunately, most people have neither the interest nor the background necessary to critically assess the data. Most people just encounter media messages about obesity health risks.
It is our cultural association between laziness and being "fat" that creates this myth that obesity is a cause of illness. Scientists who should be analyzing data objectively are not fulfilling their obligations to do just that. They are looking at data and skewing it based on their assumed correlations between fatness and sedentariness, when the evidence does not support this relationship.
There are indeed "fat" people who are not sedentary, not lazy, and who are very healthy. I have known people who fit the BMI definitions of "obese" who have perfect lab results, better cardiovascular health than the average person, who exercise regularly, and who eat a diet of whole foods.
Eating pre-packaged foods full of chemicals, having a high baseline stress level, eating foods inappropriate for your body type and not exercising cause the channels of the body to become blocked. Then, poor digestion leads to an inability to eliminate toxins. Sweating is a major detoxification process for our bodies, so when we don't exercise regularly we rob our bodies of a natural detoxification process that needs to take place daily.
When our bodies cannot digest and eliminate properly, toxins accumulate and affect weak sites. Weak sites in the body are created through viral and bacterial illness, chemical exposures through personal care products/food/environment/drugs, injury, psychological trauma, and emotional issues. This interaction between genetics and life experience determines how each individual will react to a diet that is incompatible with their body type. For people who are born with a genetic makeup that predisposes them to inflammatory issues, channel blockages caused by poor diet will lead to illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver, ulcerations, acid indigestion, heartburn, urinary incontinence, migraines, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, anxiety, depression, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis. In these types of people, eating an anti-inflammatory diet of only cooked whole foods can resolve these illnesses.
At the same time, channel blockages can cause weight gain due to high stress or poor fat metabolism. High stress alone can cause weight gain, even if someone is eating properly and exercising. So weight gain must be evaluated according to the individual person and their symptoms. By clearing channel blockages, excess weight will naturally metabolize and weight loss will occur.
Further, ideal weight is specific to the individual and should not be evaluated according to BMI. BMI is a standard of measurement developed by a Belgian mathematician 200 years ago. This man was not a health professional and he himself cautioned against using BMI to measure individual obesity.
We should be careful about promoting weight loss as good for everyone. It's just not true.