Are you among those who have suddenly seen your weight going up? Finding it difficult to shed those extra kilos? You are not alone. In fact Obesity or over weight is one of the biggest health problems in the world. It’s associated with several related conditions, collectively known as metabolic syndrome. These include high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and a poor blood lipid profile. People with metabolic syndrome are at a much higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, compared to those whose weight is in a normal range.
Although weight gain is largely a result of eating habits and lifestyle, some people are at a disadvantage when it comes to controlling their eating habits. Following are among the leading causes of unnatural weight gain.
- Genetics: Obesity has a strong genetic component. Children of obese parents are much more likely to become obese than children of lean parents. Add to it some irregular or unhealthy eating habits, you are sure to become obese.
- Junk Foods: Heavily processed foods are often little more than refined ingredients mixed with additives. These products are designed to be cheap, last long on the shelf and taste so incredibly good that they are hard to resist. Such addictive foods are a huge factor when it comes to Obesity.
- Insulin: Insulin is a very important hormone that regulates energy storage, among other things. One of its functions is to tell fat cells to store fat and to hold on to the fat they already carry. Junk foods promotes insulin resistance in many overweight and obese individuals. This elevates insulin levels all over the body, causing energy to get stored in fat cells instead of being available for use.
- Certain Medications: Many pharmaceutical drugs can cause weight gain as a side effect. Anto depressants and Diabetes medications are known to be linked to weight gain.
- Sugar: Added sugar is the single largest factor to weight gain. That’s because sugar changes the hormones and biochemistry of your body when consumed in excess. This, in turn, contributes to weight gain.
- Food Availability: World over, for decades, food scarcity and malnutrition was tackled on a larger scale. However, in the last decade or so, food availability, especially among the middle class and elite, has led to over consumption, especially of engineered foods.
Itoozhi Ayurveda is one of the leading Ayurvedic Hospitals, specializing in Lifestyle diseases Therapy.
