Weekly Health Tip - Obesity

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From Day - Weekly Health Tip - Obesity

The Essential Guide to Water and Salt

by F Batmanghelidj MD and Day

Obesity/Weight Gain

Profile

Obesity is excessive weight gain and usually classified by a person being at least 20% heavier than the midpoint of their weight range on a standard height-weight table. Obesity is now a major problem in the industrialised nations, with America, Britain, Canada and Australia leading the pack.

As age progresses, metabolic rates lessen, which is why obesity is more prevalent in the elderly than the young. Obesity across race varies slightly, with obesity in Hispanics higher than white or black. Obesity however is much more common among Hispanic and black women than their white counterparts. According to the Merck Manual, about 60% of middle-aged black women are obese compared with 33% of white women.[1]

Socio-economic factors play an important role in the development of obesity. For example, American women from poorer groups have a higher incidence of obesity than the more wealthy. Binge eating, emotional disorders, peer pressure and stress may all play a part in developing bad eating habits (see Health Wars and The Mind Game). Rarely, hormonal irregularities and damage to the hypothalamus may result in obesity.

Symptoms and causes

Excessive fat accumulates, mostly in the subcutaneous tissues, and is usually the result of the patient consuming more calories than they are expending. Processed, refined carbohydrates are the key culprits, with bread, sugar, chocolate, pastas, breakfast cereals and pastries being eaten in inordinate amounts. The western refined diet, as I have oft remarked, is doing us in, one pizza at a time. A change of diet and lifestyle usually solves the problem, as well as a change of environment, where the patient may modify their eating and exercise habits without being tied to the old patterns.

The chief problems with obesity are the associated health problems which develop. Merck explains: “Accumulation of excess fat below the diaphragm and in the chest wall may put pressure on the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing and shortness of breath, even with minimal exertion. The difficulties in breathing may seriously interfere with sleep, causing momentary cessation of breathing (sleep apnea), leading to daytime sleepiness and other complications.”[2]

Obesity may also cause back problems and stress on the joints. Skin disorders are particularly common. Swelling of the feet and ankles is also routine (edema) along with candida, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Dehydration

Dr F Batmanghelidj writes: “There is an inverse relationship between water consumption and fat accumula­tion in the body. The less water you drink, the more you will be forced to eat. The more you eat, unless you are physically active, the more you store fat. Here are the reasons:

The sensations of thirst and hunger are generated simultaneously to indicate the brain’s needs for energy supply. We do not recognize the sensation of thirst and interpret both indicators as the urge to eat. We eat food even when the body should receive water, the infinitely cleaner source of energy Water is the primary source of energy for all physiological functions of the body Water turns ‘micro-electric turbines’ — the cation pumps — and generates electricity for neurotransmission and nerve impulses in the entire body Every food item that has to be broken down and metabolized will need the chemical influence of water – hydrolysis – before its energy can be utilized by the cells of the body. In effect, water transfers its hidden energy to the substances it breaks down, increasing their energy content by about one order of magnitude In cell membranes, water is used for its stickiness – like the ice that sticks to your fingers – and acts as the adhesive that holds membrane structures together. In dehydration, the stickiness of cholesterol has to hold and insu­late the cell membrane – hence we see a gradual rise in cholesterol levels from increased food intake when the body is dehydrated

Thus, water has two strong direct effects in preventing the body from becoming obese. Firstly, by providing ‘clean’ energy for brain function, it avoids the storage of fat from excess food intake. Secondly, by constantly activating the fat-burning enzymes, water tips the balance in favour of breaking up the fat reserves when the body is going through the process of recycling its fat stores. This is the reason people who choose water lose weight with little effort.”[3]

Science shows that the body derives energy from water intake as the influx of water into the cells spins proteins, which generate a type of hydro-electric energy. This is ‘clean’ fuel and when water is not plentiful, the body is forced to stock solid fuel (fat) as a replacement. Once a regular intake of water is standardised, the body begins shedding these unwanted fat stores.

Emotional conditions

The maintenance of obesity can also be an emotional problem caused by subconscious mind patterning. These patterns, which are dealt with in more detail in Addictions, need to be addressed and a new routine adhered to. Counselling in this regard is extremely important, but the patient must be co-operative in wanting to change their diet and lifestyle.

Avoid fad diets. They rarely work since the underlying emotional patterning is almost never addressed and changed, paving the way for a return to the old eating and lifestyle habits.

Take action©

Those wishing to make a change for the better are advised to read the Addictions section of this book and then consider the following:

· DIET: COMMENCE THE FOOD FOR THOUGHT LIFESTYLE REGIMEN, ensuring adherence especially to the Foods to avoid section

· HYDRATION: Commence drinking half your bodyweight (lbs) in ounces, i.e. a 120 lb female should drink 60 oz of water daily. For most adults, 2-3 litres of water/day will suffice. For children, scale down according to bodyweight

· DIET: Half a teaspoon (tsp) of unrefined sea salt or, best, Himalayan salt for every ten glasses of water

· RESTORE NUTRIENT BALANCE: COMMENCE THE BASIC SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM

· TIPS: Reduce stressful environment. This might well mean a change of employment and friends

· Try to change the patterns and habits of your daily routine and make the new regimes fun and enjoyable, especially the exercise part. Thirty days is the ‘Pavlov Period’, the length of time it takes to install new habits through a consistent change in behaviour, after which they are ‘hard-wired’ into the subconscious and become routine

· EXERCISE: A proper program needs to be set up by a qualified instructor to consider any ancillary health problems cause by the patient’s obesity. Exercise needs to be carried out consistently, along with the appropriate diet, supplementation and fresh, clean water intake

· Try to associate with those who are encouraging in your efforts and non-condemnatory

[Guest guest]

Thanks for reminding me Sheila of what I need to do. I have attended lectures of both these people ( Day & "Batman") and found them both very useful at the time.

I will find it difficult to drink much water for a few days as I have left out my salt in water from today as I am going to see an endo on Weds, and just in case he is going to test something which needs me to leave off supplements & salt I am stopping all from today (still using salt in cooking) and just taking thyroid, hc & isocort.

Val