Here's an excerpt from an article from www.mercola.com, written by Dr. Mercola. I share his desire to encourage people to take control of their health. For me, personally--not that health is a measure of faith--but, I want to "toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others (1 Corinthians 9:27)." I don't want God to say, "Jason, you sure could have done a lot more good if you hadn't been so out-of-shape, out-of-energy, and out-to-lunch." Instead of focusing on looking or feeling better, though, I think it is about letting God work on us. I suppose this is an unpopular dream these days, to connect faith with matter . . . alas, here it is:
What’s Fat Got to Do With It?
Contrary to the popular belief that fat cells should be banished, they are an active and intelligent part of your body, producing hormones that impact your brain, liver, immune system and even your ability to reproduce.
What’s more, the hormones your fat cells produce impact how much you eat and how much fat you burn.
One of these hormones is leptin, which sends signals that reduce hunger, increase fat burning and reduce fat storage.
That is, if your cells are communicating properly and can “hear” this message.
If you eat a diet that is high in sugar and grains, the sugar gets metabolized to fat (and is stored as fat in your fat cells), which in turn releases surges in leptin. Over time, if your body is exposed to too much leptin, it will become resistant to it (just as your body can become resistant to insulin).
And when you become leptin-resistant, your body can no longer hear the messages telling it to stop eating and burn fat -- so it remains hungry and stores more fat.
Leptin-resistance also causes an increase in visceral fat, sending you on a vicious cycle of hunger, fat storage and an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and more.
As Sadaf Shadan states in Nature, there are two contributing factors to an increase in fat mass: the number of fat cells, and how much fat each of them stores (their volume).
So essentially, you can have fewer fat cells and still be overweight because each cell is “maxed out,” if you will, or alternatively, you can have more fat cells overall and be at an ideal weight simply because your fat cells are functioning properly and not storing excess fat.
Either way, you’re in control here.
What do you think?
24 May 2008
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2 comments:
Not a biologist but it make sense to me. Yesterday I was in a hurry and went to McDonalds for breakfast. The line was too long and I needed to get to work, so I decided to skip breakfast.As I was driving out of the parking lot I watched people exiting the drive through and guess what?...
Most of them were obese- Not over weight or chunky- but obese.
I think diet has alot to do with obesity but I think a "driving" culture(ie. Drive thrus) where people do not walk is a significant contribution to to the problem.
Thanks for your thoughts, Derrick!
I think to sum up the point about fat and obesity I would say: Being fat (especially in the right places) is a good thing; our bodies do that for posterity sake. They're trying to survive in the midst of abuse, it protects itself.
I think this changes the approach from "I'm fat and hate myself for being fat" or "I'm a good person because I'm skinny" to "Thank God my body is keeping me alive by storing dangerous excess safely." It changes my thoughts from discontentment to gratitude.
Then, I would certainly add what Derrick did, an emphasis on activity and body/mind exercise. I have a lot more to say about that as I'm sure Derrick does, too. In fact, I have him to thank for encouraging me in exercise personally. I've certainly benefitted and am thankful.
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