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Living with obesity: The people who are hard-wired to store fat
BBC ^ | By Claire Kendall and Jeremy Cooke

Posted on 06/17/2021 8:24:09 AM PDT by BenLurkin

Shaw Somers, a consultant surgeon who specialises in weight-loss operations, has been treating people with severe obesity for many years. He says people like Sarah, who have an inherited set of certain genes, are much more likely to develop obesity compared with those who don't.

Historically, he says, people with these genetics would have done well in a famine, but with today's plentiful, high-calorie food they will put on weight "without strong determination and support".

Dr Denise Ratcliffe, a clinical psychologist...says that many of the people she sees, have experienced trauma, abuse or neglect, for example, which leads to a dysfunctional relationship with food.

Both the genetic and psychological components of obesity can be amplified when there is easy access to fatty, sugar-laden foods, which are available cheaply and conveniently.

Dr Abd Tahrani, a senior lecturer in obesity medicine at the University of Birmingham, says there are a lot of people who are "biologically pre-designed to conserve energy", which is stored as fat. He explains that signals from the hypothalamus - the part of the brain that controls appetite - bombard the person with feelings of hunger and a desire to eat, that are almost impossible to fight.

For many scientists and doctors who have developed a deep understanding of obesity, the condition is a complex illness driven by a combination of factors. To blame someone for suffering with that illness flies in the face of the scientific evidence, they say.

"If blame worked," says Dr Abd Tahrani, "we would have a very thin society by now. Everybody who has obesity has been blamed an endless amount of times, either by their doctors, by their neighbours or their family, or wider society. It's not working, please stop it."

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: fat; obesity
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To: TexasFreeper2009

No what you saw were the ones who survived were the one wired to survive famine. They may have been gaunt, but they were alive.


41 posted on 06/17/2021 9:33:20 AM PDT by redangus
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To: Frapster

“Dr Denise Ratcliffe, a clinical psychologist...says that many of the people she sees, have experienced trauma, abuse or neglect, for example, which leads to a dysfunctional relationship with food.’”

People need to grow up and use their rational mind to control their actions.


42 posted on 06/17/2021 9:34:16 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Freedom4US

These people are Insulin hyper-producers. While the calorie counting explanation of weight gain works as a simplistic model for most people it does not work for these people. They too readily store fat. Because they too readily produce Insulin. Most people could not be as heavy as these people get. The opposite are people with Type 1 diabetes. They have no ability to gain weight without Insulin injections. Type 2 are people who have taught their body to ignore their own insulin. They are normally fat low energy people with bad diets.

The people who gain huge amounts of weight would be fine if they stayed away from any carbs. Even if they never left the couch, they would lose weight in buckets.


43 posted on 06/17/2021 9:35:01 AM PDT by poinq
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To: frank ballenger

Natural: Eating sufficient whole foods to support your activity level.

Unnatural: Eating 5,000 calories a day of shit while never doing anything.


44 posted on 06/17/2021 9:37:11 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: poinq

Bullshit.

East 5,000 calories a day of prime rib and lobster ONLY and you will gain weight if you don’t burn it off.

The reason zero carb diets work is because they suppress appetite.


45 posted on 06/17/2021 9:41:31 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: BenLurkin

Eat right, burn more. Lift weights and get your large muscle groups going.


46 posted on 06/17/2021 9:45:17 AM PDT by lurk ( )
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To: Mariner

eating too much....

Hey, so now you’re lookin in my window?

Actually I’ve been a self-disciplined and self-denying dieter for a long time. Due to thyroid it rarely gets results. But without my regimen I would rival the late Dom DeLuise. He was 325 lbs at one time but a doctor wouldn’t perform hip replacement surgery unless he lost around 100 pounds (at Duke University place). In the remake series Burke’s Law (1994-95) he was barely able to get through doors. Died at age 75 (my age now).

So my point is to achieve the proper diet for health we need to act in an unnatural way. Against our own nature. What used to save us in the ice age from starvation, kills us as we don’t need the fat today.


47 posted on 06/17/2021 9:52:25 AM PDT by frank ballenger (You have summoned up a thundercloud. You're gonna hear from me. Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
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To: BenLurkin

to many fat people identify as not fat.


48 posted on 06/17/2021 9:54:53 AM PDT by Leep (Save America. Lock down Joe Biden!)
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To: mewzilla

I’m nearing 60. I can’t do most things like I used to - including eating. I now eat one meal a day, but a very nice one, carefully thought out and prepared. Because I’ve been realistic rather than acting out on my feeeeeelings, I still weigh the same as I did 30 years ago. It’s just a little saggier, but it is what it is...

If you can get over the phrase, “But I’m hungry!” then you will have no weight problems. You don’t need as much food as you think. Get over yourself, people.


49 posted on 06/17/2021 9:55:16 AM PDT by FalloutShelterGirl (Cool! I found my original screen name!)
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To: BenLurkin

I don’t doubt that some people have a genuine genetic disposition of obesity. But that is very few.

Several problems though.

One is the very definition.

My son is built like a brick wall. He’s strong and SOLID, and by official definition, he is obese, which is nonsense.

The other is that far too many people who are grossly overweight bring it on themselves. All you have to do is watch them grocery shop riding a handicapped cart and loading up on high carb crap to identify their “problem”.

Then there are the ones who are so fat they can’t even get out of bed. Those people are enabled, plain and simple.


50 posted on 06/17/2021 10:03:30 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.)
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To: BenLurkin

I remember as a kid watching the Jackie Gleason show and thought he was disgustingly overweight.

Now he appears just a little heavy.

How times have changed.


51 posted on 06/17/2021 10:05:02 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.)
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To: BenLurkin

If a person believes he/she is hard-wired to store fat, then that person needs to be eating and exercising in ways that discourage fat storage (low carb diet) and burn stored fat (moderate aerobic exercise over a longer period of time, such as walking for an hour or more).


52 posted on 06/17/2021 10:07:43 AM PDT by Cecily
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To: poinq

Veggies and fruits are OK too.

There are nutrients that they provide that people need.

Absolutely cut the carbs though, especially wheat. It’s hard, I know, but when wheat dropped out of my diet and I switched to oats, the weight fall off.


53 posted on 06/17/2021 10:08:38 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.)
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To: BenLurkin

I’m fat because I love to eat. Simple as that.


54 posted on 06/17/2021 10:09:39 AM PDT by bethelgrad
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To: Magnatron

Not included in the excerpt are those portions of the article which specifically state that there is no “healthy obesity.”


55 posted on 06/17/2021 10:11:31 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.)
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To: bethelgrad
I’m fat because I love to eat. Simple as that.

You are just too short for your weight. You should be 8'3" tall that's all.

56 posted on 06/17/2021 10:13:44 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: poinq

It would also behoove people to pay close attention to how many carbs they are actually eating. For example, if five small peppermint patties contain 55 carbs, do you really want to add those to your other carbs for the day (never mind the extra 250 calories)? A low carb diet is something like 40-50 grams per day.

https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/hersheys/york-peppermint-pattie-(mini-size)


57 posted on 06/17/2021 10:18:43 AM PDT by Cecily
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To: BenLurkin

I’d always say, “I’m the guy who’ll survive the famine.”

The problem is, there haven’t been any in a while in the US. At least not in the 60+ years I’ve been hanging around.

To keep the weight off, I’ve had to live a self-imposed famine, coupled with daily exercise, something I truly hate.

But the health benefits have been worth it. I’ve been at it for over 6 years now. I hope I can persevere to the end of my days.

I’m nowhere near skinny, but for the first time in man decades, I’m within spitting distance of normal.


58 posted on 06/17/2021 10:21:51 AM PDT by sitetest (Professional patient; no longer mostly dead.)
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To: FamiliarFace

That’s awesome and, boy, do I know the struggle! Congrats on the success and the right attitude.

I started in 2019 by counting calories. My wife talked me in to Keto and together we started melting the pounds away. I’m the cook in our home so I started investigating all sorts of keto-friendly recipes. I also tried to do intermittent fasting early on but that was too strenuous.

After dropping about 45 pounds I discovered that my calorie ceiling had gotten lower. That was about 3.5 months in. By that time I’d faced the worse of my cravings and had established some hard core discipline about nutrition. I’d also established a regular waking routine. But things were slowing down and I still had a long way to go. So I started looking at IF again and did a 16:8 routine for a bit. But at my low calorie ceiling that was annoying. So now I do OMAD (one meal a day). Technically I’m doing a 20:4 routine but that ultimately amounts to OMAD for me.

January of 2020 I discovered I had kidney cancer. Between that and the lockdowns I put on my 35 pounds over the course of 2020 so this January (cancer free) I began to work again. Boy it was a LOT harder to get things going but I’m finally back down to 206 today.

My goals is 180... my doctor says 190. Bah.

Like you my motivations were the cautionary tales of others who I watched live in low quality of life situations as a result of the weight. More importantly I watched some folks hasten their demise by the complications that come with obesity and other health issues (like cancer).

When I was diagnosed with cancer I had greatly improved the ability of my surgeon to see and operate on me by reducing both internal and external fat.


59 posted on 06/17/2021 10:26:08 AM PDT by Frapster (Love God and love my neighbor as I love myself.)
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To: setter

Male, 5’9”. BMI says I should be under 177 to no longer be overweight. Doctor says, based on my body structure, to be 190. I want to hit 175 and bounce back to 185.


60 posted on 06/17/2021 10:27:21 AM PDT by Frapster (Love God and love my neighbor as I love myself.)
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