7 Factors That Make Us Fat
Exploring the Complex Interplay of Factors that Affect Fat Loss
Old theories about weight loss were based on the calories in, calories out model. Simply put, the theory was that weight loss would occur if you ate less food and exercised more. While this may be true for some people, it is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
And we all know people who eat whatever they want, never set foot on a treadmill, and don’t put on a pound. With billions of dollars in health care and related costs spent on obesity, scientists are now exploring an interplay of factors to better understand fat loss.
The Seven Factors That Make us Fat are:
1. Basal metabolic rate
2. Hormones that regulate weight
3. Stress
4. Food choices
5. Lack of exercise
6. Liver dysfunction
7. Genetics
Let's Take a Look at Each of Them to Understand How it Works
1. Basal Metabolic Rate
Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate at which your body burns calories when you are at rest. Many factors affect your metabolic rate, among them thyroid hormones and how much you exercise. When you hear people refer to their slow metabolism, they are really saying that they have a low BMR.
Metabolism is the chemical reaction that takes place inside our cells to create energy. All the fuel we eat--carbohydrates, fats, essential fats, and proteins are broken down to produce the energy we need to maintain our body temperature, breathe, move our muscles, and more.
A peak operating metabolism can burn up a lot of fuel (food) and create plenty of energy. Conversely, a slow metabolism will store fuel as fat. The process in which stored fat is burned is known as thermogenesis.
2.The Role of Hormones
Hormones play an important role in fat metabolism and can affect how much fat is stored in the body. Insulin is one hormone that has a direct effect on fat storage. It is released when sugar is consumed and it signals to your body to store excess sugar as fat instead of using it as energy.
In addition, hormones like cortisol and adrenaline can also influence the way your body stores fat by releasing glucose into circulation or increasing your heart rate which leads to increased calorie burning.
Dozens of hormones determine whether you stay slim or gain weight. A new field of medicine has been developed to learn more about the delicate interplay of hormones and how they affect fat cells. We now know that fat cells manufacture their own hormones, which makes losing weight even more difficult.
You know you have to exercise, but you have no energy. Low thyroid and exhausted adrenals are two reasons you may gain weight and have no desire to work out. Buying a gym membership or a set of weights to use at home won't motivate you if you can't get off the sofa.
3. Stress: The Cortisol Connection
Unrelenting chronic stress is another factor that promotes weight gain. New research shows that chronic stress causes your fat cells, especially those around the abdomen, to become resistant to fat loss. Cortisol, the stress hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, activates all fat cells to store fat!
But central fat cells, found mainly in the abdominal wall, have four times the cortisol receptors on their cell membranes. Each time you are stressed, the cortisol fat mechanism turns on, and your body stores more fat to handle all the stress you are experiencing. Cortisol also increases in response to high insulin levels. Most of us contend with stress daily due to our fast-paced lifestyles.
Stress can be caused by constant noise, crowded cities with crime and pollution, negative emotions, depression, loneliness, unrealistic expectations, fear, and so much more. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you must manage your cortisol levels effectively.
4. Food Choices
Most of the emphasis on weight loss is on the quantity of food, but the quality of the food you eat plays the most important role. Saturated fats, trans-fats, fake fats, artificial sweeteners, refined carbohydrates, processed meats and cheese, diet foods, and sodas conspire to make you fat and disrupt your hormones while increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other degenerative diseases. You may be eating chemically altered, toxic foods that clog your liver, disrupt your hormones, pollute your digestive tract, and starve you of healing nutrients.
Allergies and sensitivities to food also contribute to increased bloating, poor digestion, a disruption of the hormones in the digestive tract, weight gain, water retention, and an overall puffy appearance. The leaky gut syndrome is caused by years of food allergies, bacterial overgrowth in the digestive tract, candida yeast, and chronic stress (high cortisol).
5. Lack of Exercise
Exercise is essential, and a lack of it makes you fat, but first, it is necessary to fix insulin, cortisol, serotonin, thyroid, and estrogen hormone imbalances; food allergies and sensitivities; and tired liver, thyroid, and adrenals, so when you start the exercise, you will get fast results, which will provide the incentive to stay committed to the program for life.
6. Liver Dysfunction
Perhaps you have been dieting for years and were never told that a healthy liver is essential for fat loss. The liver processes and packages your hormones safely eliminates toxins, cleanses the blood of toxins, metabolizes proteins and carbohydrates into energy, manufactures cholesterol, breaks down fats, and performs many other vital functions.
You are bombarded with hundreds of toxins daily from the food you eat and drink, the air you breathe, and the internal chemicals that result from daily cellular processes. Therefore your liver must work nonstop to detoxify your body.
7. Genetics
Genetics has been used as an excuse for weight problems. Yes, some of us have fat cells that respond differently, and, yes your mother and her mother may have been overweight, but these are not reasons for you to be overweight.
Conclusion
Weight loss is not simply about eating less food and exercising more - there are many complex interplays between hormonal biochemical genetic physical environmental mental health lifestyle habits involved in affecting one's ability to lose weight effectively While some factors are out of our control other factors such diet exercise sleep quality are within our control.
As such making, even small changes in diet lifestyle can help you achieve better results when trying to lose weight long term It is important to understand the role each factor plays so you can effectively target areas for improvement in order to really make an impact on your weight loss journey!