Despite the increasing fitness solutions, there is still a steady rise in the number of obese people. If you take a few moments to examine pictures from the 1960s or 1970s, you will be startled from what you will see. Why?
Of course, this is neither because of clothes worn nor their hairstyle. It’s the bodies. You will notice that many of them are skinny. As of 1976, only about 15 percent of American adults were obese. Today, the figure has risen to nearly 40 percent of the population. The truth is no one really can tell why bodies have changed so much nowadays.
The common arguments everyone, including scientists, are providing is that there is now an abundance of cheap fast foods and snacks, more food companies making products so tasty they are becoming addictive, larger serving sizes, and the tendency to graze all day. These arguments may have some element of truth, but they do not provide all the answers needed. Obviously, there is something about the environment that enhances fatness, thereby making many people become as fat as their genetic makeup allows them. Although obesity has always been with us, never has it been so rampant. This calls for more attention.
All stakeholders in the health industry — doctors, drug companies, public health officials as well as the obese people themselves — are interested in getting a cure to the health menace. To create an effective treatment option that is capable of bringing weight to a normal level, and then, keeps it so. But, why has no one discovered an effective solution yet?
It’s definitely not for lack of trying since we can all attest to the fact that the internet is already flooded with thousands of weight loss products. The problem is many of these products do not really deliver on promises.
Arguably, we have seen a number of individuals who have transformed from fat to thin with diets and exercise, and have kept it so. These are few compared to thousands of obese people out there. Many people spend years fluctuating between dieting and regaining, dieting and regaining until they became frustrated and abandoned the entire process.
Meanwhile, there is one treatment that is almost uniformly effective. However, the treatment is being woefully underused. Just 1 percent of the 24 million American adults who are eligible go through this procedure. The reason is that the treatment is considered as bariatric.
The barbaric surgery involves a drastic operation that turns the stomach into a tiny pouch and also reroutes the intestines. Most people who get the treatment are able to lose significant amounts of weight — though, in rare situations, some may remain overweight, or even obese. Basically, their health condition usually improves, and those with diabetes show tangible improvement without any need for insulin. Again, levels of cholesterol and blood pressure fall significantly. Symptoms such as the back, hip, and knee aching as well as sleep apnea disappear immediately.
Meanwhile, as observed by Randy Seeley, director of the nutrition research center at the University of Michigan. “There are not nearly enough surgeons or facilities to operate on all the obese people who might be helped by bariatric surgery.”
Therefore, there is a need to figure out ways you can enjoy the benefits of bariatric surgery without going through the process. The operation may alter the body’s orchestra of hormones and signals, causing some unforeseen damages. According to researchers, the only natural and attractive solution without any side effect is that people should eat less and exercise more. Though it is easier said than done, it is possible through self-discipline.
