tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12333976.post115146060449029187..comments2024-02-18T15:43:14.717-05:00Comments on Moved to LivinLaVidaLowCarb.com/Blog: Dave's Top Ten List Of Reasons For ObesityJimmy Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08590225257991702645noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12333976.post-1151547430576959992006-06-28T22:17:00.000-04:002006-06-28T22:17:00.000-04:00>5. Medicines that cause weight gainI do not like ...>5. Medicines that cause weight gain<BR/><BR/>I do not like taking medicines of ANY kind. Period. That's just me. I'm sure there are wonderful advances in medicine that have helped a whole lot of people get better, but I'm the kind of person who would rather take things naturally to cure my ailments. So the impact of medicines on weight gain is probably a valid point. I shudder to think what people who take handfuls of prescription drugs each day are doing to their bodies. Eeebie jeebies...oooooh!<<BR/><BR/>Some of us have to take them and yes, the one I am on (and have to be on if I want a fairly normal life) does cause weight gain. I also believe it's responsible for making weight loss more difficult for me than others.<BR/><BR/>But when the option is not taking them and probably dying (if I'm "lucky" enough not to die, life would be miserable), I think I'll choose life.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13390991269990163088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12333976.post-1151529071646048822006-06-28T17:11:00.000-04:002006-06-28T17:11:00.000-04:00In the same vein as Mark's post, only on a more pe...In the same vein as Mark's post, only on a more personal level:<BR/><BR/>1. Inadequate sleep: Guilty as charged. But wait... I <I>gained</I> all this weight when I was getting "adequate" sleep. Now that I seldom manage more than 5-6 hours/night, I'm finally actually losing weight.<BR/><BR/>2. Endocrine disruptors: Hmm... I grew up on a farm and my dad was very resistant to giving up using DDT, but once it was taken off the market, he had no choice. And yet... my brother and sister both grew up around the exact same chemicals, and don't have the same weight problems that I do.<BR/><BR/>3. Nice temperatures: Well, what one person considers to be nice temperatures could be very different from what another considers to be nice temperatures. I prefer cooler temperatures, winter and summer. I'd think that my choice of heating source would certainly burn more calories than what most people use too, since we heat with wood, which means I stack the wood when it's delivered, carry it into the garage so it can dry, and finally carry it into the living room to put in the fireplace insert. Oh and I get up every 45 minutes to put more wood on the fire.<BR/><BR/>4. Fewer people smoking: Is he saying I should take up smoking? Even though the few times in my life I've been around people who smoke on a regular basis, I was more prone to gaining weight?<BR/><BR/>5. Medicines that cause weight gain: Not taking any medications at all, and seldom ever have, so we can't blame that one, can we?<BR/><BR/>6. Population changes: How is this supposed to affect the individual? Unless you're talking about mixed nationalities, since I have ancestry from various British Isles and Europe, plus a little Native American here and there... but once again, if this is such a big factor, why aren't my brother and sister, who both have the exact same ancestry as me also this fat?<BR/><BR/>7. Older birth moms: Mom was only in her mid-20's when I was born, and if you go by this excuse, then my sister, who is 5 years younger than me should have even more of a weight problem than I do, but of course she doesn't now, and never has had a weight problem.<BR/><BR/>8. Genetic influences during pregnancy: Unless Mom was exposed to something truly strange that passed through the placenta while she was expecting me, that she wasn't exposed to with my brother and sister, I don't think so...<BR/><BR/>9. Darwinian natural selection: This might possibly make sense, even on a personal level for me... until you realize that THEY have been telling us for ages that fat people are more likely to die prematurely from obesity related diseases. How can we possibly live both longer and shorter lives than thinner people, at the same time?!<BR/><BR/>10. Assortative mating: Once again, having either both fat parents or both thin parents doesn't explain how you can have two children in the same family who grow up to be wildly different weights, and as I've pointed out several times earlier, neither my brother nor my sister have the kind of weight problems that I do.<BR/><BR/>Nice try, but I suspect the writer had better do some actual research on what makes people fat, starting with the factors that are most likely to affect the individual.Caliannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00055882170095208056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12333976.post-1151511643689466242006-06-28T12:20:00.000-04:002006-06-28T12:20:00.000-04:00Of the reasons listed the only one that seems like...Of the reasons listed the only one that seems like it might be in the Top 10 would be inadequate sleep. I'm unable to find any actual reference to the article (without paying for it) so it's unclear how these reasons were derived. Obviously, since he is a biostatistician there must be solid statistics to back them up (he said suppressing some eye rolls). I'll take a stab at reviewing the others.<BR/><BR/>2. Endocrine Disruptors - <BR/><BR/>This may have some possibility since many of the chemicals are of recent vintage. However, the most important disruptor is not a PCB or DES or DDT which are found in the food supply in trace amounts, but soybeans which after all are food and therefore consumed in much larger quantities and are well known and documented for their suppression of thyroid hormones.<BR/><BR/>3. Nice temperatures - <BR/><BR/>This is one of the more ridiculous. By this logic, the closer one lives to the Equator, the fatter one would be since the body's response to heat is become less active. Those people living in Greece, Crete and Spain should be the fattest Europeans rather than among the thinnest. <BR/><BR/><BR/>4.Fewer people smoking -<BR/><BR/>This may again have some validity, but were people fat before tobacco use became so common? Have women become thinner since so many of them took up smoking in the 70's and 80's? Statistics would show otherwise.<BR/><BR/>5. Medicines that cause weight gain<BR/><BR/>This one, like the endocrine disruptors, is so vague as to be meaningless. Certain medications, NSAIDs and steroids for example are associated with weight gain. If it was a top ten cause, it would be obvious in study after study and large portions of the population would be taking these specific medications over long periods.<BR/><BR/>6. Population changes<BR/><BR/>This one is all over the place. Certainly people with extra weight are more likely to survive a serious illness like cancer than thin people due to their extra energy reserves (i.e fat). The obesity of minorities is more easily explained with 2 reasons. One is that they are generally poorer so that they generally eat less protein and more starches and sugars because they are cheaper. Gary Taubes dealt with this in relation to exercise pointing out that the poor generally have more physically active jobs, but are found to have higher rates of obesity. The second is that minorities, particularly blacks, are even less adapted to consuming large amount of refined grains and sugars than white Indo European populations where grains were first cultivated.<BR/><BR/>8. Genetic influences during pregnancy<BR/><BR/>Another vague reason. Let me see if I got this straight. During pregnancy your entire DNA changes to make you fatter. As far as I can tell except for exposure to toxic chemicals, your genetic code stays the same throughout pregnancy.<BR/><BR/>9. Darwinian natural selection<BR/><BR/>If this were true, why has obesity increased so rapidly in last 20 yrs when our genetic code has not change significantly over the last 10,000 yrs. <BR/><BR/>10. Assortative mating<BR/><BR/>This one doesn't prove anything unless you can show that obese people have significantly more children than thin people. Assuming thin people have children by thin people and obese people the same, wouldn't lead to any changes in obesity.<BR/><BR/><BR/>In summary, you should takes Mr. Allison's top 10 reasons about as seriously as Mr. Letterman's. Shame on the International Journal of Obesity for publishing this claptrap.M. Levinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416463003930126093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12333976.post-1151485410039691082006-06-28T05:03:00.000-04:002006-06-28T05:03:00.000-04:00Precisely, Dave. Well put indeed. All they offer i...Precisely, Dave. Well put indeed. All they offer is hollow phrases - like clueless politicians.Science4u1959https://www.blogger.com/profile/14032931049767819624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12333976.post-1151477438684809042006-06-28T02:50:00.000-04:002006-06-28T02:50:00.000-04:00It always concerns me when people who are, or have...It always concerns me when people who are, or have never been, obese start providing reasons for obesity.<BR/><BR/>My concern is that they are usually heartless and judgemental in their attitude.<BR/><BR/>Judge and scorning an obese person will not solve any of the issues.<BR/><BR/>Positive encouragement and positive motivation will solve it.<BR/><BR/>This bloke coming up with the list has done nothing to help any obese person.Lowcarb_davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02731513723761653022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12333976.post-1151475695417895652006-06-28T02:21:00.000-04:002006-06-28T02:21:00.000-04:00This list is neither accurate nor complete. Major ...This list is neither accurate nor complete. Major issues, like sugar and starch consumption, are not even mentioned! Totally rediculous. And this is supposed to be "science"? Don't make me laugh!Science4u1959https://www.blogger.com/profile/14032931049767819624noreply@blogger.com