Debunking The Myths About the "Obesity Epidemic" and Exploring Popular Diet Trends

There are many health gurus and experts claiming that obesity is an epidemic that is sweeping the nation, here in America, and in other countries. This is a complete misunderstanding of the words "obesity" and "epidemic." According to the Urban dictionary, an epidemic is a widespread contagion, usually a bacteria or virus, that kills or severely sickens a large number people in a particular geographic area. Obesity, according to Wikipedia, is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Do you see how the term "obesity epidemic" is misleading? Sure, more people are gaining weight, but to call it an epidemic is a joke.

One main cause that people associate with obesity is overeating. What a lot of people don't take into consideration is that some people are overweight or obese due to their genetic make-up, and/or medical and psychiactric illnesses.

In individuals whose obesity is caused genetically, this is due to a mutation in their DNA which controls their bodies' abilities to control appetite and metabolism. Scientists say that there are some ethnic groups who are more prone to obesity than others. One such ethnicity was the Native American race Pima, who inhabited the desert environment in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. This is called the thrifty gene hypothesis. This dictates that certain adverse health problems are favored by natural selection due to the environment that a species is in. In obese individuals, the pros to their abundance in weight allows them to survive better when food is scarce and pregnant women to help their bodies support the growth of a fetus. Some women can be at a healthy, normal weight before pregnancy and remain overweight or obese after they've given birth due to this mutation. My mother, who is 4' 10", weighs between 135 and 150 pounds, and gave birth to four kids( three girls and one boy), is an example. There is a chance that this mutation can be passed down to my siblings and me, or any of our non-existing children.

For individuals whose obesity is caused medically, due to not only the genetic mutation as described above, there are a host of different medical conditions where obesity is a symptom. You can read up on such conditions in this link here.

It should be noted that the American Heart Association is against using fad diets as a means to lose weight and suggests healthier alternatives, as described in this link.

One of the ways used to determine obesity in American citizens and residents is the BMI (body mass index). However, in Penn & Teller's Bullshit, we discover that this method fails and is not meant for the use of determining proper height and weight ratios in today's society. Here's a clip of the "Obesity" episode:

The BMI Height and Weight Index and How It Fails In Determining Obesity:


Here's the episode "Eat This" from Penn and Teller's TV show, "Bullshit." They show that "quick weight loss" fads, products, and diets are harmful. However, people are so desperate to conform to society's idealistic view of beauty, that they don't even read the warning labels on these diets, and they do know research to see if it really works or not (specifically in part 1).

Part 1 of 3:


The amount of calories recommended by nutritionists and dietitians is 1200 to 1800 calories a day for women, and 1800 to 2000 calories a day for men. Keep this in mind as we explore four examples some of the most popular diet trends out there. Also, not all cholesterol is bad. The good cholesterol a.k.a. HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol needs to be higher than bad cholesterol a.k.a. LDL (low-density lipoprotein).

The Hollywood Celebrity Diet:
In the clip from Penn & Teller's Bullshit, the guy was on the Hollywood Celebrity diet, which is fasting and drinking a specialized juice. If you watched the video, you've seen how well that works. Whenever the man was around food, his appetite increased, and it caused him to urinate more often than normal.

The Atkins Diet:
One of the most popular methods people are using to lose weight is the Atkins diet. This particular diet tells you to stop consuming carbohydrates, and consume very high amounts of fatty foods, especially meat, seafood, lard, butter, and limited fruits and vegetables.

The main problem with this diet is that, you're burning fat and proteins for energy, when you're supposed to be burning fat and carbohydrates for energy. You will lose weight with this diet, but not much and with negative consequences. According to some experts, this diet could raises your uric acids and ketone levels. Because of the lack of carbohydrates, your body does through ketosis to burn energy, which can cause kidney problems, the gout, and headaches. Other possible side effects are osteoporosis, halitosis (bad breath), dehydration, adverse affects on your body's calcium levels, hypotension, and possible liver problems. Not many people stay on the diet, because it changes their appetites, which doesn't help nutrition scientists find out what the long-term affects of this diet are. Because your fiber intake is low when you're on this diet, this can cause constipation and chronic bowel disease. High amounts of animal fats (primarily from red meats) can raise HDL levels and give your heart problems and the diet doesn't sit well with the American Heart Association's guidelines to having a healthy heart.

The guidelines are pretty simple. The first being to know how your calorie intake, and know how to utilize at least as many of them as you take in. Here's an example of what my average calorie intake should be according to my age, gender, height, weight, and activity level: http://www.myfatstranslator.com/fats_results.html?age=22&gender=2&weight=110&heightfeet=5&heightinch=1&activity=3&

The second is to eat a healthy variety of food from ALL of the food groups. The Atkins diet goes against this with its high-fat, high-protein, and low-carbohydrates approach.

The third is to eat less unhealthy foods than normally, and try to only eat junk food in moderation. This is a major problem when comparing this with the Atkins diet, which suggest fattier foods and a higher usage of saturated fats in cooking.

The fourth is to either quit any tobacco use or don't start any tobacco use. This guideline, however, has nothing to do with the Atkins Diet, though.

Here is a Horizon, a BBC produced, story about the diet:
Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:


Here is a detail of a one-year comparison of the Atkins Diet and a Low-fat diet done by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/348/21/2082?journalcode=nejm&tdate=7%2F31%2F2003&HITS=20&sortspec=Score%2Bdesc%2BPUBDATE_SORTDATE%2Bdesc&hits=20&fdate=7%2F1%2F2000&FIRSTINDEX=0&fulltext=atkins%2Bdiet&searchid=1059134481857_2521&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

The South Beach Diet:
The South Beach diet is a low-fat and low-carbohydrate diet, which is advocated by the American Heart Association. It discourages high sugar and saturated fats, and encourages unprocessed whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, lean fish, and nuts. This particular diet is also noted for helping lower LDL and lowering your risk of heart disease. It also gets rid of the necessity to count carbohydrates when eating.

However, there are some drawbacks to this diet as well. In the first phase, the diet eliminates many different grains, breads, pastas, and fruits, causing people on the diet to feel too constricted. The lack of carbohydrates can cause gastointestinal problems, weakness, glucose and calcium depletion, dizziness, fatigue, and dehydration. The lack of certain fruits can cause loss of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are vital to your health such as zinc, calcium, vitamin B, and iron. Such lack of these important nutrients can lead to abnormalities in the liver, kidneys, heart, and bones. The second and third phases are a little less restrictive, but the diet doesn't fit many people's individual needs when it comes to losing weight. For some, there is a risk of losing too much weight to quickly. For others who don't consume dairy for whatever reasons, their options are limited. Also, the recipes for this diet are too demanding and too time consuming. Like the Atkins diet, no one has done a study to see what the long-term effects of staying on this diet are.

The Zone Diet:
The Zone diet is one that demands a 40:30:30 ration of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in that order. It's said to produce reasonable weight loss in the individuals who prefer this method. What possible drawback can come from this one? It seems legit to me!

Like many other fad diets, there are no records of its long term effects. This diet also has the least evidence supporting it than the Atkins and South Beach diets and has never been seriously studied by experts. However, like the Atkins diet, it lowers intake of carbohydrates and calories and, like the South Beach diet, depletes the body's storage of glucose. For individuals with kidney disease or have family history with kidney disease, they're warned to try this diet at their own risk. This diet also dramatically reduces one's calorie intake. I made a note above of what the average man and woman's healthy calorie intake should be. The amount of meat required in this diet can lead to consuming an unhealthy amount of saturated fats. Expect your doctor to note defficiencies in many important vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, D, and E, calcium, iron, and folic acid. It also limits your consumption of whole grains, which provide fiber among other nutrients.