Obesity statistics - Should we worry?!

In my early 40's I knew nothing about obesity statistics,

and I had never had a weight problem I couldn't solve in the gym.

 

At that time there were no obesity statistics because obesity facts were nonexistent.

 

Then because of a newly diagnosed thyroid condition, I began to gain weight. To me that meant more exercise and that seemed to work, although not as quickly as in the past. But my doctor was very clear that I should try this new ‘diet’ which would teach me a whole new way of eating.  He even referred me to a non medical ‘specialist’ who would monitor my progress.

This was the early 80's, before obesity statistics were even heard.

 

Diets were the new thing to do. Just about everybody had to try this new diet – called the Pyramid.  The reason so many people switched from the traditional diet to the new Pyramid diet was the sudden scare campaign about cholesterol.  It seemed almost everybody had high cholestrol.

At that time, had someone had the idea to fill a big pyramid shaped glass container with layers of food groups depicting our traditional diet. And had we then turned it upside down.  What we would have seen is – the Pyramid diet. You see - the joke was on all of us.

For 20 years I tried every possible diet and my weight went up and down like a yoyo. The end result was a slow, gradual increase in my overall weight.

Then finally I remembered what my life had been like till my early 40’s.  That’s when I so suddenly gave up the old traditional diet my mother and grandmother had taught me.  Sure, if I had been silly with cakes and sweets, I could put on a couple of pounds but never more than I could quickly work off in the gym.

I suddenly realized something quite awe inspiring.  We - human beings do not have a body that is designed for diets.  In fact, we didn’t diet till the latter part of the 20^th century.  Our body evolved over eons, not decades.  It has not been able to adapt to the radical changes we have forced on it.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear that we began to diet not long before obesity statistics were first recorded.

It’s equally important to mention that this happened to be the time when the Pyramid diet replaced our traditional diet. We ended up with foods that were the exact opposite to what our body had been accustomed to for generations.

It has now been seven years since my last diet and my weight has remained normal for all that time. Equally important is the fact that I no longer suffer from food cravings and periodic binges.

It has made me realize that what we are told today about what is good for us and what is not, is pure, unscientific, untested fiction. We don't need another diet. We need to recognize that we are probably carbohydrate addicts and that obesity statistics prove we are in the middle of a obesity epidemic.  The last thing we need is a diet.

If we want to reverse the obesity statistics, and give our body a well deserved break, we need to cure our addiction and get back to what was always our normal food. That was the type of food nature intended us to eat. The food our body has been designed to process.  It is time to get away from kitchen table science and the foods that have turned us into carbohydrate addicts

The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet V Obesity Statistics

Kirsten Plotkin

 

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