Tuesday 14th July 2009 - Latest Studies State the obvious

It seems that over the last few weeks there have been some "HEALTH' relevations that I'm sorry just seem to be obvious and if logic was applied then our Australian (and Global) obesity crisis could be "reduced".

I won't say stopped because there is really no way we can help everyone. Some people just don't care and so as a Fitness and Health Professional it has taken me a long long time to realise that sad but true fact.

Why is it that the Government want us to be committed to being a member of a Health Fund YET don't support our initiatives to improve our health when we make the "pro-active decision to join a Fitness Centre or Health Club.

There suggestion of seeking financially supported consideration to allow people to have "lapband surgery as a medical procedure for losing weight" is a poor choice. This is not only insulting to the fitness industry and any efforts to change lifestyles to healthy ones but it also removes any PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY from those that figure - what the heck I can do nothing and then when I'm dying from obesity, I can get a lap-band.

Is this a poor view for the fitness industry ........... ???

AUSTRALIA'S obesity "timebomb" has already gone off, with more than half the population overweight, a health expert says.

"There is no obesity timebomb. The bomb has already gone off," Associate Professor Katherine Samaras told a federal parliamentary health committee inquiry today.

An obesity expert from St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Prof Samaras said 60 per cent of Australians were overweight or obese. Obesity was the "underlying cause" of many individual health complaints treated by public hospitals, including "a majority of non-genetic breast cancers", heart conditions, diabetes and birth complications.

THEN THERE WAS THIS .......

A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease.

The findings were published July 8 in the journal Cell Metabolism.

The team, led by Associate Professor Matthew Watt, discovered that fat cells release a novel protein called PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor), which triggers a chain of events and interactions that lead to development of Type 2 diabetes. "When PEDF is released into the bloodstream, it causes the muscle and liver to become desensitised to insulin. The pancreas then produces more insulin to counteract these negative effects, " Associate Professor Watt said.

This insulin release causes the pancreas to become overworked, eventually slowing or stopping insulin release from the pancreas, leading to Type 2 diabetes. It appears that the more fat tissue a person has the less sensitive they become to insulin. Therefore a greater amount of insulin is required to maintain the body's regulation of blood-glucose," Associate Professor Watt said.

"Our research was able to show that increasing PEDF not only causes Type 2 diabetes like complications but that blocking PEDF reverses these effects. The body again returned to being insulin-sensitive and therefore did not need excess insulin to remain regulated."

Associate Professor Watt said identifying the link is a significant breakthrough in explaining the reasons why obesity triggers the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.

PRO-ACTIVE SOLUTION - Dont get overweight and unhealthy !! There is now proof that the complications of obesity CAN KILL you .... I mean apart from the already known complications that happen with various Cancers we now find that obesity can lead you down the path of Diabetes II which can send you blind and can cause you to lose limbs.

So how can we help ourselves.

It STILL isn't rocket science.

1. You need to consume less total calories

2. Reduce the amount of fats (especially saturated)

3. Reduce your intake of alcohol - which is a major calorific aspect most people don't take into account when contemplating their nutritional deficiencies.

AND

4. Get ACTIVE to the point where you are using more calories then you are consuming.

NOTE - If you want to get healthier - not just maintain your current fitness and weight levels, then YOU MUST challenge the INTENSITY that you are training at.