Enough of Fad Dieting Already: Back to Basics
With obesity and overweight being as prevalent as it is in the United States, it would seem many scientists and so called nutrition gurus are trying to capitalize on it. We have fad diets such as Adkins, South Beach, Cabbage Soup, Lazy Zone, Scarsdale, and God only knows how many more. Then, of cour 
se, we have the diet pills, like Hoodia, Metabolife, Hydroxycut, and all the others that make you feel like you are going to jitter yourself right out of your skin. We can't forget the programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, or Nutri-System and Slim Fast. When you walk the isles of your local grocery store you can find a low fat, low carb, low sugar, low sodium, diet products every few feet. When you go to your neighborhood bookstore, you find an entire section dedicated to weight loss or dieting. If we have all these resources, why are we still overweight and obese?
As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Overweight and obesity are both labels for ranges of weight that are greater than what is generally considered healthy for a given height. The terms also identify ranges of weight that have been shown to increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems." Some of these health problems are:
As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Overweight and obesity are both labels for ranges of weight that are greater than what is generally considered healthy for a given height. The terms also identify ranges of weight that have been shown to increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems." Some of these health problems are:
- Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
- Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
- Type 2 diabetes
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Gallbladder disease
- Osteoarthritis
- Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
- Some cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)