Food as Medicine, Part 3 : Weight / Overweight
When we think of food as medicine, many may think of how food supplies essential nutrients: vitamins, minerals, proteins and “good” fats. But perhaps even more basic is that food and drink provide the energy as calories that fuel our very lives. Excess “fuel” gets stored as body fat or “weight”. Some may consider excess weight to be a cosmetic issue, but many men and women with weight above optimal “chart weight” look quite attractive and fashionable. Some may look at overweight as an issue of shame, but current trends tell us emphatically that we should all be proud of our bodies, regardless of size and shape. It is true thet we are all created in nature with unique shapes and features, and all are beautiful in their own way.
When a physician suggests weight loss to a patient, it should not be for cosmetic reasons. Put simply as possible, significant overweight without any additional medical diagnosis, is a serious and potentially fatal disease.
What constitutes overweight medically? On average, chart weight for a woman is roughly 100 plus the number of inches in height above 5 feet multiplied by 5, and for men, the same formula multiplying each inch above 5 feet times 6. Add 10 pounds based on age over 25, factor in build and ethnicity (African Americans are denser per inch, hence chart weight is slightly higher.) Note: Typical or average weight may increase over the lifespan, but healthy weight does not.
So, what are the features of the disease of overweight?
- To be overweight is inherently to be inflamed
- Overweight causes depression, and likewise depression leads to overeating.
- Insulin resistance is directly proportional to one’s level of accumulated body fat. Hence weight is a direct cause of adult-onset diabetes, and once this develops, insulin resistance leads to rapidly increasing weight and sugar levels spin out of control.
- Every extra pound leads to an extra mile of blood vessels to feed that pound with blood, hence increased heart work and hypertension.
- Extra weight is hard on the joints. Inflammation + overworked joints = osteoarthritis.
- Inflammation, diabetes and hypertension all damage the lining of the blood vessels, hence, heart disease, kidney disease, strokes, blindness, cellulitis, peripheral neuropathy, certain forms of dementia and more.
- Overweight plus diabetes are major underlying causes of atrial fibrillation, a dangerous irregularity of the heart rhythm.
- Overweight often underlies sleep apnea, disturbing restorative sleep.
- Inflammation sets the stage for all cancers.
- Overweight diminishes energy, sometimes profoundly.
- Significant overweight makes surgeries more difficult and dangerous to perform.
In short, when considering your weight goal with your physician, set a goal based on what will make you truly healthy, not what you think is “doable.” When your doctor asks you to lose weight, she is trying to help you to enhance, prolong and even save your life. If your body weight considerably exceeds normal healthy weight, can you really afford to wait get the help you need now? Do not hesitate to seek and find the professional help you need for yourself. You are worth nothing less.
Robin Ellen Leder, M.D., was mentored by Robert Atkins, M.D., author of The Atkins Diet, and has been practicing integrative/alternative medicine for more than 30 years at A Better Alternative Medical Center, in Hackensack.
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