OUR THREE MAIN FACTORS TO WEIGHT GAIN:

Genetic Factors: These are the forces inside each of us that make us gain weight and stay overweight. Personal Factors & Socio-cultural Factors: These are the outside forces that contribute to the overweight/obesity epidemic. These three factors are so intertwined that we have to discuss them as one. (Please refer to May 13 article for details)

Genetic is not to be blamed, biology is not a destiny. Diet and lifestyle can counteract the genetic tendency to be overweight. I was dumb founded when a seven year old, almost 100-lb boy came to our clinic last year with blood chemistry results of high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high uric acid. The mother told me almost in a panic that she did not want her son to take children’s statin medicine, which his doctor prescribed. It was then that I realized the epidemic is real and gravely affecting our children, the hope of the future. Through the years, I have seen how much our health and happiness depend on what we eat, drink, think, and put in our bodies as individuals and as a nation.

The obesity epidemic did not come to the Philippines like Haiyan (Yolanda), rather it slowly grew year after year with the increase of fast foods. The Philippines was home to some of the leanest populations on the globe, according to an ADB friend from the Netherlands. Sadly, we are now official members of the “fast food-fat profit” nations! Do we need to have cancer and/or chronic disease before we fight the obesity epidemic?

Slowing the increases in obesity and turning around the epidemic will be like the fight of David and Goliath. We need large-scale, multifaceted efforts from individuals, communities, government and non-government sectors, educators, media and all countries across the globe to arrest this epidemic. What we are up against is bigger than smoking and tobacco companies. Who are we up against? The GIANT fast and junk food industries!

“Junk food” contributes large amount of calories with excessive amounts of substances known to cause harm to the human body: fat, salts, sugar, additives, flavoring, food coloring and little or no nutritional value. Most “junk food” falls into the categories of either “snack food” or “fast food.” Fast-and junk-food companies have a habit of marketing their products in specific ways to entice consumers, regardless of gender, age, education and economic status. Most of all, the industry specifically targets kids and teens. When a person chooses a brand at a young age, they tend to remain loyal to it.

The Extraordinary Science and Engineering Behind Food Addiction.

Food scientists specialize in formulas that continuously create addiction using sensory feel, sugar, salt and fats. That optimum amount of salt, sugar, and fat that sends consumers over the moon is called the “bliss point.” Scientists adjust the distribution and shape of fat globules to affect their absorption rate, as well as factors such as crunchiness to produce an appealing “mouthfeel”—that is, the way the food feels inside a person’s mouth that causes consumers to crave more. They also alter the shape of salt crystals, pulverizing them into fine powder to hit the taste buds faster and harder. This improves what the company calls its “flavor burst.” Hyper-palatable junk foods activate the same pathways in the brain as drugs of abuse like nicotine and cocaine. (Michael Moss, New York Times). The holy grail of junk food science is “vanishing caloric density”, where food melts in your mouth so quickly that the brain is fooled into thinking it’s hardly consuming any calories at all and we can just keep eating forever.

We live in an “obesogenic” environment: a plethora of fast food outlets continuously enticing us to eat larger portions of junk foods, a world dominated by sedentary pursuits, too much television, and too little physical activity and sleep. With this increasingly grim picture of the public’s ability to cope with the industry’s formulations, from the body’s fragile controls on overeating to the hidden power of some processed foods to make people feel hungrier still, can WE turn around the “Globesity” Epidemic? Stay tuned for the next issue.

Meanwhile, try the Green Secret’s juice to stop craving sugar & junk foods. . . (Make sure to scrub and wash well all vegetables and fruits before juicing). It is a MUST to use organic vegetables only.

• 1 bunch kale or camote tops
• 1 large handful of malunggay leaves with stem
• 1 lime
• 2 cups mint leaves
• 2 pears
• 1 stalk celery

Juice all ingredients using your masticating juicer. Stir and serve at room temperature or chilled, as desired.

Together, we can bring about change for our children and the generations to come. Let us take a stand against the junk and fast food industries who would like us all to sit in the dark munching & drinking on their highly processed, genetically engineered, chemical-laden, pesticide contaminated pseudo foods & drinks . For more information and questions, please email me at [email protected].

Christine E.V. Gonzalez is a doctor of naturopathic medicine and holds PhDs
in holistic nutrition and natural medicine. LLM (MS Environmental Laws & Labor)
©Wellness Institute International (632) 656-WELL (9355) • (046) 483-0115 (0917) 888-HEAL • (0920) 958- HEAL (4325)