Naturopathy Causes and Treatment of Obesity and Weight Loss

Naturopathy Causes and Treatment of Obesity and Weight Loss

Weight loss is an interesting topic. The global figure is changing. Being overweight is primarily an issue of health. If you don't believe me carry around a ten-kilo bag of potatoes for a day and you will soon realise the strain this places on your heart.

Naturopathy Causes and Treatment of Obesity and Weight Loss

Excess weight in terms of complementary medicine is seen as an excess condition of toxicity that needs to be eliminated. Did you know that central obesity is as much linked to cardiovascular disease as cigarette smoking? However there is no add campaign telling us that fast food will lead to gangrene, although it can. Obesity is associated with complications in pregnancy, heart disease, late onset diabetes and certain cancers, in particular those related to oestrogen and the gastrointestinal tract.

Alarmingly I find that women of a healthy weight are now described as skinny and overweight women are accepted as the norm because they are the majority. People often have an excuse as to why they are overweight. Age, menopause, slow metabolism, child bearing, convenience and big bones, are some excuses people use. From a naturopathic perspective, there are legitimate reasons why people may gain weight that can be identified and addressed.

Why Diets Don't Work

We feel deprived.

Diets perpetuate an unhealthy obsession with food.

We go on them to go off them. Why not just find a good one!

Diets often provide inadequate nutrition.

Diets treat the symptom and not the causes.

Diets upset the bodies' metabolism, slowing down our Basal Metabolic Rate BMR.

Diets don't address cravings.

Diets don't work alone, often needed in combination with counselling and ongoing support networks.

Effective Weight Loss Measures

You must sweat you must go hungry

Have reasonable expectations i.e. 1kg /week.

Include a realistic intake of energy.

Ensure diet is nutritionally adequate.

Reduce meal portions or have five small meals per day.

Eat complex carbohydrates, nuts and seeds, legumes and grains and fat

to give satiety.

Eat food high in fibre to slow digestion and increase satiety.

Relax, take a deep breath, and eat slowly.

Select food low in saturated fats i.e. red meat, milk and cheese.

Limit sugar, supermarket foods low in fat are high in sugar.

Drink 6-8 glasses of room temperature water a day

Exercise, exercise, exercise to increase your BMR. Buy that wet weather gear.

Follow the rules of healthy eating for life and not a diet for weeks/months.

Naturopathic Causes Weight Gain and Obesity

Excess calories consumption and deficient exercise

Blood sugar imbalance AKA Insulin Resistance

Functional hypothyroid AKA Low Basal Metabolic Rate

Deficiency of good fats EFAs leading to decreased Thermogenesis

Low stomach acid AKA Hypochlorydria

Sluggish liver AKA fatty liver

Naturopathic Treatment Principles for Weight loss in Obesity

Balance blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity

Boost the BMR

Stimulate thermogenesis

Increase stomach acid

Improve liver function

Insulin Resistance and obesity

Insulin resistance (IR) is a physiological condition where the natural hormone, insulin, becomes less effective at lowering blood sugars leading to hyperglycaemia and resultant health problems. Certain cell types such as fat and muscle cells require insulin to absorb glucose. When these cells fail to respond adequately to circulating insulin, blood glucose levels rise. The liver helps regulate glucose levels by reducing its secretion of glucose in the presence of insulin. This normal reduction in the liver's glucose production may not occur in people with insulin resistance. See also Carahealth health articles, Insulin resistance.