Can low carbohydrate diet make you slim?

Obesity research is basically an attempt to explain attitude of slim people towards obese. Some doctors don’t want to deal with obese patients because they think; they are dealing with someone non sensitive towards his/her own health. Obesity is beyond control of obese person. There could be genetic, hormonal or metabolic reasons behind altered physiology.

Intake of carbohydrates (sugar and starches) and fat generally blamed for getting obese or overweight. My great grandfather died at the age of 105 year and his diet was always rich in fat and protein with optimal amount of carbohydrates, but he remained slim and active throughout his life. The narrative that dietary fat causes heart attack is an absurd idea. I wonder to learn that Dr. Atkin’s New Diet Revolution also suggested high-fat diet to minimize the risk of heart disease. On the contrary low-fat and low-carbohydrate (low calorie) diet being recommended by the physicians could be more harmful for your heart. Diet rich in fat and low in carbohydrates improves the level of HDL and reduces the level of LDL in our blood, which is said to be healthy environment for our heart. Fat rich and low-carb diet also controls blood pressure and insulin level. The low-fat diet which people have been eating with hopes of protecting heart has been bad for heart ‘actually’ as it is rich in carbohydrates.

Our bodies burn carbohydrates along with fat to generate energy. Carbohydrates are burned first and fat later by our bodies. So, by drastically reducing carbohydrates and eating more fat and proteins, our bodies would ‘definitely’ reduce weight by burning stored body fat more efficiently for fuel and energy. When your body changes from carbohydrate burning engine to fat burning engine, our fat storing spots (belly, hips and thighs) become a source of energy; and we lose weight in spite of eating fat rich food with little or no carbohydrates. When this happens, we feel less hungry and tend to eat less.

Low carbohydrate diet would ‘definitely’ make you slim.

Understanding Obesity

Basically the term obesity means excess of body weight due to increase in adipose tissue-mass. It is important to understand the cause of obesity for its effective management. Weight measures in excess of 'ideal body weight' with reference to normal range ideal for age, sex, height and body built. To define obesity we should measure the adiposity by measuring the skinfold thickness at triceps (normal: 23mm in males and 27mm in females) or at inter scapular region (normal: 35mm in males and 42mm in females). In most of the cases the obesity is due to overeating while in minority it could be associated with the metabolic and endocrine disorders. Beyond certain degree, obesity may increase the state of morbidity and cause associated diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), gall stones, osteoarthritis etc.

Understanding patient's eating habits, likes & dislikes, temperaments, lifestyle, work schedules and adaptability to environment are important to decide a course of treatment. Compliance of doctor's advice is important for effective treatment of obesity. Dietary measurements, exercise and slimming pills are always helpful in controlling the obesity. Treatment of associated metabolic or endocrine disorders should be pursued effectively.

Dietary management:

A variety of dietary schedules ranging from zero calorie to isocaloric high protein diets are available for the treatment of obesity. Diet should be adjusted in such a way that weight loss is not in excess of one kg/week. For the success of diet regime it is important to keep a balance between 'forbidden' and 'permitted' items. Too much recommendation of low carbohydrate diet sometimes leads to a notion that non-carbohydrate diets are absolutely harmless. Rapid weight loss through zero calorie diet or fasting may sometimes be non productive as the weight lost due to loss of water would be regained quickly. The 'ad lib' items should be salads and leafy vegetables.

Exercise:

Exercise is known to increase calorie expenditure and thus leads to loss of adiposity. Exercise also increases our metabolic rate and thus supports the weight loss. In practice, however, exercise alone cannot be sufficient way to try to reduce weight. Exercise along with dietary control is good for both the general fitness and weight loss.

Anti-obesity drugs:

There are a variety of drugs for combating the food-obesity axis. There are drugs for decreasing appetite, digestion, absorption and inhibiting lipogenesis. There drugs for increasing heat production or thermogenesis. The drug treatment of obesity is not very promising, as the majority of drugs at effective therapeutic level have been found toxic.

Management of Knee Pain

There are around 150 joints in our body and the Knee joint is most afflicted by disease or injury. The knee joint bears the brunt of our body weight and pain in this joint affects our mobility. Knee injury, immunological disorders, rheumatoid arthritis and gouty arthritis in addition to age related bone disorders may complicate the problem. Early management of pain and care of knee joints could be helpful to prevent any deformity and disability. Knee pain may be at front, back or at inner or outer side of knee joint. Our body weight exerts pressure on our knee joints during we walk, run or climb stairs. Pressure force on knee joint is almost 5 to 6 times more when we climb stairs as compared to when we walk on leveled ground or road. The size of our hips also affects pressure on our knee joints. Individuals with broader hips are at more risk to develop knee pain. Both the young and old people can be inflicted by knee pain but site of pain may vary person to person.

Tips to manage knee pain:

• Consult your family doctor or bone & joint expert for an early diagnosis.
• At home, early treatment involves wrapping with crepe bandage and elevation of knees to prevent swelling.
• Obesity is the major factor for the knee problem, so body weight control should be your first priority.
• Avoid climbing stairs and do non-impact exercise like walking or stationary cycling.
• Use sports shoes as these would help to reduce impact shock while walking.
• Warm oil or pain relieving liniment, spray or gel can be applied to knee joint and injured muscles.
• Try to keep your knees straight while sitting in a chair.
• Join rehabilitation exercise program to strengthen the muscles involved in injury and to regain power & coordination of the knee joint movement.
• Keep in touch with your physician for proper medication to avoid osteoarthritis.