Hormones Can Lead To Diet Failure

                 Asking anyone who has tried to lose weight can tell you… It’s difficult. It’s not always lack of willpower that causes you to not be able to lose the weight. Sometimes, it’s your hormones. Research out of New England Journal of Medicine shows that your hormones that are related to appetite can trigger your body not to lose weight. In the study, 50 overweight and obese people went on a low-calorie diet for 10 weeks.

                  Ghrelin is the hormone that tells your body to eat. Leptin tells the body to stop eating. Evolutionarily speaking, these two hormones are supposed to stop people from becoming obese, but they have done just the opposite. Lots of people are lacking the hormone leptin and just continue to eat. Researchers are coming to an agreement that gaining weight is avoidable, but for most, it’s inevitable.

                  You can’t lose tons of weight by simply dieting alone. The main ingredient to a healthy weight is exercise. Most Americans (women in particular) think that if they follow a certain diet plan and take pills that artificially insert leptin into the body, that they will lose weight. This is not true. Eating healthy (lean meats, vegetables, and cutting back on carbs and sugars) and exercise can truly lead to a healthy weight. You can’t lose 10 pounds a week, and often times weight doesn’t define fitness. Losing fat is what you want to think in your mind, not losing weight. Fat can be visibly seen, weight cannot. Everyone weighs differently and the way your body carries weight can vary. Exercise alone or dieting alone cannot lead to success. You must combine to two to be successful. 

Lawmakers Want To Reduce Food Ads To Children

Here comes another regulation, folks! Lawmakers at Energy and Commerce Committee at the House of Representatives are proposing a law that limits the amount and information in advertising for children. This includes ads on TV channels such as Cartoon Network and Disney Channel. The law says that companies can’t advertise extra salty, fatty, nasty foods for children under the age of 17. Statistics show that 17 percent of children of the ages of 2-17 are obese. That’s a growing number for people who should be outside playing and exercising… And eating healthily. The advertising companies spent $1.6 billion last year on food ads for kids! The proposal also says that food advertising will have no limits as long as they are healthy foods, such as yogurt or grapes. I feel that this all comes back to the parents. When kids see advertisements for Cookie Crisp on TV, they want the cereal. When they’re at the grocery store with their mom, the Cookie Crisp will end up in the cart… This is how kids are becoming obese. Also, characters such as Ronald McDonald are promoting unhealthy eating aimed towards children! Parents should be more aware of these things that gear kids to eat unhealthily. Once kids develop bad eating habits, they will continue to practice those bad habits throughout their life. Parents should pay more attention and recognize that characters like McDonald promote bad eating.

Moms That Eat Healthier Reduce Risk of Child Birth Defects

Most all females in the United States go through child birth at some time in their life. With the rising of obesity, being overweight, and eating unhealthily in the country, this could be a developing issue. More and more kids are being born autistic, having physical defects, or other mental defects… Why is this happening?
One main reason a lot of birth defects occur is from drug and alcohol consumption while the fetus is still developing. Many women still smoke, drink, and do other drugs while they’re pregnant with their child. The reason this can be a problem is because the fetus relies completely on the mother. Anything she consumes can be, and will be passed on to the child. As the child is developing, they can take in the toxins from cigarette smoke and alcoholic drinks.
Another problem with women eating poorly is the diet itself. Many pre-packaged, processed foods contain unnecessary fats, sugars, and unknown chemicals. Pretty much all modern pre-packaged foods are unhealthy, and can factor into birth defects.
I personally think women should treat pregnancy more seriously. You only have one chance to give birth and mother a child, so you might want to take it more seriously. Women should try to eat healthier and stay off alcohol and cigarettes, so that they can have a healthy child.