The Science of Weight Loss

I prepared a presentation to share at a nearby library on natural weight loss and thought it might be a topic that would interest many of you. My information comes from Young Living conferences I've attended, the 2014 Food Revolution summit talks, books and other sources. There are a ton of weight loss books, diets, fads, and "experts" on health and nutrition. Much of the information conflicts. How do you know who to believe?

I suggest you take a moment to listen to your own inner voice. I know for me that there is some mis-information that I want to believe because it would mean that I don't have to give up something that I'm attached to. When I take a good honest look at my options, and I take the time to listen to my common sense or my inner voice, what is healthy is usually pretty obvious.

I can weigh my decision against available statistics and scientific studies (being aware of who funded the study and how it was conducted), and also what seems to be working for those who are healthiest and most vibrant.

Here's a startling statistic. In 1950, 22% of a family's annual income was spent on food, while 5% was spent on health care. Today, 9% is spent on food, while 18% is spent on health care. How can our spending on food be so little when the cost of groceries keeps rising, unless we are buying cheaper, government subsidized, processed foods instead of real foods?

An old proverb states, "When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need." That really is profound. Hippocrates stated, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."  It is clear that as a culture we have completely lost the notion of food being healing. We do not consider how what we eat affects each cell of the body.

As Mark Hyman, M.D. states, in the 2014 Food Revolution summit, food is both the cause of illness and the solution to it. That should be a hopeful statement. Many of the ills we face can be reversed or healed by simply eating the food that God made, not the food that man made.

Dr. Hyman helped 15,000 members of Saddleback Church lose a collective 250,000 pounds utilizing this principal in what he calls the "Daniel plan".  Dr. Hyman points out that losing weight is not just about having more willpower. It is a chemical battle and requires detoxing our cells in order to be successful.

An example of this battle involves sugar. Sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine. Animals that were shocked every time they ate sugar continued to eat the sugar despite the shock. Sound familiar. How many times do I eat something sweet, even though I know it will give me a headache, cause indigestion or raise blood sugar to unhealthy levels?

The food industry acutally has "cravability experts" who research and create chemicals that alter brain chemistry, hormones, genes, metabolism and create a true battle within. Dr. Hyman calles the issue a psychobiological one.

Have you thought about a detox lately? In 10 days, you can reset your brain chemistry and stress levels and "own your body again". Detoxing helps you reclaim your taste buds, gather confidence and create a plan of attack once your detox is done. After detoxing, you don't want to jump right back into what you did before or you'll get exactly what you had before. Check out past blogs for details on the Master Cleanse and other detoxes.

It was also stated that sharing a journey to better health with others is the best way to increase your chances of success. In fact, those who partnered with another person in detoxing and changing their diet lost twice as much weight as those who decided to "go it alone".

Dr. Hyman has a key role in a new movie that is coming out soon called "Fed Up". Check out the trailer and take the pledge to be sugar free for 10 days.

Are you fed up yet with the craziness of the food industry and government policy when it comes to food and health? If you are, watch for the movie, plan to bring a friend and keep moving forward on your journey to better health.