OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2017 - 39

Quality over
quantity
Gabriel Bates

HOW DO WE EXPLAIN the huge

jump in obesity in the last 30
years? Did we all start eating
more and exercising less? Did
everyone on the planet suddenly
undergo a simultaneous genetic
mutation?
We all have an opinion about
obesity. Some people think it's
about laziness. Others think it's
about poor genetics. But almost
everyone believes it's a simple
matter of exercising more and eating less.
Treating the human body as a simplistic piece of
machinery that conforms to simple mathematical
equations has always seemed shortsighted to us. Even
the performance of an automobile engine, which is not
nearly as complex as the human body, is known to be
affected by tire pressure, the grade of fuel or the last
time you had an oil change.
Is it really about eating more and
exercising less?
There is no doubt diet and exercise play a major role
in obesity, but the calorie model leaves more questions
than answers. Many people blame too many calories
and especially high-fat diets as the major reason there
is a problem. But the data don't support this as
strongly as you may think.
A 2004 review in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report showed calorie consumption did not change
much, and fat intake actually decreased between 1971
and 2000. Yet during this time obesity rates
skyrocketed from 14.5 percent to 30.9 percent.
Another report in Obesity (October 2008) showed
dietary carbohydrate intake did increase significantly
during this time, hinting there may be more than a
quantity issue when it comes to food. Not surprisingly
this same study showed adult levels of physical activity
also declined.
But even physical activity levels may not be as big a
factor as once thought. A study by Dr. Edward
Melanson in Exercise and Sport Science Reviews showed
exercise had little metabolic advantage. This study
looked almost exclusively at moderate intensity
aerobic exercise such as jogging, biking and
swimming.
However, there are some hints that more intense
exercise may have a different outcome. In March 2002,
Schuenke et al. showed a circuit resistance-training
program utilizing heavy weights, including short rest

periods and lasting only 31 minutes was able to
generate a significant metabolic effect that persisted for
48 hours.
This was published in the European Journal of
Applied Physiology. The results showed that metabolism
24 hours and 48 hours after the exercise session was
increased by 21 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
The researchers pointed out that for a typical 180pound individual, " This equates to 773 calories
expended post-exercise. "
Genes, lifestyle, hormones and epigenetics
Are people fat because of their genes, or are they fat
because their genes are in the wrong environment?
This is one of the classic arguments of all time, nature
vs. nurture. Are we destined to become what our genes
say, or does our environment shape us?
Many people perceive the DNA of a cell as the cell's
brain. They think that without the genes, the cell will
die. But if the genes are removed from a cell, the cell
goes right on living. It breathes, it makes energy, it gets
rid of wastes and it carries on like any other normal
cell.
This happens because the genes are not the brain of
the cell but, rather, more like your local auto-parts
store. When a cell " part " or protein wears down and
needs to be replaced, the genes hold the instructions
for making a new part.
The cell membrane acts more like a cell's brain. A
cell membrane covers every cell in your body. The
surface of the membrane holds thousands of receptors
that interact with the hormonal signaling molecules of
the body. If you remove these receptors on the cell
membrane, the cell will die.
This relationship has been described by one of the
leading molecular biologists in the country, Dr. Bruce
Lipton. Environmental signals can control what genes
are turned on or off. This is called epigenetics and is
the science of the regulation of gene expression.
Hormones bind to receptors on cell membranes,
setting into motion signals that instruct the cell on
how to behave. It's lifestyle choices that ultimately
determine the hormonal signals sent.
Food, exercise, thoughts, behaviors, light, sound
and other choices act as information for the body that
gets your hormonal software working. While you may
have a gene encoding a defective part, such as, say, the
gene for breast cancer, it's the hormones produced by
your life choices that determine how that gene will be
expressed.
The most compelling example of the environment

Avoid
processed
meats
Here are typical
ingredients:
mechanically separated
chicken, pork, corn
syrup, salt, sodium
lactate, flavor (what's
that?), sodium
phosphates, sodium
diacetate, sodium
erythorbate, dextrose,
sodium nitrate (a
carcinogen), soy
lecithin, potassium
phosphate, potassium
chloride and sugar.
Eeeuuggh. And to think
this stuff gets eaten up
all the time by kids.
In fact, one major
manufacturer of
luncheon meats always
uses cute-looking kids
in its magazine ads.
Don't let these
charming kids fool you.
Processed conventional
meats have absolutely
no redeeming value. If
you want to eat meat,
choose " natural " or
organic pure cuts of
lean poultry and beef. If
you nickel-and-dime
your purchases, then
you'll end up nickeland-diming your (or
your kids') health.
Check out these
ingredients to a popular
pork sausage that's
advertised on TV as a
great part of your
breakfast: pork, water,
corn syrup, sodium
lactate, salt, sugar,
monosodium
glutamate, flavorings,
BHA, BHT, citric acid
and beef collagen
casings.
Who'd ever think that
meat products could be
full of corn syrup and
sugar? And don't forget
the preservatives and
strange oddities like
" beef collagen casings. "

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ARE WE PREDESTINED TO BE FAT?

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OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2017

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