THE reason why you are fat is because of all that has been going through your mouth (food and drinks] into your body. As I have pointed out in the past, our method of preparing the meals that we eat render them dead by the time they get to the dining table. The food has been so over ' cooked as to kill all the nutrients and vitamins in it. This kind of food, otherwise known as 'dead' food is highly acidic (low pH anywhere from 0 ' 6.9.)This is a serious matter as the acids in the body cause a destruction of the cells of the tissues and organs. With excess acid in circulation, the body has to protect itself from the destruction by these acids. It is well known that fat cells in the body bind the acid in circulation. The reason why the body produces or retains fat in the first place, is to help transport the acid to the sites where they are eliminated; acids are eliminated from the intestines, the skin and the urinary system.Secondly, as not all the acids get eliminated, some amount of acid is stored in the fat cells where they can be buffered and neutralised. Looking at it therefore from another perspective, the fat in the body is doing a positive and good job in the short term. As the fat cells store the acid, they are actually protecting the body against acid destruction. However, this positive job will eventually give way to a negative one as more and more acid is released and accumulate in the body.A lot of fat will have to be produced, absorbed and retained as excess acid accumulates. Excessive acid accumulation as we know is as a result of dehydration, which renders the circulation slow and sluggish. Not only that, availability of oxygen to the cells become impaired, leading to a reduction in the rate of metabolism and incomplete metabolism.Incomplete metabolism creates more acid waste in the body. As the oxygen supply to the cells continues to fall, food will begin to get rotten in the bowels causing the release of more toxic and acidic wastes in the body. Also, because there's not enough oxygen, fermentation of the food takes over. Fermentation causes the production of molds, fungus and yeasts all over the body. These are living organisms that compete for nutrients with the normal cells in the body, producing more acid in the process. With more acid, more fat cells will be required to store them.Furthermore, we find that the cells of the body begin to perform their roles of energy production, production and secretion of hormones and other chemical transmitters, poorly. The end result is that the body goes into a vicious cycle leading to excess fat in the body (obesity), sluggishness, fatigue, fungal infection and other diseases. The genesis of all these is that you were not drinking sufficient water in the first place. When you begin to drink water as you should, the blood circulation will improve and the acids will be eliminated as fast as they are produced. Without acid accumulating in the body, the need for fat to bind the acid in a bid to protect the body against destruction will no longer be there. For one, the fat deposits will melt away when they are no longer binding acid. There are no fat deposits in the body without acid bound to them.Therefore, if there is no acid in the body, there will also be no fat deposits that could cause excess weight gain. Next week I shall show how to neutralise and eliminate the excess acid from the body. For now, let me discuss yet another cause of obesity. Last Thursday, I did say that the brain derives its energy from two main sources: glucose and water. It is usually easier and faster for the brain to access the 'hydroelectric' energy of water for its functions.However, in a state of dehydration and because of the sluggishness of the circulation, the brain generates the sensation for thirst and hunger at the same time. In most cases and in majority of human beings the sensation for hunger may overshadow the sensation for thirst and the individual responds by eating food instead of drinking water to supply the immediate needs of the brain. For some people, the problem is their inability to differentiate between the two sensations and chose to eat whenever these sensations come.More often than not, people who are obese live a sedentary lifestyle; they do not exercise their muscles sufficiently to use up excess energy. It is said that the brain is 1/50th the weight of the body, it is made up of nine trillion cells and 20 per cent of the circulation goes through the brain. The brain utilizes this amount of the glucose and other nutrients in the circulation. What this means is that the remaining 80 per cent of the nutrients will not be used up because of their lifestyle; there is not sufficient exercise for the muscles to be able to consume all those nutrients for their functions. At the end of the day the excess get stored as glucose, protein and fats.'If the food is sweet but does not have any calories, what happens'' This is the poser I closed with last Thursday. What happens is that it will lead to obesity. There are some people who consume a lot of 'soft drinks' thinking that these are a good replacement for water. Even though these soft drinks contain water they are never a substitute for water because of certain other substances they contain. There are some beverages called diet soda, so they are called in certain other climes. These diet sodas are produced with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, which is 180 times sweeter than sugar but does not contain any appreciable number of calories.The soft drinks contain glucose and caffeine. These are both diuretics (they cause you to urinate more than usual), which add to your state of dehydration, which as we have already seen makes you overweight. The sweetness of the diet soda stimulates the taste buds on the tongue sending a signal to the brain that some energy food like glucose is coming into the body.The brain in turn sends a signal to the liver to stop the breakdown of the stores of glucose and protein in the body. The liver switches from breakdown to storage. Because the diet soda has no calories hunger will persist in such an individual. This hunger is triggered off by the liver and the result is that the individual will continue to overeat not being able to explain why the persistent creation of appetite. Those that drink diet sodas in an attempt to lose weight are usually left with a residual hunger that leads to increased food consumption and finally obesity. Next Thursday I shall be writing on 'Tackling obesity in Nigeria the correct way.
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