OBESITY

It is very important to watch weight, not allowing oneself to become too thin or to fat, but trying to remain ideal. Most youngsters in their teens, if they are healthy and active, are fairly close to the ideal weight for their size and age. Changes often come in the late twenties, reducing a person’s physical fitness. Sluggish habits begin to develop as the individual loses his skill in running, swimming or healthy activities.

When greater quantities of energy (in the form of food) enter the body than are expended., the body weight increases. Therefore, obesity is caused by excess energy input over energy output. In other words, extra weight is due to extra eating. For each 9.3 Calories of excess energy that enters the body, one gram of fat is stored.

Excess energy input occurs only during the development phase of obesity. Once a person has become obese, all that is required to remain obese so that the energy input equals the energy output. For a person to reduce in weight, the input must be less than the output. People with large bones and well-developed muscles may seem somewhat overweigh compared with those of lighter build. But actually the lighter person may carry around more fat. His muscles may be weak and underdeveloped.

How many calories do one need per day. It all depends on a number of things, such as the kind of work one do, age, body build and how active one is. A hard working labourer may require 5,000 calories per day. His wife, who is busy around the house all day, may need 2500 calories. But an office secretary may require only 1800 calories a day. It all depends on how active one is.

About one third of the energy used each day by the normal person goes into muscular activity, and in the laborer, as much as two third or occasionally three fourth is used. Because muscular activity is by far the most important means by which energy is used in the body, it is frequently said that obesity in the otherwise normal person results from too high a ratio of food intake to daily exercise.
Different causes of obesity:

The rate of feeding is normally regulated in proportion to the energy stores in the body. When these stores exceed a normal level for a normal person, feeding is automatically reduced to prevent over storage.

A large number of obesity results from psychogenic factors. The most important psychogenic factor contributing to obesity so the prevalent idea that healthy eating habits require three meals a day and each meal must be filling.

Many young children are forced into this habit by their parents. Some people also gain weight during or after stressful situations, such as the death of a parent, a severe illness, or even mental depression. Some people think that eating as a means of relieving tension.
Lesions in the ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus cause an animal to eat excessively and become obese. Such lesions also cause excess insulin production, which in turn increases fat deposition. In addition, many people with hypophysial tumors that develops on the hypothalamus result in progressive obesity.

Obesity definitely runs in families. Furthermore, identical twins usually maintain weight levels within 2 ponds of each other throughout life if they live under similar conditions, or within 5 pounds of each other if their conditions of life differ markedly.

The rate of formation of new fat cells is especially rapid in the first few years of life, and the greater the rate of fat storage, the greater also becomes the number of fat cells. In obese children, the number of fat cells is often as much as three times that in normal children. Therefore it has been observed that over nutrition of children especially in infancy and to a lesser extent during the later years of childhood can lead to a lifetime of obesity.

HOME REMEDIES FOR OBESITY

· A balanced diet should be taken. Include reasonable amounts of potatoes and also take whole grain cereals in you diet.

· Stop nibbling between meals. Train yourself to get along less food. You will enjoy living on a reduced diet.

· Be careful about “ left – over. Mostly housewives put on weight because they hate to see food wasted. It is better to prepare less food and avoid the problem of “ left
– over”.

· Take exercise everyday. Walking is the best exercise. Burn up unwanted calories by putting large leg muscles to work.

· Excess sugar and fat is high in calories but low in food value. Never take Ice- cream, pastry, rich cakes and sweets.

· Meals should be well prepared, smaller and attractively arranged on the table. Enjoy your meals.

· Eating regularly but sparingly is the best way to lose weight.

· Be sure to have a good & light breakfast: Breakfast will carry you through the day.

· Your diet should include green leafy vegetables, tomatoes and carrots. They are low in calories, but high in vitamins and minerals and have real food value.

· Prepare a mixture by adding 1/4 teaspoon powdered black pepper, 3-teaspoon limejuice, and 1-teaspoon honey in 1 cup water. Drink this mixture for 3-4 months. It may be helpful in weight loss for obese and overweight people.

· Every morning drink a glass full of water mixed with limejuice and some honey.

· Eating a tomato in the morning before breakfast for 3 to 4 months may be helpful in losing weight

· Eating 10-12 fully grown curry leaves every morning for 3 to 4 months. It may prove beneficial for the obese people in losing weight.

· A handful of jujube or Indian plum leaves should be soaked overnight in water and this water should be taken in the morning, preferably on an empty stomach. This treatment should be continued for at least one month to achieve good results.

· Cabbage is considered to be an excellent home remedy for obesity. Adding cabbage in a meal would be the simplest way to fight with the obesity.

· Finger millet is an ideal food for the obese, because its digestion is slow and due to this, the carbohydrates take a longer time to get absorbed.

· Preparations made of ragi, is helpful in decreasing the constant desire to eat, thus reducing the daily calorie intake. At the same time, ragi supplies an abundant quantity of calcium, phosphorus, iron, Vitamin B1 and B2 and prevents malnutrition in spite of restricted food.

· Avoid intake of too much salt, as it may be a factor for increasing body weight.

· Chutney of green mint with some simple spices can be taken with meals. Mint tea also helps. Mint is very helpful in losing weight.

· Chew a thin slice of fresh ginger root a few minutes before meals. Or grate a little ginger, mix with some lemon juice and salt, and eat a pinch or two.

· Have a cup of dandelion root tea thrice daily.

· In children above 8 years take 1 teaspoon of himmaj churna with half a cup of lukewarm water at least twice a day.

· Drink 16 ounces of water 1 hour before each meal and before bedtime.