Obesity is a very serious issue and one that will impact all of us. Australia is one of the fattest countries in the world. Being overweight or obese is a key marker to being pre-diabetic, and diabetes rates are going through the roof. That's a real worry for all of us, not just because of the huge personal impact that diabetes has on the sufferer but because of the enormous cost it imposes on the health system. In the US between 2007 and 2012, the estimated costs (direct medical and indirect costs) have increased 41% to $245bn per annum.
The cost of diabetes will drown all other medical and healthcare costs and could present a threat to national stability unless something changes.
The increased number of overweight and obese people is clear for us all to see. A walk round the local shopping mall just goes to show how unhealthy and overweight the general population has become. But I started to think about what I was seeing and thought that people - particularly fat and overweight young girls - looks more like swelling than just being fat. It looks like someone has been overinflated. You can practically see the individual fat cells being over-filled and becoming swollen.
I had become very concerned how our lifestyle expectations drove us to sugar and carbs. Kids birthdays are a sugar free-for-all, and they come round regularly. 'Have a glass of juice' as the healthy option. Cereal and toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch. We literally walk around flooded with insulin all day long. What effect does that have on the body?
I then came across the Bulletproof Exec and the Bulletproof Diet recommendations, written by Dave Asprey. This made total sense to me because Dave puts foods under a microscope to look at the inflammatory response they provoke in the body. Grains and sugar score poorly because of the insulin response they generate, although you can argue that wheat and other gluten-containing foods also cause gut inflammation. Dave's recommendations are aligned with the Paleo lifestyle movement in general but provide further fine-tuning.
Once I saw that, there was no going back. I looked at myself in the mirror, the insidious weight that had crept on year after year, the feeling of fuzzy-brain and lethargy. I knew Dave's recommendations made sense given my own reflections
Since then I've become a Paleo convert. I receive Mark's Daily Apple posts every day (sign up - it's free!). I've listened to about 100 hours of Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution podcast so far. I think Gary Taubes is really onto something. I've immersed myself up to my eyes in Chris Kresser's work to understand what my blood-test cholesterol results mean for my health and should I be worried. I've visited a number of doctors until I found one who 'gets it'. I've started working with a personal trainer. I've converted my wife and (mostly) my kids. I've lost 16kg and feel better than I have for years. My BMI is now within 'normal' range.
I really feel like I've turned things around and avoided descending into the diabesity trap that the majority of the population appear to be disappearing into. I feel like I got out just in time. It is possible and it's not that hard when you're able to frame things correctly. But you have to be prepared to go against all the 'official guidelines', throw out your ingrained understanding of what's 'healthy', try things, tweak and tune, and do a lot of thinking. But things can be different, and turning things around takes us to make a change one person at a time.
Image from The Great Cholesterol Myth - Bowden, Sinartra
