Three out of four American adults are now overweight or obese, and the numbers continue to rise. It is a national health crisis that has been growing for decades.
Experts have been suggesting that dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles are the major factors for the rising incidence of unwanted weight gain, and keep insisting on the same message: eat less, move more, try harder.
Evidence shows that people, aware of the health consequences of obesity, are dieting, exercising and, in general, trying harder. If willpower worked, obesity would not exist. Yet the number of people gaining weight continues to rise.
When a problem grows while people are genuinely trying to implement the solution, it is time to consider the possibility that the solution may be missing something important.
Let me suggest a different way to look at the problem and the solution: The body is responding normally, but to the wrong signals.
Hunger is not an intellectual or emotional issue. It is a biological process that provides over 100 nutrients needed for the body’s healthy functioning. When your body lacks the nutrients it needs, your brain creates hunger. When you eat food that contains essential nutrients, you feel satisfied. In short, your brain tells you when to eat, what to eat and how much to eat, based on the need for energy and nutrients.
Most prescribed diets focus on restriction: fewer calories, smaller portions, less food. But restriction without nourishment tells the brain that survival may be threatened. The brain does not care about diet rules. It cares about staying alive. When the food intake control center detects declining energy or missing nutrients, it triggers hunger and/or increases cravings. That is why dieting often feels like fighting your own mind. Eventually, biology wins. Weight regain is not failure; it is the body reacting to what it perceives as a threat. Let me explain.
In the modern dietary environment, the base of most available, affordable and conveniently packaged foods is complex carbohydrates from cultivated grains, which, upon digestion, release a large quantity of glucose into the blood. When food lacks essential nutrients, the brain does not feel satisfied and continues to signal for more, leading you to reach for the same foods. When refined carbohydrates are the main carriers of needed nutrients, blood sugar rises quickly and insulin is released proportionately. If the blood sugar spike results in excess insulin release, that could lead to a sugar crash and your brain demands even more food. This means that when your metabolism is confused by modern food, your brain keeps pushing you to eat. This is not weakness—it is survival biology.
In addition, insulin prompts the liver to convert the excess glucose into fat and this leads to weight gain. At the same time, when blood sugar levels drop, nerve cells and red blood cells, which primarily rely on glucose for energy, signal the control center that fuel is low. In response, the control center creates the sensation of hunger and prompts muscles that can easily generate energy from fat to get up, move and procure food. This is not a lack of discipline. It is a biological reaction that leads to overeating and weight gain. This creates a powerful loop: eat, spike, crash, crave, eat again. That loop—not lack of willpower or laziness—is what drives overeating and weight gain.
In other words, weight gain itself is not the disease, as evidenced by people who are classified as obese but medically healthy. But when weight gain leads to metabolic disturbances, it is a signal that the system is out of balance. Just as a fever signals infection, weight gain signals metabolic stress. Breaking the thermometer does not cure the fever, and shaming weight does not fix metabolism.
This series exists to challenge the stories we have been told about weight and diabetes. I will explain why some common explanations do not hold up and what actually drives weight gain and rising blood sugar. This is not about quick fixes or extreme diets. It is about learning the workings of your body so that you can modify your food habits based on understanding the biology rather than fighting it.
When you understand the system, you can change the outcome.
Next in the series:
Why Sugar Is So Hard to Quit
The author of the award-winning book, Diabetes: The Real Cause and the Right Cure, and Nationally Syndicated Columnist, Dr. John Poothullil, advocates for patients struggling with the effects of adverse lifestyle conditions.
Dr. John’s books, available on Amazon, have educated and inspired readers to take charge of their health. You can take many steps to make changes in your health, but Dr. John also empowers us to demand certain changes in our healthcare system. His latest book, Beat Unwanted Weight Gain, reveals the seven most essential strategies for shedding pounds—and keeping them off for good.
Follow or contact Dr. John at drjohnonhealth.com.
John Poothullil practiced medicine as a pediatrician and allergist for more than 30 years, with 27 of those years in the state of Texas. He received his medical degree from the University of Kerala, India in 1968, after which he did two years of medical residency in Washington, DC and Phoenix, AZ and two years of fellowship, one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the other in Ontario, Canada. He began his practice in 1974 and retired in 2008. He holds certifications from the American Board of Pediatrics, The American Board of Allergy & Immunology, and the Canadian Board of Pediatrics.During his medical practice, John became interested in understanding the causes of and interconnections between hunger, satiation, and weight gain. His interest turned into a passion and a multi-decade personal study and research project that led him to read many medical journal articles, medical textbooks, and other scholarly works in biology, biochemistry, physiology, endocrinology, and cellular metabolic functions. This eventually guided Dr. Poothullil to investigate the theory of insulin resistance as it relates to diabetes. Recognizing that this theory was illogical, he spent a few years rethinking the biology behind high blood sugar and finally developed the fatty acid burn switch as the real cause of diabetes.Dr. Poothullil has written articles on hunger and satiation, weight loss, diabetes, and the senses of taste and smell. His articles have been published in medical journals such as Physiology and Behavior, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Journal of Women’s Health, Journal of Applied Research, Nutrition, and Nutritional Neuroscience. His work has been quoted in Woman’s Day, Fitness, Red Book and Woman’s World.Dr. Poothullil resides in Portland, OR and is available for phone and live interviews.To learn more buy the books at: amazon.com/author/drjohnpoothullil
Visit drjohnonhealth.com to learn more. You can also contact him at john@drhohnonhealth.com.
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