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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1999)
(Ttje Sfiori land (©bserver Focus March 31, 1999 Page 5 D cbvj, M in t* & S p ir it I f Your Fat Isn't Your Fault, Then Whose Fault Is It? sity is v iew ed a n d tr e a te d as a throughout the body. B y C arol S imontacci wholistic issue, weight loss is not the C ontributing W riter only b en efit achieved. “W eight los “Doctor, I’m struggling to keep my Food Cravings e rs” will n otice an in crease in e n A re you struggling with cravings weight under control I’ve tried everything; Diets, exercise, even fasting but I’m stuck for non-foods like chocolate or sug ergy, im proved digestion an d u tili ars? N utritionists often note that de z a tio n o f n u tr ie n ts , in im p ro v ed The weight just won’t budge...” ability to m ake wise food choices, If you have stru g g led for years ficiencies in certain m inerals may trig g e r c a rb o h y d r a te /s u g a r with a bulging waistline th at you just can ’t get u n d e r control using the cur cravings. For exam ple, m agne ren t diet th eo ry of “calories in/calo- sium deficiency often leads to ries on,” d o n ’t feel alone. G rim -faced sweet cravings th at disap p ear as so o n researchers tell us as m a g th a t over 92% of n e s iu m all d ie ts u l t i levels are m a te ly fa il. E i b ro u g h t th e r th e w e ig h t b a c k to do esn ’t budge or n o r m a l. piles back on, re B a c a u se lentlessly. la rg e T hough an a m o u n ts enorm ous am ount of m ag o f re s e a rc h h as n e s iu m been done on our a r e grow ing problem fo u n d in of obesity showing t h e that weight m an “ em o ag em en t m ay or tio n a l, may not be related th o u g h t to caloric intake, Carol Simontacci a n d this guilt-based ap m em ory cen ter of the b ra in ” proach isn’t changing. Every day, the (the hippocam us), deficiencies public is bom b ard ed w ith a simple m ay form th e em otional envi message: lower your fat intake and your stom ach will shrink. U nfortu ro n m e n t w hich en co u rag es nately for all of us, weight m anage c a r b o h y d r a te c ra v in g s . In o th er words, m agnesium defi m ent isn’t that simple. Losing weight ciency creates feelings of sad and keeping it off is m ore th an just a “m outh issue”. It is a m atter of learn ness w hich creates th e need for chocolate! ing why and how we gained weight to W hile m agnesium appears begin with - issues that may have little a b u n d a n tly th ro u g h o u t th e or nothing to do with dietary intake. food chain, A m ericans seem to be taking in far less than RDA Female, Forty, Fat - And Frustrated (300-350 m g /d ay ). P ossibly Two fem ale horm ones, estrogen three-quarters of the American and progesterone, wield an enorm ous population may consum e less influence over how the body manages than RDA levels, and if assess its calories and may, in fact, make it m en ts on m agnesium statu s difficult for women to lose weight on were done on dieters, that fig the most pristine diet. Many women gain their excess weight durin g peri ure may jum p to 100%. ods of horm one im balance such as pu Really, Whose Fault Is It? berty, post-childbirth, and menopause W hile we cannot ignore the because d u ring those periods of life, fact that most Americans make estrogen is inadequately opposed by p o o r choices when it comes to progesterone. E strogen d o m in an ce diet selection, thin people are pulls down the function of the thyroid driven by th e sam e com pul gland and lowers the m etabolic rate sions to overeat o r poorly-eat of the body (the speed at which the body operates) with sym ptom s rang as th eir overweight friends. In fact, m any studies show that ing from w eight gain, blood sugar im balance, fatigue, to m any psycho th in people eat m ore calories an d are less conscious o f food logical disturbances. W hen fem ale h o rm o n es are re in ta k e th a n p e o p le w ho struggle with the scales. sponsible for weight gain, those excess W h at, th e n , is th e real is pounds are usually centered between sue? Successful w eight m an the waist and the knees - the pear- agem ent is a holistic issue, in shaped woman. N orm al on top and volving the en d o crin e system, from the knees down! C om bine excess estrogen with on th e digestive system , th e n er going stress and you see a double as vous system - in sh o rt, the w hole body. Poor w eight con sault on th e endocrine system that tro l is a syndrom e, a collec dysregulates blood sugar regulatory tio n of sym ptom s th a t m ust mechanisms, increases the breakdown ON MARCH 3 1 st THE of lean body tissues, slows the m eta b e acknow ledged an d treated in its com plexity. It is n o t ju st AT A bolic ra te , im p airs d ig e stio n , and a “m o u th issue." W hen obe stim ulates the build-up of fatty tissue glow ing skin, balan ced h o rm o n es - in sh o rt, hom eostasis. “Doctor, I have a weight problem. I’ve tried everything...’ “L e t’s ch eck y o u r fem ale h o r m ones, your brown fat, your thyroid, yo u r food allergies...Let’s do a com plete work-up on you and we’ll find the answ ers for you. W hatever the problem is, ju st rem em ber this one thing: If you have a w eight problem , stop feeling guilty about it! Your fat is not your fault!” F IG H T FOR THE FU T U R E T H E A T R E NEAR Y O U - B E G IN S -