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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 -