How does modern life push us to overeat? …

magazine publishedpsychology todayThe American university published a report in which it talked about the reasons for the increase in the number of obese people in industrialized countries and possible solutions to this problem. This subject has been the focus of attention of some of the largest scientific minds at a meeting held at the Royal Society in London in October 2022.

The magazine said in its report, translated as “Arabi 21”, that modern life has an impact on eating behavior and the problem of excessive consumption of foods that cause obesity, which the Organization world health ranks as the greatest threat to public health. facing humanity in the 21st century.

What causes obesity?

The magazine said obesity and being overweight have become one of the 10 most common causes of death in the United States, including deaths from heart disease and many forms of cancer, in addition to deaths from infectious diseases and accidents.

There has been an increase in the incidence of severe weight gain in recent years, even in children and adolescents, to the point that leading medical authorities now recommend weight-loss drugs and bariatric surgery for people under the age of 12 or 13 years old. Therefore, the insights that the Royal Society committee can provide in the face of the doomsday obesity scenario should be sought.

Members of the Royal Society of London have concluded that the question of why overweight and obesity has an answer, but no proper solution. The scientific explanation for this raging epidemic is an “energy imbalance”, which outside the Royal Society calls “calories in, calories out”. This rate indicates how well our energy intake (calorie intake) from food and drink matches our energy output (calories out) from resting metabolic activities, exercise and many other energy-intensive functions. .

The magazine pointed out that the assumption of the energy balance equation is simple: consume a lot of calories on a regular basis, then the body stores some of that energy as fat, and when fat accumulates in the body – especially if fat accumulates in the abdominal region in the form of visceral fat – it begins to harm the metabolism. And impaired metabolic health practically means that organs, tissues and cells cannot use or produce energy efficiently.

Since the human body is like an energy factory, the inability to make or use energy efficiently has disastrous consequences, much like a car breaking down on the road because it can no longer use energy efficiently. essence, and it is the same effect that occurs in an energy-dependent human body.

And the magazine reported that the classic signs of poor metabolism appear in the form of common metabolic diseases such as prediabetes, high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia, which are warning signs of an imbalance in the metabolic system. . If left untreated, these disorders develop into more serious illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia.

Why do we eat too much?

Studies show that the energy source is less important than the total energy consumed. Excess energy from any food source is considered a slow poison to the metabolic system in what is called “energy toxicity”, a modern term referring to an energy imbalance in the body.

The magazine added that members of the Royal Society conference did not provide a definite answer on why we eat too much. Over the past decades, overweight and obesity were rare all over the world, in addition to the fact that human genes have not changed, we have not lost the ability to control ourselves and we still have the desire to have a healthy body.

Controlled clinical trials and laboratory studies over the past two decades point to many factors that cause obesity such as fast food, lack of sleep, succumbing to the temptation of famous brands of sweets and chocolate products , eating in a group, etc. These studies are specific enough to quantify the impact of overeating, as a year or more of the above factors can contribute to weight gain.