The Third Basic Cause Of Obesity

Here on the HCG Diet 411 Blog, we talk a lot about the HCG Diet. But the past couple of weeks I have decided to include more information that is relevant to the diet as well.

I have written posts on "The Three Kinds Of Fat" - "Life Of The Obese" - "The History Of Obesity" and even "Obesity Statistics".

The last 2 blog posts were about the first and second causes of obesity, as described by Dr. Simeons in his book, Pounds and Inches - A New Approach To Obesity.

Today, I am posting about the third cause, which is titled...


Exhaustion of the Fat-bank

"But there is still a third way in which obesity can become established, and that is when a presumably normal fat- center is suddenly (with emphasis on suddenly) called upon to deal with an enormous influx of food far in excess of momentary requirements.

At first glance it does seem that here we have a straight-forward case of overeating being responsible for obesity, but on further analysis it soon becomes clear that the relation of cause and effect is not so simple.

In the first place we are merely assuming that the capacity of the fat center is normal while it is possible and even probable that the only persons who have some inherited trait in this direction can become obese merely by overeating. 

Secondly, in many of these cases the amount of food eaten remains the same and it is only the consumption of fuel which is suddenly decreased, as when an athlete is confined to bed for many weeks with a broken bone or when a man leading a highly active life is suddenly tied to his desk in an office and to television at home.

Similarly, when a person, grown up in a cold climate, is transferred to a tropical country and continues to eat as before, he may develop obesity because in the heat far less fuel is required to maintain the normal body temperature. 

When a person suffers a long period of privation, be it due to chronic illness, poverty, famine or the exigencies of war, his diencephalic regulations adjust themselves to some extent to the low food intake. When then suddenly these conditions change and he is free to eat all the food he wants, this is liable to overwhelm his fat-regulating center.

During the WWII about 6000 grossly underfed Polish refugees who had spent harrowing years in Russia were transferred to a camp in India where they were well housed, given normal British army rations and some cash to buy a few extras.

Within about three months, 85% were suffering from obesity. In a person eating coarse and unrefined food, the digestion is slow and only a little nourishment at a time is assimilated from the intestinal tract.

When such a person is suddenly able to obtain highly refined foods such as sugar, white flour, butter and oil these are so rapidly digested and assimilated that the rush of incoming fuel which occurs at every meal may eventually overpower the diecenphalic regulatory mechanisms and thus lead to obesity.

This is commonly seen in the poor man who suddenly becomes rich enough to buy the more expensive refined foods, though his total caloric intake remains the same or is even less than before.

So there you have it the third basic cause of obesity. This really changes the way I look at people who are obese. A lot of the time it's not even the persons fault that their are the way they are.


Does this change the way you feel about the obese?

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