Anushka asthana speaks with Dr. Andrew Jenkinson, consultant in bariatric surgery (weight loss). He discusses how his patients’ experiences with failed weight loss led him to spend years researching metabolism and weight loss. Why, even though most people eat too many calories, only some become obese?
Genes predispose you to obesity, he says, but your genetics must be triggered by environmental changes for you to become obese. In areas of the world where people eat fresh local ingredients, people do not become obese. But if you change your food supply to processed foods, some of those populations will become obese.
The United Arab Emirates is a good example of this, says Jenkinson, who owns clinics in Dubai. He notes that two generations ago the population took a Bedouin diet. They now have a much more processed diet, and obesity rates have risen – 50% of women in the UAE are obese.
Jenkinson believes that by lowering sugar and refined carbohydrates, increasing the levels of omega 3 and 6 and lowering the level of cortisol (the stress hormone), rather than reducing calories, people can lose weight permanently.
Jenkinson’s book Why We Eat (Too Much) is out now. why don’t we heat.ro
Archive: YouTube; ABC The biggest loser; University of Minnesota School of Public Health; Fox; Get the shine; Body trainer; Huntley movie archives
Chris Radburn / PA
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