« Sleep on it | Main | The Hacker's Diet »

March 4, 2007

Indulgences for the Overweight

Being overweight is the number one risk factor towards developing Type 2 diabetes, which can reduce a person's life expectancy by at least eight years. It can also lead to a myriad of complications including blindness, neuropathy, heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure.

These are facts that are known to many but perhaps ignored by most.

In Scotland, for example, the number of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes will rocket up by 60 per cent within the next ten years. The primary reason is obesity.

We've also witnessed a previously unheard of phenomenon: obese children developing adult onset (Type 2) diabetes.

The disease is epidemic and affects many of us in profound ways. It will also have a staggering effect on the world economy as developed nations strain under the burgeoning load of health care costs.

All because, as a society, we choose poor eating and exercise regimens.

If that were not enough, there are an untold number of individuals and companies who gladly sell the guilty overweight get slim fast programs. These are the indulgences of the health care industry for which Americans shell out more that $40 billion each year. You've seen them, they operate using these marketing methods:

• Scare tactics or emotional appeals rather than proven results.


• Non-scientific terms like "revitalize," "detoxify," or "balance your body with nature"


• Proof based on personal testimonials rather than sound science


• Claims to also "treat" or "cure" health problems, like cancer or sexual impotence


• A "secret formula"

And yet, we're getting fatter. Yes, the $40 billion seem ill-spent but perhaps succeeds in appeasing the sins of the past.

It is time to get serious, to eat responsibly and follow our doctor's advice.

Posted by Diabetologica at March 4, 2007 11:35 PM