After we published the article 'There is no vaccine against the obesity pandemic' two weeks ago, which involved several experts, there remains unpublished material that we could not include in the text due to limited space. Today we will publish the response of nutritionist Kristina Beljan, owner of the Nutrissimi business.
The more we fight against obesity, the more obese people there are in the world, so we asked Beljan if it is possible that the strategy in this fight has had the opposite effect of what was desired. Beljan responds that we must understand how obesity arises in order to fight against it. She continues by stating that many factors influence the development of obesity, some of which we all know well – diet and physical activity. However, there are also other factors that are less mentioned: environment and living conditions, socioeconomic status, genetics, health status, medication use, stress, emotions, and sleep quality.
Every weight loss season (after New Year and before summer), we can see more and more advertisements for various diets that give people with extra weight new hope that something will change in their lives. These advertisements often assure that a person who loses weight will have greater self-confidence and be happier. However, these feelings are only temporary, and often do not even occur because self-confidence and happiness do not come from external appearance, but from within.
When we see how much is written daily about 'how to have the perfect figure', it is not surprising that going on a diet has become socially acceptable. Every spring, advertisements appear with phrases: 'Lose excess weight effortlessly forever!' Regardless of whether losing weight is easy or hard, dieting is not a long-term solution. Many people who have been on a diet at least once have experienced the yo-yo effect. With the yo-yo effect, after each diet, the lost kilograms eventually return, along with an additional 10 percent of extra weight. Why does this happen? We have not always lived in a civilization, nor have we always had an abundance of food as we do today. Evolutionarily, we have developed mechanisms that help us survive, and we survive by our bodies carefully expending energy and recognizing (even potential) food scarcity. Every time there is a food shortage (in modern times, this is a diet), our body slows down metabolism and the mechanisms in the body to conserve energy. When the crisis passes, the body will try to store as much energy as possible in fat tissue to compensate for what was lost and will create slightly larger reserves for any future crisis. Also, after a food shortage (diet), appetite will be greater. In this way, the organism ensures that a person finds enough food needed to replenish lost energy, which is why it can be expected that a person may overeat at this stage. In this very complex survival mechanism, we can see that losing weight or maintaining body weight after a diet has nothing to do with willpower. However, many people who have experienced the yo-yo effect feel shame and guilt, viewing this as their own failure and trying another diet. These individuals are not to blame for this. It is very easy to enter a dietary cycle that is like a vicious circle in which dieting, overeating, and feelings of guilt alternate.
