It doesn’t matter whether you read it in a publication, hear it on a radio programme, see it on TV or have it mentioned to you by a health professional, you can’t help being bombarded with the never-ending array of dangers associated with being overweight. But not all research concurs with this.

There is a body of work by a 30-year veteran Nutrition Education Specialist and researcher at Berkley University, Dr. Joanne Ikeda, that enlightens readers that being overweight doesn’t necessarily lead to diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure and early death. Findings published in different research papers from around the world support this (see http://www.ditch-diets-live-light.com/obesity-research.html for a list of references).

• It causes the very thing it’s meant to cure – being overweight.
• The more diets there are the fatter the population gets (see below for graph from Linda Bacon printed in the International Journal of Obesity in 2002)
• It causes increasing health problems in the long term.

A new movement is growing “Health at every Size” which encourages people not to worry about their weight so much as to focus on living active and healthy lives at whatever size they are.


Thin is always healthy? – Right? Wrong!
It’s really not so surprising that it’s possible to be healthy at any size. After all, just because someone is thin doesn’t mean they are metabolically normal or healthy – any medical professional can attest to that. There are thin people with high blood pressure, who fall down dead from heart-attacks, who have diabetes, high cholesterol and so on.

Professor Linda Bacon from Berkeley University says that we have been conditioned to think that seriously large people can only make improvements in their health if they diet and slim down. But her research shows that people can make significant improvements in both metabolic and psychological health without losing weight, stepping on the scales or counting calories.

The fact is, you get fat people who are perfectly healthy. Rather than weight, there are certain lifestyle factors are important.


Balancing weight and health

Emotional fitness: There in increasing evidence that living with healthy, happy thoughts and laughter (see http:ww.ditch-diets-live-light.com/reasons-to-laugh), instead of anxious and stressed thoughts are another important factor. Research done at the HeartMath Institute in 1995, shows that experiencing emotions of heartfelt appreciation  and compassion,  instead of anger  produces more antibodies in our saliva, Salivary IgA, which helps us fight of disease.

Physical fitness. In 1999 Steven N Blair, director of research at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research (USA), reported that it was fitness and not the degree of fatness that had the most impact on death rates. Over an eight-year period, fit men – whether lean, normal or obese – had a similar death rate. According to the study, ‘Lean men…had increased longevity only if they were physically fit; obese men who were fit did not have elevated mortality.

Reducing stress:  And let’s not forget that stress increases your blood pressure and impacts on how your body utilises insulin.  According the American Diabetes association, for people with type 2 diabetes, mental stress, often raises blood glucose levels and blocks the body from releasing insulin.  And they say: “Some people with type 2 diabetes may also be more sensitive to some of the stress hormones. Relaxing can help by blunting this sensitivity.”

Sleeping:  According to the National Sleep Foundation, a 1999 study done at the University of Chicago found that building up a sleep debt over a matter of days impairs metabolism and disrupts hormone levels.

Cari Corbet-Owen is a Clinical Psychologist and author of ‘The Mind over Fatter Programme’ and ‘Mind over Fatter: Learn to feel great without ever dieting’. Visit her website at http://www.ditch-diets-live-light.com to discover 12 powerful diet myths, sign up for a free mini e-course on how to live in a joy-filled and healthy body,’ take one of her popular eating disorder quizzes or to join the Mind over Fatter online group.

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