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Some Evidence on Obesity Model

By On · Add Comment · In body mass index (BMI), drinking water, energy expenditure, fast-food, hormones, International Journal of Obesity, junk food, obesity, parents of obese children, positive energy balance, visfatin

I’ve been getting harangued for weeks by a severely wounded ego-centric proponent of the I’m-so-desperate-to-be-right approach to intellectual discourse, that I am finally giving in and providing some support for my thoughts on obesity. The blog stalker has insisted that I prove the validity of my thoughts on obesity, and so I will provide some evidence, but let it be known that this is the last response I will make to the ramblings.

In the most recent issue of the International Journal of Obesity [Volume 35, Issue 10 (October 2011)], no less than every article supports my position:

Overweight and obesity are the results of an enduring positive energy balance, that is, when energy intake is larger than energy expenditure. Hence, overweight and obesity prevention requires effective intervention programmes targeting behaviours that contribute to both sides of this energy balance. These so-called energy balance-related behaviours include dietary behaviours (for example, consumption of fruit and vegetables, or sugar-sweetened beverages), sedentary behaviours (for example, television (TV) viewing or computer use) and physical activity behaviours (for example, sports or active commuting to school).

Interesting, calories in vs. calories out (boldface emphasis mine), and not one thing about hormones or genetics. That’s because it’s science, stupid.

The PA of children seems to compensate in such a way that more activity at one time is met with less activity at another. The failure of PA programmes to reduce childhood obesity could be attributable to this compensation.

Duh!  Parents are responsible for their children especially when they see them blowing up.

Lower insulin sensitivity at childhood may predict subsequent total and central adiposity gain at adolescence. These findings enhance the role of insulin sensitivity as a target of obesity prevention already from the first decades of life.

Or in other words, don’t let your children eat junk food.

Children whose both parents were overweight or obese both before pregnancy and after 16-year follow-up had a strikingly high risk of overweight at age 16 years…parents’ long-term overweight (BMI greater than or equal to25 kg m−2 before pregnancy and after 16-year follow-up) was the strongest single predictor.

I almost can’t believe that anyone would need proof of this.

Consuming the recommended daily amount of water for children could result in an energy expenditure equivalent to an additional weight loss of about 1.2 kg per year…water drinking could assist overweight children in weight loss or maintenance, and may warrant emphasis in dietary guidelines against the obesity epidemic.

Too much abdominal (visceral) fat increases an individual’s risk of developing insulin resistance and other metabolic disorders. In a Perspective, Hug and Lodish discuss the unexpected finding that blood levels of a hormone produced by visceral fat, called visfatin, correlate with obesity.

Okay, that particular study is from a different journal, but I couldn’t resist (and one more from same journal)

But back to the International Journal of Obesity:

Conclusion: Hormone (serum visfatin) levels are influenced by body fat content in obese children

An association between children’s body mass index (BMI) and overeating has been established…overeating, impulsivity and reward responsiveness were significantly associated with childhood BMI. Mediation analysis revealed that impulsivity and reward responsiveness equally and significantly predicted BMI indirectly through overeating.

The single most idiotic argument I’ve heard is that overeating is not a cause of obesity–precisely why this will be my last response to such nonsense. I cannot discuss an idea with someone if we don’t speak the same language.  Denying the most basic knowledge we have about physiology puts us on different planets.  Conversation over.

The teenagers who ate at FF restaurants consumed more unhealthy foods and were more likely to have higher BMISDS than those teenagers who did not eat frequently at FF restaurants.

  • That prosperity leads to obesity:

Ethnic minority groups in Western European countries tend to have higher levels of overweight than the majority populations for reasons that are poorly understood. ..Conclusion: Contrary to the patterns in White groups, the Dutch ethnic minority women were more obese than their English equivalents.

It’s only poorly understood because the right questions aren’t being asked.  Essentially the study shows that culture alone isn’t definitive.  However, I propose that it’s the change in culture, particularly entering an environment where conveniences abound.

…higher preferences for sweet and fatty foods compared with the other two groups. Food preferences were also related to all overeating measures, which in turn accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in BMI…The associations reported in this paper are important from a public-health perspective because of the abuse potential of sweet-fat foods and their strong relationship with obesity.

And that’s that. As I’ve said before, Mr. Stalker, I don’t do peoples’ research for them. But because you showed such diligence in asserting yourself, I thought I would finally accommodate. I didn’t have to go far for supporting articles–one journal, sir, was all I needed. That’s because what we know about obesity isn’t in need of an overhaul, therefore most of what I put forth is BASIC. What is needed is a halt to the notion that the individual isn’t responsible for his or her own weight, and that they are powerless because of their genetics or hormones.

So as I said, I’m done. I will post a few more promised pieces on obesity in the future, and then I move on.

Govt. Acknowledges Dangerous Levels of Fluoride in Drinking Water

By On · Add Comment · In American Dental Association (ADA), cavities, children, drinking water, fluoridation, fluorosis, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, tooth spotting

Well surprise, surprise–the U.S. government has finally woken up to its dangerous practice of adding fluoride to drinking water.  A recent report discloses that an increase in “spotting” of childrens’ teeth due to the added mineral has become a concern for health officials.  Oh thank goodness…now perhaps they’ll exonerate Bruno and Galileo, as well.

According to the report, the federal government plans on lowering the recommended fluoride levels in drinking water from an outrageous 4 milligrams per liter to 0.7 mg/L of water–the first recommended lowering of fluoride levels in public drinking water in the last 50 years!  This a result of the increasing changes in childrens’ teeth over the last three decades.

I don’t know if anybody is as pissed off as I am about this total disregard for public health from the federal government.  I speak in detail of this horrific practice in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health.  My research into the fluoridation of drinking water was extensive, as I consulted with many experts in the field; and they all agreed–fluoride in the drinking water is dangerous!

So why has the government continued this practice, despite numerous groups speaking out against it (including the Fluoride Action Network, Beyond Pesticides, and Environmental Working Group, which all threatened legal action if the EPA did not lower its ceiling on fluoride)?  The power of the American Dental Association (ADA), that’s why!

If you haven’t heard me say it before, you might be surprised to learn that I believe the dental association is the most crooked since auto mechanics and used car salesmen.  With virtually no alternative to American dentistry, this industry is free to practice, advise, and get rich as they please, with the public health taking the hits.  The mass fluoridation of the drinking water supply is greatest example of this abuse of power.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the splotchy tooth condition, called fluorosis, is unexpectedly common in kids ages 12 through 15. And it appears to have grown much more common since the 1980s.  No kidding–experts have warned of this for years.

The report also states that about 2 out of 5 adolescents have tooth streaking or spottiness because of too much fluoride. In some extreme cases, teeth can even be pitted by the mineral–though the powers that be now claim many cases are so mild that only dentists notice it. They say the problem is generally considered cosmetic.  I do not believe this assessment for one instance.

A scientific report five years ago said that people who consume a lifetime of excess fluoride–an amount over EPA’s limit of 4 milligrams–can lead to crippling bone abnormalities and brittleness.  Duh!  Read my book, Kathleen Sebelius!

Speaking of the Health and Human Services Secretary, she could make a final decision on details of the changes within a few months. Why should it take so long, I wonder?

Whereas some health officials are said to be concerned about cavities, I wonder out loud why we all (especially children) should  be put at risk for something addressed by simple tooth brushing.  To insinuate that we need more than brushing and dental cleanings is ludicrous.  Doesn’t anybody else see the enormous scam the Dental Association has levied on us–pay us hundreds of dollars for cleaning, buy special toothbrushes (that you can get in my office!), floss your teeth, stay away from sweets…but wait, that’s not good enough, suckers–we’ve got to dump fluoride in the drinking water, too.  Never mind that it’s an unsubstantiated practice: It’s all based on belief, not empirical evidence.  Read my book.

I was infuriated when Los Angeles succumbed to ADA pressure and started fluoridating in 2007.  And I praise the city of Portland, Oregon for holding out on this bogus practice.  Europe does not take part in the dangerous dumping of fluoride into the drinking water supply.  Is it because they do not care for the health of their people?  Quite the contrary–it’s because they do.  Stay tuned–I will keep you informed of further developments.

**Fluoride levels in drinking water were lowered in 2015 – first time lowered in 50 years! 

Unsafe Drinking Water Found in Schools

By On · Add Comment · In drinking water, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Safe Drinking Water Act, schools, toxins, water safety, water treatment

This just in: Thousands of schools across the country have been found to have unsafe drinking water. Contaminants have surfaced at both public and private schools in all 50 states–cities and small towns alike–including lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.

The federal government has failed to monitor water safety violations despite them multiplying over the last decade. The contamination is most prevalent at schools with their own water supply–wells, that is–which represent 8 to 11 percent of the nation’s schools. Approximately 20% of schools with water wells has violated the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last ten years, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The number of schools with violations is only a fraction of the country’s 132,500 schools, but it causes concerns since children drink more water per pound of body weight than adults do. Part of the problem is that the monitoring of drinking water in schools is spread too thin among a number of local, state and federal agencies. Finding a solution, experts and children’s advocates say, would require a costly new national strategy for monitoring water in schools.

Some of the findings from the EPA data include:

• Water in about 100 school districts and 2,250 schools breached federal safety standards.

• Those schools and districts racked up more than 5,550 separate violations. In 2008, the EPA recorded 577 violations, up from 59 in 1998 — an increase that officials attribute mainly to tougher rules.

• California, which has the most schools of any state, also recorded the most violations with 612, followed by Ohio (451), Maine (417), Connecticut (318) and Indiana (289).

• Nearly half the violators in California were repeat offenders. One elementary school in Tulare County, in the farm country of the Central Valley, broke safe-water laws 20 times.

• The most frequently cited contaminant was coliform bacteria, followed by lead and copper, arsenic and nitrates.

It seems to me that this problem is only the tip of the iceberg. I point out in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, that the nation’s public water system is a shambles. According to a 2003 National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study, many community water systems (CWS) had the following problems:

  • polluted water source
  • outdated treatment processes
  • poor maintenance of water treatment and storage systems

It’s high time investigative journalists, like the ones at the Associated Press breaking this story, start reporting this mess with our nation’s water system. Water is the elixir of life–no living thing can survive without it–so it stands to reason that a faulty public water system is essential to our health and safety. Children in Minnesota and Seattle have already gotten sick from drinking contaminated water at their schools. At what point will the entire system come unglued and start causing a real public health hazard? I don’t know, but it’s one of those rare times I endorse the government stepping in, providing funds for the upkeep of this vast system, monitor all source water and its transportation, and shut down schools or any other building violating the Safe Drinking Water Act.

*If you would like to know more about your local drinking water, check here: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html

Pissy Fishes

By On · Add Comment · In drinking water, drugs, fish, health, medication, pharmaceuticals, urine, wastewater

Does poor health result from too little medication in the bloodstream? Think about this, as it’s a philosophical question. You would think that this notion is the common wisdom by the way medications are consumed in this country, but our over-medicated culture is leading to some creepy consequences. Check out this tripper.

Scientists have found that fish caught near wastewater plants in five major U.S. cities contain residues of pharmaceuticals including cholesterol lowering drugs, antihistamines, high blood pressure medication, and antidepressants. This shouldn’t be any surprise to my regular readers as I reported on this nasty little phenomenon last year.

And from where are the fish picking up these pharma-residues? Why from human urine, that’s where. Gross, right? Americans consume so much medication that we are contaminating the oceans where we dump our wastes. And the organisms which habitate these ecosystems are bearing some of the brunt of our faulty (and foul) paradigm.

It is not lost on me that the drugs they found in fish mirror the drugs most commonly pushed on the American people. And if that isn’t enough to make your stomach turn, the EPA reports that trace amounts of pharmaceuticals have been found in our drinking water too.
So what do you think? Is your health so dependent on pharmaceutical drugs that you keep a constant flow of meds passing through your bloodsrtream at all times? Somebody’s is–just ask the fishes.

Pharmaceutical Era’s Most Lasting Impact

By On · Add Comment · In anti-convulsants, antibiotics, drinking water, IMS Health, mood stabilizers, over-the-counter, pain medications, Pharmaceutical Age, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, sex hormones

The 20th century could definitely be called the Pharmaceutical Age; it was teeming with breakthroughs–vaccines, life-saving surgical procedures…Viagra! Advancement seemed to have no bounds. Heart disease? Take this. High blood pressure? Take that. Sniffle? Have an antibiotic. There’s a pill for every ill.

Then came the 21st century and pharmaceutical innovation leapt into new territory. Normal physiology acting up?–have a statin. How about an H2 blocker? Or tranquilizer? We do physiology better than the human body does. Yes, progress.

Then, of course, came performance enhancing drugs–steroids for athletes, steroids for cattle, Ritalin for medical students. Woohoo! Top of the world, Ma!

According to IMS Health, U.S. prescriptions have risen 12% to 3.7 billion over the last five years. 3.7 billion? With prescription drug use skyrocketing, is it any wonder that an AP investigation this week found a vast array of pharmaceutical drugs contaminating the drinking water of 24 major metropolitan areas? It isn’t to me. Check it out: 41 million Americans are drinking water laced with antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, as well as a load of over-the-counter pain medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. And here’s the best part of it all: The drugs are remnants of non-metabolized pharmaceuticals passed through the urine of our over-medicated countrymen. Pretty gross, eh?

Now to be fair, the concentrations of said drugs are minuscule; however, many experts admit that we do not fully know the health implications of the widespread contamination yet. And to make matters worse, evidence shows that chlorine, a commonly added chemical used to treat water, can react with many pharmaceuticals making them more toxic.

Here’s what stands out the most for me regarding this frightening story. We have become a society so obsessed with quick fixes, especially pharmaceutical drug treatments that I can’t imagine any other scenario than this one happening. Duh! Medications aren’t fully absorbed by the body (thank goodness!) and so they’ve got to go somewhere. We’re taking pharmaceutical drugs by the boatloads–their concentrations in our water supply only reflect our consumption habits. That should speak loudly about what we’re doing to ourselves. Truth is, if you’re a medication junkie, this story probably doesn’t phase you–that would seem rather contradictory. But if you’re not, and you actually care about what goes into your body, then this story has got to creep you out a little; it sure did me.

Anyway, on the lighter side: The report did list some drug concentrations of various city water supplies, and I couldn’t help but see the comedy in it all. Check it out and chuckle:

  • New York, the city that never sleeps–tranquilizers
  • Philly, home of the cheesesteak–cholesterol drugs
  • L.A., where narcissism & cocaine share the spotlight–anti anxiety drugs
  • San Francisco, no explanation necessary–sex hormones

I guess our drinking water says a lot about our culture.

Copyright © 2013 Dr. Nick Campos - All Rights Reserved.