Currently viewing the tag: "overweight"

Los Angeles chiropractorA long-time client of mine recently remarked while speaking about Covid that he, in his late fifties, has lived a good, long life and when it’s his time…it’ll be his time. I found this notion odd because, as a whole, he is a remarkably fit guy. He exercises at least five days per week, eats healthfully and moderately, and has meaningful relationships, a number of enriching hobbies, and a professional purpose which gives some meaning to his life. So I had to think about this idea with regard to lifespan and quality of life as we get older, but particularly with respect to how we view the aging process, what we do with the time we have left remaining, and how to think about our inevitable deaths.

My client’s remark struck me as odd since the average life expectancy for an American male is 78.6 years old. Now let’s think about this for a minute. When talking about the average, or mean value, for a (usually large) number in a set, it is important to remember that we are talking about the value in the center of all other values put together. To put it more simply, the average is in the center of a particular range of numbers and will have nearly equal parts bigger and smaller numbers. Thus, if the average American male lives 78.6 years, that means roughly half of American men will live longer. The law of large numbers guarantees that outliers (like existence a 120-year-old person) will not skew the average. That being said, what does the average life expectancy say about each individual’s potentiality for longevity and quality of life?

The average American is overweight. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 75% of the U.S. population is overweight. Two in five people (42.4%) in the U.S. are obese. Let me rephrase that: Take a group of five Americans randomly…four will be overweight, two of them will actually be obese, and only one will be “healthy weight.” Now overweight has some wiggle room; I mean, a body mass index (BMI) of 25 is still considered overweight. Therefore, a 6’0” man at 185 lbs. has a BMI of 25.1. A BMI between 18.5 – 24.9 is a healthy weight, so I would not consider a BMI of 25 problematic. Nonetheless, as you start to push the BMI toward 28-29 (6’0” 210 lbs.), you are just a few pounds short of obesity (BMI 30). If you want to calculate your BMI, you can do so here:

Los Angeles chiropracticIf the average American is overweight, and almost half the population obese, then any individual who is not overweight or obese has a pretty good chance of living into his or her eighties. And their quality of life will be greatly enhanced. How can I be so sure? Well overweight and obese are at higher risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and death from Covid. In fact, being overweight or obese greatly increases your risk of death overall. The top five causes of death worldwide are: high blood pressure, tobacco use, high blood glucose, physical inactivity, and overweight and obesity. My client’s well-managed weight almost ensures, in the absence of any accidents or violence, that he will live past the average life span. You should never stop working at weight management, no matter how many times you slip. Get back up and try again if you do – it is most certainly worth the work.

How about drugs? Well first we have prescription meds – 131 million Americans take at least one prescription medication. In a country with 329.5 million people, that’s 40% of the population which is medicated. In fact, the U.S. is the greatest consumer of drugs around the world. That means that either the U.S. is the sickest nation in the world (might be if looked at clearly: U.S. obesity statistics are alarming) or the big business of pharmaceuticals, replete with its white-coat pushers, has found the ultimate market in America. And just to add some spice to these numbers: The U.S. population is roughly 20% children (72 million). So pulling children off the total U.S. population number, it means more than half of American adults take at least one prescription medication regularly. Here is the kicker, though: of these people, the average number of medications taken is FOUR! You must never forget that ALL medications come with side-effects. The longer a person takes a medication (lifestyle drugs) the greater the chance of having his or her physiology affected. Why do you think doctors always ask which meds you’re on? Because medications affect the body, period – no escaping it. The less you take, the less disruption to your physiology. My client, who takes only one prescription medication regularly, is still on the lower rungs of the mile-high medication ladder. If you, like me, take zero meds, then you will have the least amount of medication-disrupted physiology and the highest probability of longevity.

Beverly Hills chiropracticHow about the other drugs – the fun ones? Alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit substances. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 165 million Americans aged 12 years or older currently abuse drugs – that is ~60% of the population (Minus kids under 12). Alcohol consumption is the highest at 139.8 million Americans 12 and over (~51%). Next is tobacco at 58.8 million people (~20%). Finally are the illicit drugs (coke, methamphetamine, heroin, and so on) – 31.9 million Americans use them (~12%). Need I go over all the damage caused by drugs and alcohol neurologically, organically, psychologically and in mal-quality of life to chronic users? My client is a rare drinker at most, putting him at an almost zero risk to health and longevity. And if you are a total abstainer, then your potentiality of living a long, healthful life is rather high.

The one area my client seems to skimp on is getting adequate sleep. My understanding is that his sleep is often interrupted (perhaps from the one medication he takes), and I will say that this one negative element actually can be impactful. At the very least, his lack of restful sleep may lead him to question, psychologically, whether he is expressing his best health. When tired, life can seem a little dragging to anyone. It might also lead one to “feel old”, something I hear quite regularly in my West Hollywood chiropractic practice. When people are in physical pain they do, it turns out, feel older. However, when chiropractic helps relieve their pain, their vibrancy increases, and they appear lighter on their feet and in their attitudes. Getting proper rest can have the same effect on a person. Just take that much-needed vacation you’ve been putting off to see this principle in action. Getting sufficient rest is as important as healthy diet, regular exercise and keeping drugs/alcohol to a minimum.

So again, I found it surprising when my client spoke of his life as if he were on his last legs – living in his golden years. A man in his late fifties should be contemplating what his final contributions to the world will be in service and creativity, thinking about his family and estate, and the ways in which he will enjoy his next forty years. One’s golden years seem to me to be no earlier than in one’s seventies. I do believe, though, that my client’s perspective was being colored by his lack of sleep. That will certainly make anyone feel older. I do not profess an easy solution to this problem, as the cause of insomnia may be varied and complex; however, in the simplest way possible, I must emphasize that if this is also your problem you really should work on fixing the problem sooner rather than later – your quality of life will improve dramatically by doing so. The average life expectancy of an American male is 78.6 years – higher for a female at 78.8 years. Just remember that the average American is also overweight/obese, takes 1-4 prescription drugs, and abuses drugs and alcohol. These are real facts, ugly or not. If very few of these apply to you – or even none! – then you will most likely, in the absence of accident or violence live long into your eighties, nineties, and for some, even hundreds.


Surprise, surprise…Americans are getting just as many calories from booze as they are from soda. And being of the “empty” variety, calories from both booze and soda add to the girth without adding to energy stores. A government study released today has implicated alcoholic beverages for 5% of the average American’s daily caloric intake, while sodas make up 6%. But what’s the big deal? None really…except that overweight or obese Americans now make up over 60% of the population!

Think about that–being overweight or obese is the norm in the U.S. And while many heads are pounding trying to figure out one extravagant reason or another, it’s really no big mystery to me, as I’ve written extensively about it in this blog. In my 2008 book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, I described the role booze plays in weight gain,

With alcohol providing about seven calories per gram, one might mistake it for a great energy source. However, alcohol is metabolized far too slowly for it to be an efficient fuel; and therefore, it is simply converted to fat and stored. Alcohol is also very high in calories compared to carbohydrates and proteins (four calories per gram apiece), which makes it nothing more than an excellent source of weight gain. Unfortunately alcohol has no nutritional value whatsoever–no vitamins, no minerals, nothing—so the pounds it provides come without the added benefits found in food…as a dietary staple, alcohol provides little by way of nutrition.

The study found:

  • On any given day, about one-third of men and one-fifth of women consumed calories from beer, wine or liquor.
  • Averaged out to all adults, the average guy drinks 150 calories from alcohol each day, or the equivalent of a can of Budweiser.
  • The average woman drinks about 50 calories, or roughly half a glass of wine.
  • Men drink mostly beer. For women, there was no clear favorite among alcoholic beverages.
  • There was no racial or ethnic difference in average calories consumed from alcoholic beverages. But there was an age difference, with younger adults putting more of it away.

For reference, a 12-ounce can of regular Coca-Cola has 140 calories, slightly less than a same-sized can of regular Bud. A 5-ounce glass of wine is around 100 calories.

Now let me make something perfectly clear here, something I have also been very open about in this blog: I do not advocate the government placing restrictions on the sale or consumption of either alcohol or soft drinks, as New York has done. In fact, I find it ludicrous. When people need their government to step in and prevent them from becoming fat…well, that’s just pathetic. People need to wake the eff up! I’m telling you right now that booze puts on weight without any nutritional benefit. Sure, getting a buzz on is fun, but if you do it anything more than occasionally, expect to get fat, simple as that. The younger you are, the stronger the illusion of this not happening to you. I promise you with all certainty that if you drink more than occasionally, and you do it for long enough, you will wake up fat one day. G’head…prove me wrong. You’ll lose.

But, no, governments shouldn’t be stepping in and mandating smaller drinks any more than they should have done with sodas. But you might just see this become a new controversy, because as Americans continue to blow up, the powers that be will grasp for anything to try and slow it down. So drink sizes in New York may be next—you may be drinking draft beer out of shot glasses (for $20 a pop) before you know it. Just pointing out the absurdity of regulating what people do with their own bodies, that’s all.

In the end, it’s up to you. Starts with information, so now you know. Booze adds empty calories and anything more than an occasional buzz-up will lead to fatness. Your choice. But don’t cry later and demand the government abolish everyone’s’ rights to drink to fatness, because you knew. Okay that’s all, folks…

Short and sweet.  I’ve never bought the bull that obesity is genetic.  Too easy, removes personal responsibility or accountability, and dishonors all overweight people by telling them its beyond their control.  I make the point in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, that even if genetics has a role in obesity, one is still bound by the laws of physiology–more calories in than out…weight gain; more calories out than in…weight loss; equal calories in and out…maintenance.  Gene or no gene, that’s the truth.

A new British study confirms my point: Exercise cuts a person’s genetic predisposition to obesity by 40%Well, no freakin’ shit-take mushrooms.

Researchers looked at over 20,000 people in Norwich, England and focused on genetic variants known to increase the risk of obesity.  Most people had inherited 10 to 13 of these variants from their parents.  Those obesity inheritors that exercised had 36% less weight gain per genetic variant than sedentary inheritors, and each additional obesity-susceptibility variant increased the odds of obesity by 1.1-fold.   This risk, however, was 40% lower for active people compared to inactive people.

In a nutshell: Fat genes or not, exercise obliterates obesity.  No more excuses.


I recently had the question* posed to me, “If there is an easy answer to weight loss, why is our country filled with so many unhealthy, overweight people?” I think this is a fabulous question since the answer certainly uncovers some of the hidden factors behind obesity.

First, obesity is a consequence of an addiction to food. I’m not talking about merely being overweight, here–I mean obesity and, most certainly, severe obesity. Being overweight can be the result of a number of things: eating the wrong foods (eating many meals out, for instance), neglecting exercise, twelve-pack of beer every weekend, and so forth; bad habits, if you will.

Obesity, however, has an addiction component. Obese people are drawn to food either for sensory pleasures (taste) or emotionally. Emotional eaters eat when they are stressed out, pissed off, hurt, elated, embarrassed, and any other number of emotional stressors that lead one to escape. So food, therefore, is a way for some people to avoid these uncomfortable feelings, whether they are conscious of it or not.

An eating addiction is like any other addiction: a combined enjoyment and escape. Drinkers have it, smokers have it, gamblers have it, and sex addicts have it–it’s a momentary checking out, a retreat from unpleasant feelings, whatever they may be. Often, it’s a totally unconscious act; the addiction becomes habit.

So, as I said in my New Year’s Resolutions article on weight loss, the first step is a true heartfelt desire for change. Some people aren’t inspired to lose weight; they attempt it because of societal pressures. Only true inspiration leads to actions that will endure the pain and pleasures of undertaking a weight-loss endeavor. Anything else will fail when it gets too tough. That’s one reason some people can’t lose weight.

Next, a realistic game plan must be constructed. This is where our topic of The Biggest Loser comes in. A healthy strategy must be implemented and carried out, like any venture, be it business, financial investing, family planning, or weight loss. Without a reasonable or healthy plan, not only is failure likely, but complications can arise.

At the very least, the person losing weight runs the risk of putting it all back on again. This is the part of the strategy that requires The Six Keys To Optimal Health. Without them, the whole endeavor ends up momentary, and it’s exactly why Biggest Loser contestants have such a high rate of weight regain.

Finally, and most importantly, the mental component to the addiction must be balanced. Essentially this means finding the pleasures and pains associated with the eating addiction for each individual. There is no cookbook here, if you’ll forgive the pun; it’s individualized and specific. That takes work. People who lose weight without clearing the mental component that leads them to gravitate toward food in the first place, find themselves back off the wagon when emotional crisis hits. Think Oprah’s battles and struggles with weightshe’s an admitted emotional eater. Yeah, fail to address the emotional component and long-term weight loss will be unattainable.

To further complicate matters is the necessity of food for energy conversion and nutritional needs. So it’s easy to see that obesity is a multi-factorial issue that needs attention to a number of components. I hope that answers the question of, “If losing weight had an easy answer…” I think it’s not so much that the answer evades us, it’s just that we approach it from such simplicity, AND many people are missing the forest for the trees by looking for very complicate answers (genetics, hormonal disorders, etc.). Let’s observe Okham’s Razor and see that the simplest solution is probably the most correct. But obesity does have a number of sides that need attention, and that’s why so many people are struggling with it.

*Thank you Jeanne M. for the great question.

Many parents have a hard time disciplining their children. Laying down the law doesn’t come easy to all of us. Some find it so hard that they even risk their child’s health. Check it.Current research from Harvard University shows that many parents of overweight or obese children lacked confidence in implementing and enforcing various lifestyle behaviors that could help their children improve their health. When it came to laying down the law with regard to limiting television viewing, removing TV from children’s bedrooms, cutting back on fast food, reducing intake of sugary drinks, increasing physical activity, and improving the family’s overall eating habits, the parents studied scored pretty poorly in the confidence category. What this means is that these parents (446 surveyed) were unable to satisfactorily push their children to do the right thing.

I know it’s not always easy getting the kids to do what they should be doing–lord, I’ve got two champion tantrum throwers myself; and, of course, not everybody is as hard-assed as I am. But here are some tips that might just help some parents get their children to make a change:

  • Have a strategy–going in blind is a sure way to fail.
  • Start slowly–making drastic changes will create resentment and possibly a revolt.
  • Have your child list all the television programs he or she watches regularly. Have them pick two or three, and let them know they’ve got to dump the rest.
  • Choose a reasonable amount of time you will allow your children to watch T.V. weekly (I personally think 9-12 hours is fair to generous–one hour per night during the week, and two hours each on Saturday and Sunday).
  • No T.V. in the bedroom, period. Same with internet–sorry–too easy to watch via web.
  • Once their allotted time is up. (Click) Shut off the tube, and remove the remote.
  • Set aside time for the whole family to be together for reading or talking. If you don’t like to read, better start–kids do as their parents do.
  • Expect pissin’, moanin’ and grumblin’–stay strong, it’ll pass.

I realize that the age of one’s children will impact the success of this type of plan. No doubt, teens who have developed bad habits will be tough to break, but you’ve got to try anyhow. It’s why I always say, “Start early.” The younger the kids are when you develop habits, the easier it is to influence and form them. Hate to say it, but it might turn out that the only families able to successfully implement this type of regimen might be the ones with youngsters. Nevertheless, I’d try anyway if I were you. Can’t hurt.

Check in tomorrow for tips on how to get your family’s eating habits up to par. For sure, T.V. can be fun; but as a regular habit for kids, it’s as damaging as they come.

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