What if someone told you, you can exercise all you want but will not lose weight? Losing weight has not been tied to exercise but actually a healthy diet.
Authors Malhotra, Noakes, and Phinney collaborated an editorial on British Journal of Sports Medicine that spoke the truth about weight loss and lifted the myth that it is attained through exercise.
They discuss that no matter how much we exercise we may not lose weight if we are consuming loads of fat from sugar and carbs.
Even for those who are a normal weight can be unhealthy from the way they eat even though they may take a morning run everyday.
The biggest step to fixing this overwhelming issue is by becoming educated on the truth of health and how the food industry tampers it.
According to the editorial, what many do not understand is that exercise alone will not cause weight loss. Though exercise, no matter what, will help fight against “cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and some cancers by at least 30%.” They write, “However, physical activity does not promote weight loss.”
Obesity has hit high numbers in recent years and highly-processed sugary foods and drinks are the biggest culprits.
In fact, they grabbed from the Lancet global burden of disease and said, “poor diet now generates more disease than physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined.”
Not only do those who are overweight have to worry, but those who are a normal weight have high risks as well.
“Up to 40% of those with a normal body mass index will harbour metabolic abnormalities typically associated with obesity, which include hypertension, dyslipidaemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease,” they write.
They bring up that we are almost brainwashed into believing that the rise of obesity is due to sitting around all day.
In all the news that gets “fed” to the world most of it is scientifically incorrect, they write that “members of the public are drowned by an unhelpful message about maintaining a ‘healthy weight’ through calorie counting and many still wrongly believe that obesity is entirely due to lack of exercise. This false perception is rooted in the Food Industry’s Public Relations machinery, which uses tactics chillingly similar to those of big tobacco.”
What is known to the public are just the small facts on health, like sugar calories become fat and increase hunger. What we do not know is that for every 150 calories of sugar consumed a day increases the risk of diabetes by 11-fold, no matter how much you try to burn off.
And the biggest myth is that restricting calories is an effective weight loss practice. The authors say if you are still eating bad foods, restricting calories will not cause weight loss.
Even though these are all scientifically proven facts, change will still take much time. Advertising psychologically influences beliefs on food on what is good for you or not.
In order for change to occur the way it is advertised needs to change as well. More promotion of whole and natural foods need to be made.
Also, educating the masses on reducing sugar on top of reducing calories is the way to go, and that being a normal weight does not necessarily mean you are healthy as well.
“It is time to wind back the harms caused by the junk food industry’s Public Relations machinery. Let us bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity. You cannot outrun a bad diet.”
Image via Flickr/Marina Cristal
