On the outset, it certainly appears to be a very simple problem and should respond to simple type solutions.  If one consumes more calories than one burns in their daily activity, there would obviously be a weight gain.  About 60% of an average person' caloric intake or basal metabolic rate (BMR) is used for basic bodily needs such as breathing, digestion, and cardiac function.  Aside from these basic requirements, if one reduces his calorie intake by 500 calories per day there will be a resultant 1# per week weight loss.

Why do we as a nation continue to become more obese?  It would take many centuries for a change in our genetic makeup, and yet, 100 years ago we were not experiencing such a national weight problem.

As research continues, it appears the more we know, the more we realize we don't know.  In 1994 when scientist discovered leptin, many thought that the "Silver Weight Loss Bullet" had been found.  As it turned out, although it gave a negative feed back to the appestat, it was only one portion of a very complex mechanism controlling one's appetite.  The complexity of the feed back mechanism is quite similar to the changes we experience in our hormones as we continue to age.

Rather than continuing to try to find the answer to our hunger urge, which has been as it is since the beginning of time, it might be more useful to see what in our environment could be having such an effect on obesity.

We need to recognize that the appestat is so sensitive that slight changes in hormonal levels could generate measurable changes in our hunger urges.

My previous article "Can You Loss Weight Easy?" points out many of the changes in our basic food supply.  Both our produce and our protein meat sources have had drastic changes over the last 50 years.

Our vegetable produce is grown under efficiency guidelines rather than requirement for quality.  In the 1920, Britain and the United States were warned that they needed to take remedial action so that produce grown would have the proper vitamins and minerals.  Most plants will only require three nutrients to grow to maturity.  These are nitrogen, phosphorus, and water.  When grown in depleted soil the fruits and vegetable will be nutritionally empty.  In addition the insecticides and chemical fertilizer used to enhance production can actually be adding detrimental quality to the produce.  Although organic foods, if grown in depleted soil, might not have the nutrition you need, at least they will not have the detrimental qualities of agro farms.

We needed to mention this so as to point out that when the human body is not furnished its proper vitamins and minerals, the human body's hormone production can substantially change.  We previously mentioned leptin, which is a hormone involved in the appestat.  When given to obese children who were leptin deficient, the children returned to normal weight.  In the laboratory, however, many other factors had to be held constant.  It still is not ready for prime time.

When we look at our protein meat production, the problem is even more severe.

As cattle is taken off of the grazing land and put into feed lots to increase production, they are given a grain that is not their natural food.  This feed lot food is normally corn, which substantially raises the acidity of their stomach.  Not being their natural food, the livestock gets sickly and catches diseases requiring the utilization of the huge amounts of antibiotics.  Eventually the E. coli mutates and is immune to the antibiotics.  It passes into the highly acidic condition of the animal's stomach.  Once there, it becomes accustomed to the highly acidic conditions. They are then given 3 natural hormones and 3 synthetic hormones  to help them gain weight as rapidly as possible.

When the meat is harvested, it contains E. coli which has been generated in a highly acidic condition.  The E. coli are now immune to the normal acidic condition in a human stomach.  This is responsible for the heightened prevalence of E. coli 0157:H7 illness. Previously raw hamburger was no particular problem, but with this new train of E. coli, a person eating undercooked hamburger can possibly die.

There are other health factors in which to be concerned.  For instance gazing cattle have 3 times the amount of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid)and three times the amount of Omega3.  CLA is a factor in distributing lean body weight to fatty tissue.  Omega three used to be a health 1:5 to Omega6.  Grazing cattle have a very unhealthy ratio of 1:30 and is a contributing factor in the epidemic of inflammatory diseases we have seen.

Getting back to possible weight problems, the harvested meat also has residual amounts of the six hormones used in the meat production.  From what we have seen, it would be unreasonable to assume this would have no effect on our appetite control.

The very newest protocol for weight control has been discovered by Dr. Suzanne Gudakunst.  You have probably seen her on national Television describing her new and innovative approach.  Her protocol realizes the need for caloric control, but also takes into account the other problems delineated in this article.  For some very unique information, go to our URL contained in our Resource Box.