Shocked AND horrified

Obesity is a very serious problem.  Not only is it a serious threat to those who suffer from it, it is also a serious economic threat to public health services.

Obesity is not just a problem of eating too much.  It isn't just an aesthetic or "unsightly" problem, it is a serious health problem that leads to serious health issues such as heart disease and cancer.  Let's face it - obesity kills.

All these obesity generated illness put a lot of stress on the public health services and together with the European economic crisis, this means there could be serious problems in the future.  Obesity is a very real and present problem that needs to be addressed in many ways.

There are several questions that need to be answered; why do we get fat in the first place?  Why do some people get fat and others don't even though they eat the same amount and even the same type of food?  We now know sugar is a serious threat to our health, so why aren't governments doing anything about it?  The old advice that fat in the diet is the problem has been clinically and statistically disproved, so why haven't dietary guidelines been changed?  We now know that refined carbohydrates make us fat, so why are we constantly being told that low fat, high carb diets make you thin?

To be honest the list of questions just goes on and on, and there still aren't many answers.  Some doctors, nutritionists, dietitians, homeopaths, etc strive to find the answers in the hope of helping people control their weight and avoid health issues.  Others... want to make money.

Hollywood, television, fashion... industries that are constantly trying to tell us that SKINNY is beautiful and the secret to success.  You want to become and actor... you have to be thin.  You want to be a model... you have to be thin.  Women and men are constantly comparing themselves to models, actors and even the person they sit next to on the bus.  We are body conscious and the better we think we look the more confidence we have.

So, another industry has arisen to help us in our quest to be skinny and beautiful.  The diet/surgery industry.  The first "diet book" was written in 1863 called A Letter of Corpulence by William Banting.  And the industry has grown from there.

Even back then Banting had it right.  After years of trying to lose weight through exercise and other forms of dieting, this British undertaker finally went on a LOW CARB diet and lost a load of weight.  He was so happy with the results that he wrote the book to share this knowledge with the rest of the world.

There are high carb diets, low carb diets, high fat or low fat, Dukan, Southbeach, Palm Springs, Hay
Diet, Atkins Diet Revolution, Mayo Clinic... pills; dangerous so called fat burners... meal substitutes in the form of shakes or soups... and then surgery arose, bariatric surgery; stomach bypass, reductions, balloons... all in an attempt to make people THIN.  And then the plastic surgery to rearrange the sagging and lagging post diet body.

Just one point I'd like to make about bariatric surgery... Did you know that 30% of patients that have bariatric surgery regain the weight they lose with in 24 months?  There is a reason to this... if you lose weight be it through surgery or through diet alone or diet and exercise... you have to make a permanent lifestyle change.  If the way you ate made you fat and you then go on a diet to lose weight, you lose weight and then stop the diet and go back to eating they way you did to start with... you will put the weight back on.  You have to make a clean break from the way you ate before and maintain that lifestyle change and make it permanent.

But as I said at the beginning,  I am both shocked and horrified by the latest diet "thing" that came to my attention this morning.  It is by a company called Aspire Assist.  Basically it is a tube inserted into the stomach and out through the abdomen where it connects to a machine that allows you to eat to your heart's content and then PUMP OUT UP TO A THIRD of what you have eaten before the body processes it, and flush it way down the toilet.

Yes, you heard me right and here's the video that tells you all about it.

Aspire Assist is a nicely marketed way of having an eating disorder.  At least 2 eating disorders involve eating normally and then forcing vomiting immediately after eating so as not to assimilate the food and therefore not put on weight.  Emptying out a third of your stomach contents through a tube eliminates the nasty vomiting process but it has the same end result.  So basically this company is condoning eating disorders.

However, having said that... obesity is a big (no pun intended) issue and many people just aren't capable of making the change... they can't change their way of thinking, their beliefs and in many cases they know they have to lose weight as it is affecting their health but they don't WANT to diet.

That word DIET is a small 4 letter word that no one wants to utter.  It's scary... it instantly conjures images of grilled chicken or fish with a side of lettuce.  Why would anyone want to diet and give up all the foods they love?

So although every atom of my body screams NOOOOOOO to his device, for the desperate, it may be a less invasive way of losing weight compared to bariatric surgery, ALTHOUGH I WANT TO STRESS THAT I DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS AT ALL.  With this device there is no need for a general anesthetic and the procedure takes just 15 minutes and you can go home 2 hours later.  I can only HOPE that it will be used cautiously and that each case is assessed correctly.  This should not be used unless someone is in desperate need for health reasons.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com