Will All Americans Be Fat in 40 Years?

Dr. Mercola,

I don't know if we will all be fat in the future. I do agree with what you said, but I would add a few things if I could.

A few things that we know, I believe, is that the nation is consuming drugs at startling rates.  Our obesity is going up at a horrendous rate also.  Looking up the adverse reactions of several popular drugs, many of them have "gain weight" on the list.  How can you exercise, if you're doped up all the time?  Could the two trends be connected?  But don't worry, the pharma is working on a pill for that.  Please don't just stop your drugs, I'm just asking - do your own research.

Also, I think that stress can have a negative result with a person's weight.  This could be some of it, since our pace of worrying doesn't seem to be decreasing.  Caring is decreasing, worrying is not (my opinion).

Another point is that we are protecting our children to the point of suffocation.  Some of it is good, but I think we are going off of the edge.  I don't think that I would've ever ridden a bike, if I would have had to find pads for my knees, elbows and head, suncreen, sunglasses, ipod.  There were as many strangers as when I was kid, I think, but no one worried about it.  Now we tell our kids thirty times before school and then they have classes in school telling them and then they watch TV telling them that everyone in the world is evil, so they sit staring at the TV or computer instead of making friends.  These days we all have the police at our door if we don't wrap our kids in a cocoon!

Last point:  I think our focus on what we should eat is another problem.  My brothers and I were always shoveling food in our mouths (didn't get fat).  I remember one neighbor who had a toy oven and we made smashed grasshoppers and dog food into a burger and ate them!  I didn't know how many calories, or cholestoral, or vitamins they had.  We were hungry, so we made do.  Now we have the government telling us what we can eat and putting charts on food too!

Will we be an obese populous soon? Yes we will, because too few of us read, and too many of us want to get our information from the idot box. Too much of our food is cooked, or processed otherwise. Our food should be eaten as close to harvest as possible. The fresher the more nutritious the food we ingest. At the very least our food should be 85% whole raw food if at all possible, at the very least.

Shop locally from organic farmers, and make sure you take the time to go to said farm, or farmers, view their operations to be sure they are truly growing organic foods. Our food needs to be simple, yet filling, and balanced. Along with good nutrition we need to be about exercise, fresh air, sunshine in the proper amounts, clean water, sleep at the proper time taking to heart the "Circadiun Rhythm" so that the body heals itself from the day to day stresses, and the ravages of our toxic enviroment. We must exercise, and get as much as 45 minutes, to an hour no fewer than 3 days a week, and more would be even better. But more so than all the rest, we must have a good spiritual posture. No grudges, be of a forgiving nature, and however, and whoever you worship, live up to those principles.

Being ill and overweight is an option, an option we can avoid, only if we so choose. Read America, research for yourself, take no one's word for anything that concerns your health. Our health and well being is truly in our hands, and something very precious that we can pass on the the next generation, and they to theirs. It is not that we are trying to live to be 200 years old, but however long or short that life, it can be a life of quality.

"in 2002 the Social Security Administration projected that the maximum human lifespan would reach 100 in roughly six decades"   Say what???  Don't you mean AVERAGE lifespan?  Today maximum human lifespan is about 115, maybe 120.  I think there is an error in that statement.

Getting back to the subject, here is why most of us overeat.  Thousands of generations of our prehistoric ancestors HAD to overeat because their food supply was highly unpredictable.  If they are lucky enough to kill a mastodon, the whole village feasts until they can no longer move. This instinct kept them alive through the lean times. Sadly the same instinct burned into our DNA through evolution is killing us for the simple reason that we no longer HAVE lean times.  

But if there is a bright spot to all this it is that readers of Mercola.com generally make a serious commitment to personal responsibility when it comes to their health. If anyone is equipped to overcome the odds and stay healthy despite living in an unhealthy world, it is US.  At 55, I am not overweight and I am determined to keep it that way no matter how many friends and family members (well-meaning though they may be) show their affection with gobs of FOOD.  

If the unenlightened masses die off early due to complications of gluttonly, that's because we have free will and get to chose our habits, both good and bad.

BigBlue, BMI = 25

"All" means 100 percent. Does MSNBC expect no one to be exercising in 40 yrs? No marathon runners or other athletes?

I've been running for 36 years (25 marathons) and my weight has only gone up 8 pounds since high school. This is partly because I only run 40 miles per week now (not 70) and because I do more wt lifting now.

What Dr. Mercola forgot to mention is that one of the major reasons so many Americans are overweight is because of widespread poisoning of our environment (air, food, water and some drugs) with fluoride--on purpose or by accident. Excessive consumption of fluoride not only inhibits numerous essential enzymes in human metabolism, but also inhibits proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Lower thyroid function means lower metabolic rate AND weight gain!

For those that don't believe this, they need only look at history: The prescription dose for hyperthyroidism (OVER-active thyroid) 40-50 years ago was 2.5 to 4.5 milligrams per day of sodium fluoride. Worked great! Interestingly enough, this is about our CURRENT total intake (and more)! No wonder so many Americans are overweight. Of course, any health conscious person would avoid refined carbs and I am suspicious that 100 % of Americans will fail to fail to eat healthfully and exercise regularly. My guess is that at least 5 percent of the population avoids refined foods altogether and exercises regularly. As more and more learn of the benefits of organic foods and regular exercise and as our "health care" costs continue to skyrocket, I can only hope that this percentage increases into the double digits.

Meanwhile, it would be prudent to not use words like "ALL". Many Americans take proper care of their health. If some (er. most!), continue to avoid learning about and exercising good nutrition, shame on them!

Make some SERIOUS efforts and YOU TOO can be healthy, fit and NOT overweight! Oops, I forgot...turn off the television!

Back in the 60s we all thought that Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza was fat. But now when you watch the reruns he actually seems pretty trim and fit. His stomach doesn't protrude out like most men these days. So things have chaged drastically. At 5-8 and 167 rock hard pounds  Iwould be regarded as "overweight" based on the common BMI calculators, so there's obviously some play in the definitions.

What is happening is that people are heavily poisoned and their bodies require more fat to store the toxins they cannot remove,. They also eat,drink & breath item that did not exist 100 years ago. Our bodies not evolve to cope with these things..

Basic science. The liver removes our toxins. What we cannot get rid of is stored in fatty tissues. Living in a world full of poisons makes us fat. Most of those toxins are *NEW* and we did not evolve ways to remove them properly. We lack the liver enzymes to get rid of them without damage to our systems.

By the way, actual epigenetic science is not about THINKING yourself thin, or thinking yourself well for that matter (or giving yourself extra fingers and toes).  Epigenetics is about gene switches that can be FORCED ON by the OUTSIDE world that we live in... not by our thoughts. This includes exposure to the plastics that line our cans of veggies, which cause mice to be FAT and YELLOW and SICKLY even when they eat properly.

The idea that we can all just think ourselves well is just another way of blaming people who are ill or fat for their problems ( because THEY did not take the time to learn to control their genes properly...or talk to their crystals every day...or channel Hunkra from Atlantis) , and a way of not being appropriately FREAKED into action by the massive damage being done to our world by the greedy.

The brain is powerful & plasticity it great, but it took two decades of in-patient therapy to make perceptible changes in the brains of schizophrenics.that the best brain scans in the world could find (tiny changes) ..so you are NOT going to rewire the entire brain in 10 minutes of navel gazing a day in a few months. It takes decades for a person with PTSD to manage it, although they can, and deserve a lot of kudos for it. In this area Doc Mercola is full of it, or just plain stupid, or pandering for profit. I do not know which, but it is not scienc

What is happening is that most people are heavily poisoned and their bodies require more fat to store the things they encounter. They also eat food that is full of poisons, and did not exist 100 years ago. Never eat anything that did not exist 100 years ago, as your body did not evolve to cope with it .

Basic science. The liver removes our toxins. What we cannot get rid of is stored in fatty tissues. Living in a world full of poisons makes us fat. Most of those toxins are *NEW* and we did not evolve ways to remove them properly. We lack the liver enzymes to get rid of them without damage to our systems.

By the way, actual epigenetic science is not about THINKING yourself thin, or thinking yourself well for that matter (or giving yourself extra fingers and toes).  Epigenetics is about gene switches that can be FORCED ON by the OUTSIDE world that we live in... not by our thoughts. This includes exposure to the plastics that line our cans of veggies, which cause mice to be FAT and YELLOW and SICKLY even when they eat properly.

The idea that we can all just think ourselves well is just another way of blaming people who are ill or fat for their problems ( because THEY did not take the time to learn to control their genes properly...or talk to their crystals every day...or channel Hunkra from Atlantis) , and a way of not being appropriately FREAKED into action by the massive damage being done to our world by the greedy.

The brain is powerful & plasticity it great, but it took two decades of in-patient therapy to make perceptible changes in the brains of schizophrenics.that the best brain scans in the world could find (tiny changes) ..so you are NOT going to rewire the entire brain in 10 minutes of navel gazing a day in a few months. It takes decades for a person with PTSD to manage it, although they can, and deserve a lot of kudos for it. In this area Doc Mercola is full of it, or just plain stupid, or pandering for profit. I do not know which, but it is not science.

What is happening is that most people are heavily poisoned and their bodies require more fat to store the things it cannot remove. Basic science. The liver removes our toxins. What we cannot get rid of is stored in fatty tissues. Living in a world full of poisons makes us fat. Besides which epigenetic states are easily set by things we are exposed to. A study on mice showed that the very same plastic that lines our cans, causes mice to be born with a gene state set which causes them to be fat, yellow and sickly

What is happening is that most people are heavily poisoned and their bodies require more fat to store the things it cannot remove. Basic science. The liver removes our toxins. What we cannot get rid of is stored in fatty tissues. When we run out of space we make more fat. incidentally, back in college I used to work in fast food restaurants & the Denny's type of places, and I will never eat in one again. What they sever has no resemblance to actual food. The roast at Denny's came precooked in a bag of preservative gel. Most salads people get were treated with "stay white" or equivalent so they would not have wilting leaves of pre-cut lettuce for several days. What we get in frozen pre-made meals today, is far worse than that.

Springolife - I consumed soy for many years believing it was a health food.

SOY SEVERELY DAMAGES THYROID CAUSING WEIGHT GAIN

www.soyonlineservice.co.nz

But what if all you've read about soy is nothing but a multi-million dollar marketing strategy based on scanty facts, half-truths and lies?

...soy is known to contain an array of potent chemical toxins. The modern manufacturing processes of high-profit industries make no effort to remove these potent toxins. High levels of phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors, toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines are all present in soy products.

Phytoestrogens that disrupt endocrine function and are potent antithyroid agents are present in vast quantities in soy, including the potentially devastating isoflavone Genistein. Infants exclusively fed soy-based formula have 13,000 to 22,000 times more estrogen compounds in their blood than babies fed milk-based formula, the estrogenic equivalent of at least five birth control pills per day. Premature development of girls has been linked to the use of soy formula, as has the underdevelopment of males. Infant soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

Soy is linked to infertility, breast cancer, hypothyroidism, thyroid cancer, and many other disorders.

when Soy is added to our food supply. Soy contains the scientifically documented carcinogenic and DNA damaging and chromosome damaging natural chemicals genistein and daidzein." - True Health, the magazine of Carotec Inc., Naples, Florida.  May/June 2004.

"(Soyfoods) are not nutrients. They are drugs."

Dr. L. White, Honolulu Aging Study.

How could anyone get away with this?

The answer is simple, given the soy industry is one of the world's most wealthy and powerful multi-billion dollar industries.

When we first questioned the safety of soy, a representative of Protein Technologies told us that they had:

"...teams of lawyers to crush dissenters

www.soyonlineservice.co.nz

Over, 900 Physicians, Dentists, Scientists, Academics and Environmentalists urge Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted. They cite new scientific evidence that fluoridation is ineffective and has serious health risks. (www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html)

Please sign the petition and Congressional letter to support these professionals http://www.FluorideAction.Net

“Fluoride can harm bones, teeth, kidneys, the brain and more,” says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.

To Springolife - Being overweight/obese,  IS FORCED UPON US AGAINST OUR WILL by

FLOURIDE ADDED TO WATER which DAMAGES THYROID-CAUSES WEIGHT GAIN, CANCER, damaged bones, etc. When I had insurance I went to the doctor as I had almost ALL of the symptoms of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). The test came back negative. I discovered much later that it is typical for the test to come back negative when you actually have hypothyroidism. I no longer have insurance and my symptoms continually worsen. The fluoride forced upon us against our will in our water supplies makes it worse.

New York –  September 24, 2007 - There is clear evidence that small amounts of fluoride, at or near levels added to U.S. water supplies, present potential risks to the thyroid gland...

“A low level of thyroid hormone can increase the risk of cardiac disease, high cholesterol, depression and, in pregnant woman, decreased intelligence of offspring,” said Thiessen.(C)

Common thyroid symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, constipation, fuzzy thinking, low blood pressure, fluid retention, depression, body pain, slow reflexes, and more. It’s estimated that 59 million Americans have thyroid conditions.(D)

community.fox23news.com/.../2009295.aspx

Kelly Eidem may have a thyroid problem.

I am so glad i lost my 10 pounds over the summer by lowering calories and fast walking every day. Thanks to Dr. Mercola for his articles about obesity. I was 130 pounds and now I reached my goal of 120 pounds. I am 5 feet 4 inches.

Sue

What everybody likes to forget is that long-term trend statements about obesity are skewed by changes in the definition of obesity.  Remember, by the current definition, Arnold Schwarzenegger and George W. Bush are overweight.

The actors and models will continue starving themselves so they won't be fat either.  I am not from a thin family but I am not from a fat family either.  I grew up on meat and three veg. Treats were few and far between.  Some of my cousins are different and grew up overweight.  I have no weight problem.

articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/06/20/some-supplement..

Some Supplements Can Make You Fat

Adding vitamin supplements, including folic acid and vitamin B12, to the diet of pregnant mice caused their offsprings' weight to increase -- and the increase continued through generations.

Folic acid, vitamin B12 and certain similar vitamins add methyl groups to DNA, which impacts gene activity -- part of a new field known as epigenetics.

Previous research has found that methyl donors affect the gene activity of mice pups when added to the mother's diet, such as changing the coat color of mice with a mutation in a coat-color gene called agouti from yellow to brown.

Researchers say the supplements acted on the mice, known as agouti variable yellow or Ayy, by methylating a part of DNA that controls the coat-color gene.

The Ayy mice were also obese, and the researchers examined whether their weight could be affected by epigenetics. Ayy females were fed methyl-donating compounds including folic acid, vitamin B12, betaine and choline, in amounts similar to those received by humans taking vitamin supplements.

Weight Increased Over Generations

Although the researchers expected the pups' weight to decrease over generations as the methylation of the Ayy mutation increased, the mice gained weight over the generations. Non-Ayy mice showed a similar weight-gaining trend.

The findings bring in another dimension to how maternal nutrition could affect the human fetus, and add to the debate over whether pregnant women should increase their intake of folic acid, a supplement that's commonly used by expectant mothers to reduce the risk of spina bifida in newborns.

Actually, I think that when scientists and historians look back on this time in history, they will see this decade as the FAT decade.

This age of obesity will be due to a combination of excessive consumption of fluoride by the public that damaged metabolism, consumption of medications and vaccines that destroyed the gut flora that helps humans digest fats and carbs properly, and use of "dead" food that has had enzymes and digestive materials destroyed by radiation and processing.  

Obesity will also be impacted by excess use of the preservative, sodium benzoate, which damages the mitochondria and reduces human ability to use food for energy.Finally, obesity will be aggravated by a chronic starvation of minerals and nutrient in food, which makes people constantly hungry, because they are starving while they eat.

Of course the scientists and historians of that age will also talk about the next decade, called the Age of Revolt, in which the corporations and power elite will be stopped in their effort to harm the common people through the food system, after the leaders and corporate masters are placed on trial at Nuhrenberg type trials for crimes against humanity, and locked up forever.  

springolife,you have 4 kids under five,you are pregnant again.didn't it ever occur to you that maybe all of those pregnancies,and eating at MacDonald's might be the reason you can't lose weight? Were you heavy before children?Also I'm wondering what you are doing here,when you think Macdonalds is OK?I'm not judging,I'm just curious how the two go together?People need to realize that electricity and chemicals can affect our hormones.Look at what you use in your home,on you and your children,read labels,every processed item has chemicals in it.All child  products have chemicals in them.Look at your baby powder.Do you use disposable diapers?They are full of them.I can't even be around babies,because of all of the chemicals on them.

disc golfer,it's funny you mention thyroid and weight gain.It took until my thyroid quit before the doctors thought to check my thyroid,and I'm real thin,so some of us actually lose weight when our thyroid acts up.It is a very small percentage so its been easy to overlook

I think that there are multiple factors involved.  The SADS diet (proliferation of fast foods, junk foods, soft drinks, foods with nutrition processed out and additives processed in, GMO, artificial sweeteners which increase food cravings, MSG, etc.) and inactive lifestyles which have us sitting in recliners with remote controls or at computer desks all day are obvious culprits.

Another clue for gaining weight may have been uncovered recently.  In a recent article in ScienceDaily titled "Killer Carbs: Scientist Finds Key To Overeating As We Age" (www.sciencedaily.com/.../080821110113.htm) it says that a new study has discovered key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger and potentially weight-gain as we grow older and that people in the 25-50 age group are most susceptible.

Another reason many of us overeat may be the lack of minerals and nutrients in the produce from mineral depleted soils and in highly processed food items on our grocers shelves.  Just like you see dogs instinctively eat plants to gain needed minerals, our bodies may crave the nutrients we are deficient in and that may lead to us overeating without ever being satisfied.

In addition to proper diet and supplementation (and the good Doc has a wonderful multi-vitamin and mineral supplement, as well as other supplements to help insure we meet our nutrition needs), a key way to avoid over eating is to take plenty of time during meals to allow the brain signal for being full to catch up.  Taking time to chew thoroughly (50 chews for each bite is recommended) will go a long way and help us better absorb the nutrients too.

It is absurd to believe that ALL Americans will be overweight in 40 years, but it is certainly predictable that unless there are big changes a large percentage of us will be overweight then. See the amazing graphic on obesity trends at:

http://www.tbyil.com/diets.htm

Yeah I hear the same "you're too skinny" comments a lot. In my opinion my weight/health is just about ideal.

I travel for work frequently and am amazed at how fat people are anymore.. and the frequency of "ginormous" people. It's really pretty sad.

Long-term I see the health-care costs associated with obesity being astronomical. Thee co's that are on the right side of the equation are going to make a mint. Talk about being invested in people's unhealthiness.