OBESITY is NOT a Character Flaw

Despite the prevalence and growing rates of obesity, many still don't fully understand that weight gain is just one symptom of a much bigger problem. After spending 15 years in Obesity Medicine, I'm here to reiterate this important message: Obesity isn't due to any lack of self-control or moral weakness - it's simply an illness like any other!

It is not weak character that causes weight gain; instead, those extra pounds are just one symptom associated with a chronic and complex medical disease. So let’s ditch any preconceived notions we may have had previously and focus on treating Obesity as what it really is – a true health issue requiring real solutions.

Episode Highlights:

(02:24) On June 18th, 2013, the American Medical Association voted to recognize Obesity as a disease. Weight gain is actually just one symptom of Obesity. Obesity is a dangerous, a life-threatening disease. It kills 320,000 people every year in the United States alone, and it's a disease that needs to be taken seriously.

(07:57) With the disease of Obesity, almost everything is out of balance, and we see signs of these imbalances in terms of elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, diabetes, high estrogen states, infertility, weight gain and lots of other issues. And the reason for the weight gain is because there's an error in fat metabolism, that's what causes the weight gain.

(10:25) One of the hallmarks of Obesity is inflammation. As a matter of fact, Obesity is a disease of inflammation. It's chronic inflammation, which means that it's long-lasting inflammation and the inflammation is affecting every part of the body, damaging tissues and causing accelerated aging. You could say that inflammation is destroying the body from the inside out.