I think I might find a different perspective at this site than the one where I found this link - it was in the "off topic" section of a sports site and the concensus there was obesity is not a disease and that overweight people, generally, are lazy gluttons who choose to be fat (except for the 1% who are obese due to a medical condition). I was shocked and dismayed - never have I seen so many insensitive, uninformed, intolerant, judgmental and ignorant posts...don't think I'll visit that site again, it gave me indigestion.
i feel it is as much a disease as mental disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc. in fact, there are things called eating DISORDERS. and food ADDICTIONS. so yeah, these people are just out of it. lucky for them, it's because they don't suffer from the disease.
kinda like people who think that headaches don't exist. just because you've never had one, does that mean it's not real? (could go off tangent here with the big O discussion, but... yeah.)
i've read posts by people who are quitting smoking and losing weight... and they say losing the weight is harder because you can't just go cold turkey (mm, turkey) on food. you have to eat to live.
That is why this place is so wonderful ~ because here you can find understanding. It is hard to make people understand ~ even those who care about you. My dad is supportive of me and my difficulties ~ he was telling me about something he had read about a thing that could be implanted to help a person not to feel hungry. I tried to tell him, that the eating sometimes doesn't have a thing to do with hunger ~ sometimes stress or other things. He cares, but this was hard for him to understand.
I am bawling my eyes out and telling her I just know something is wrong, no one gains back weight as quickly as I do and loses it as often. I was so frustrated, angry, and OMG I am so unlazy. I tend to be perfectionistic, that takes alot of effort. Instead of just venting I think I will quote the findings of Dr. Ernest P. Noble of the University of CA at LA.
"A form of pleasure gene called A1, previously linked to cocaine and alcohol abuse, may be the cause of carbohydrate craving and addictive eating. In a study of seventy obese people found that twice as many carried the rare dopamine receptor pleasure gene A1. The more common or normal gene is A2."
When I read this bells went ringing off in my head. I have struggled with cocaine addiction, though food my core addiction has always been much worse. I have something wrong with me. Calling it a disease doesn't give me an excuse, but instead frees me from the dieting and the guilt, and lets me look for treatment. I sit here 19 days without sugar and tell you it has changed my outlook on the world.
Miss Chris you amaze me sometimes...
i too have suffered from addictions, cocaine and others...
it really makes me wonder if i dont have this pleasure gene you explained. i CRAVE sweets...and breads...mac and chz and pizza...lol i read on the radiant recovery site that there is such a thing as sugar sensitivity and it sounded like i probably have that. do you think this sugar sensitivity could be linked to the pleasure gene A1???
I think it definitely sends bells off in my head. Let me reccomend some books "From the First Bite: A complete guide to recovery from food addiction" and "Take it Off and Keep it Off" both explain the dangers and the disease part of complusive eating. I firmly believe obesity is just a symptom of an overall problem.
Originally posted by rochemist I firmly believe obesity is just a symptom of an overall problem.
Miss Chris
Thank you.
A disease, to me, is Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis, or what I have, Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). It has no known cure. Obesity has a known cure--diet & exercise, or in some cases, surgery. That is just my personal opinion.
I disagree, a disease is not something that is not necessarily devoid of a cure. High Cholesterol is a disease, Hypertension is a disease, Breast Cancer is a disease, all of them can be cured....'
I liked the article in the first post, it states that society is starting to recognize obesity as a disease, it is a product of something since it is getting worse.....perhaps it is a disease of culture....for me sugar is a drug, it is addictive and it has a negative impact on my health.
The people who "don't get it" and argue that we just need to get over it and go on a diet may think we want a pass on responsibility. Like, if the rest of the world says to us, "Yes, you have a disease. Or a predisposition: it's physically harder for you to be thin than the rest of us" we will stop trying. But, that isn't the case for the women I know here. We'd like a little credit for knowing what a calorie is - for exercising (not me of course, but a lot of you with your kickboxing, ***-kicking, hip-sounding videos) - and for being smart enough to know that we are what we eat. It's just more complicated than "You eat more - you gain weight. Duh!"
I don't know what the official definition of "disease" is, but I think there's something medically different with us. it's not an excuse; it's a relief! If you know what you're really up against, it makes it easier to overcome.
Is obesity a disease?
Sounds like a nutrionist I went to once
