Fat facts

A friend of mine believes in exercise and who until recently believed,that if one burnt calories through exercise,one could eat and drink anything.

A friend of mine believes in exercise and who until recently believed,that if one burnt calories through exercise,one could eat and drink anything. However,his struggle to get rid of his emerging middle-age belly hit a dead end. He then began to incorporate dietary suggestions in his regimen,which I advised. The diet helped him lose his belly. Today he is a converta die-hard believer in healthy eating and exercise.

Recently,an article published in Time, reported a study on exercise and weight loss. It suggests the clear edge of diet over exercise for weight loss. It further reinforces this point by suggesting that the growing epidemic of obesity has not been arrested despite mushrooming of gyms,fitness centres and increased levels of physical exercise among people. While this may be true,it must also be recognised that the number of diets have also grown correspondingly. Many unsuccessful chronic dieters are victims of such diets,they become permanently obese,afflicted by depression,poor self-esteem and plagued by health problems. The article does not discourage exercise,but highlights the importance of physical activity for general health,cognitive function and disease prevention.

When dealing with obesity,it is important to distinguish between metabolic obesity and simple obesity. Simple obesity is a result of an imbalance in the energy equation i.e. when the number of calories consumed are more than burnt. There are usually no significant underlying hormonal issues,but,when it goes untreated,it results in hormonal imbalances,including insulin resistance.

Story continues below this ad

In metabolic obesity,on the other hand,a significant contributing factor is insulin resistance that is associated with high insulin levels. Insulin resistance is also a major clinical feature in young women with PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome). Insulin resistance is associated with central obesity along with increased visceral fat (fat around the internal organs in the abdominal cavity). This kind of fat is strongly associated with risk of chronic degenerative diseases like type 2 diabetes,hypertension and cardio-vascular disease. Abdominal obesity is usually measured by waist measurement or body composition analysis. Often,those within the normal BMI range (Body mass index- measure of obesity) may carry excess intra-abdominal fat. Treatment for this kind of obesity requires exercise training which improves insulin sensitivity,when combined with diet therapy. Several studies also report that exercise training is the basic therapeutic means for treating insulin resistance. It also reduces visceral obesity,total fat,even without weight loss or caloric restriction.

However,when diets are combined with exercise,results are likely to be sustained for longer. Research has compared individuals on calorie restricted diets and those on calorie-restricted diets with moderate to intense exercise. While the results showed the same amount of total weight loss in both the groups,increased physical activity prevented relapse after weight loss. Several studies have shown that those who keep up a higher level of physical activity are more successful maintaining reduced body weight. Exercise combined with diet helps to preserve lean body mass (like muscle and bone mass) more efficiently during weight loss compared to weight loss with diet alone.

Concerns have been expressed about increased food intake post-exercise. Several studies report a total lowered food intake in subjects on exercise training,even of low intensity and duration. While the issue is complex and not fully understood,exercise induces changes in hormones that regulate food intake and limit overweight. Increased food intake,particularly,immediately after exercise may be more pronounced in the initial stages of exercise training. Also,adequate hydration prior to and during exercise may help in controlling food intake.

Obesity is multi-factorial in origin. It is only logical that the solution would not be complete by plugging only one factor. While the genetic predisposition is not modifiable (so far),we can certainly work towards combining diet and exercise therapy. Independently,both are inadequate,as evident in my friends case. There are no short cuts,when it comes to weight loss.