Overview

Obesity is associated with increased risk of many diseases, including the top killers in developed nations - cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Dr. Weyrich believes that there is no "one size fits all" diet plan for right-sizing a patient's weight. However, it appears clear that the high carbohydrate, low fat diet advocated by many conventional authorities is a disaster. Indeed, any farmer can tell you that the best way to fatten an animal is to feed them corn.

Please see conventional, complimentary and alternative medical treatments for important background information regarding the different types of medical treatments discussed on this page. Naturopathic, Complimentary and Alternative treatments that may be considered include:


Etiology

At the most simplistic level, weight gain is the result of consumption of more calories of food energy than is burned by physical and metabolic activity. However there is much more to the story - many hormones interact to control hunger, metabolic activity, mood, and perceived energy level.

Perhaps one of the most important hormone imbalance leading to obesity is hypothyroidism [Starr2005, pg 164], [Zondek1944], [Hertoghe1915], [Siegal2001].

Adequate dietary fat is important to maintaining a normal metabolism. Dr. Barnes reports that a high protein, low fat diet will slow the metabolism and produce symptoms of hypothyroidism [Barnes[Starr2005].

At least one study shows that a 60% fat diet is more effective in losing weight than a 30% fat diet. As summarized by Dr. Starr, the results of the study reported by Duke University in 2002 are as follows [need reference]:

% Fat in dietWeight loss #% Change HDL% Change TG
60%30 #+11%-49%
30%20 #0%-22%

In conclusion, avoidance of dietary fats is counterproductive in weight loss programs. On the other hand, correcting hypothyroidism appears to benefit weight loss.


Differential Diagnosis


References