Nutrition, Optimum Health, & Preventing the “Deadly 4”

As a physician, my mission is your Optimum Health. Then, as I consider the best health-care approaches for you and others, I ask two questions: 1) How healthy are you now? And 2) If there are concerning trends among individuals, what can I do about it? These compelling questions had me research the top causes of death in America. Here is what I found… There are 4 diseases, frequently driven by poor nutrition, that kill more people than all other causes combined! I call these the “Deadly 4”…

Metabolism: Does a Sluggish Metabolism Cause Weight Gain?

We hear the word “metabolism” frequently. And, if yours is “sluggish”, it likely impacts you daily. Although we have a general sense of what metabolism is and how it affects us, few people can accurately define it. Metabolism can be thought of as the body’s chemical processes that allow 3 crucial aspects of life to occur:

  1. Energy for body activity and body heat to stay warm
  2. Body functions for basic life to occur (like breathing and digestion)
  3. Body structure production and maintenance (brain, bones, muscles, hair, etc)

These areas of metabolism have in common a demand for an energy source, i.e. calories! If any one of these 3 aspects of metabolism is impaired or sluggish, negative consequences are inevitable, often including weight gain!

How Fat Cells Cause Obesity

By Dr. Rick Tague

Did you know that being overweight is a disorder? In some ways, it is caused by our fat cells. If you’ve lost weight only to regain it, you know first hand the difficult struggle against “hungry” fat cells.

Our bodies have millions of these small cells scattered throughout our bodies.  If they receive the wrong message from our genetics, chemicals in the environment, certain medications, stress hormones, etc, they take on a life of their own and demand more food calories.