The first thing I wanted to know was what the cause is. There are some very intelligent people who seem fixated on the idea that there's a gene as the cause.
With over $1 Billion being spent right now trying to track down and "turn off" (with drugs) the obesity gene, someone like me has a hard time trying to decide whether to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the venture or to cry at the waste of time, resources, and talent. This idea that we need to find the genetic cause of our obesity is not only ridiculous but is actually dangerous to our children and our economy.
For thousands of years, humans have existed without the current problems of obesity. It wasn't until about the 1980s that the US and England started plumping up like ripe fruit. Does anyone think we've had a genetic shift in the last 30 years - that all of a sudden the genes of certain populations changed?
This is the idea that's being perpetuated with all the outside-in chemical solutions to everything from high cholesterol to eyelash shortness.
The idea of a sudden gene change is absurd, but many people in academia and the public have fallen for it because it's very appealing to think that we had nothing to do with our problems. It's an easy idea to sell.
If the problematic obesity gene is "found", the researchers will get glory, the drug companies will get filthy rich for providing the "solution" and the Medical Doctors will push the drug on our kids. Forget the fact that this has never happened before EVER in the history of all humans. But today, all of a sudden, it's a gene that caused the obesity.
There's a lot riding on this. But what's at stake is more than glory for a few researchers, trillions of dollars for drug companies, and more hand-tying for our medical doctors (it'll become malpractice if you DON'T prescribe the "solution"). What's at stake is the identity of our kids as capable and self-actualizing, and as being able to own the consequences of their choices.
What worse sentence can you give someone than telling them, "It's genetic, there's nothing anyone can do"?
If your doctor tells you "It's in your genes and here's the drug to fix your problem, but you should probably exercise and eat right too", what reason in the world do you have for actually eating right and exercising? They just told you that's not what caused the problem.
What's the point of changing anything if it's in your genes? What's the point in changing if a drug is the solution?
Wellness and Prevention are illogical within this understanding of the genes as the cause and so too is personal responsibility. You see, the major fruits of the last 30 years are a production of people unwilling to own the consequences of the things they do. And why should people take responsibility with everyone (especially the TV and their doctors with pills) telling them they had nothing to do with it anyway?
Please look at the chart above again and realize that the recent spikes in diseases of affluence, also called "Western Diseases" (type II diabetes, cancer, heart disease, obesity and strokes) are NOT due to a recent genetic shift. With our kids growing up in this time where everything that's wrong with them can be "undone" by taking a pill (including the length of their eyelashes), is there any worse concept that the TV or their doctor can tell them day after day than "You're genes are messed up, there's nothing that can be done to change, and a prescription is the only solution?"
My question is - If it's not genes that are the problem, what could it be?
- It couldn't be the fact that we are underconsuming diets of fresh, whole foods - foods that humans have consumed forever (except for the 20th century).
When was the last time you saw a regular apple advertised on TV? Raw broccoli? Raw peppers? Raw zucchini? Is there any wonder why we eat mostly processed foods?
- It couldn't be that families are consuming things (food additives, chemicals, artificial sweeteners, etc.) that have NEVER been introduced to the human species EVER until the 1980s.
- It couldn't be that mothers and families are moving (or not moving) in ways that are completely foreign to their genes.
When was the automobile invented? the escalator? the motorized scooter? the television (where our kids spend hours a day)?
- It couldn't be that kids and parents are plagued with emotional stresses such as constant impending doom and gloom on the NEWS.
- It couldn't be a lack of feeling of belonging and acceptance and love and contributing to a society.
- It couldn't be the fact that many of us don't know our neighbors and live in constant fear of attack from the outside.
9/11 anyone?
Stressors like eating, moving, and thinking in ways that are not genetically compatible have been linked to obesity and every other Western Disease.
Which drug are they going to come up with that will solve the problems we create by putting ourselves in such a stressful environment?
With a billion people starving in the world right now, is it really a good idea to develop a pill to get Americans to eat more without gaining weight?
Only when we realize the actual cause of the problems do we have any chance of coming up with a viable solution.
Our physiology (or state of function - health or illness) is the genetic expression of our choices. It's the expression of our past and current environments. If we develop a problem, the first place we should look is the environment of how we are eating, moving, and thinking instead of assuming that a gene caused the changes in our health status.
Reconnecting you to freedom through responsibility.
In Health, Love, and Freedom with informed choices - Steve Perry
PS - next time someone hears an advertisement on the radio or TV for raw eggplant shoot me an email.
Graphic from:
Resource:
http://www.epidna.com/abstract/pm/18312311
Only when we realize the actual cause of the problems do we have any chance of coming up with a viable solution.
Our physiology (or state of function - health or illness) is the genetic expression of our choices. It's the expression of our past and current environments. If we develop a problem, the first place we should look is the environment of how we are eating, moving, and thinking instead of assuming that a gene caused the changes in our health status.
Reconnecting you to freedom through responsibility.
In Health, Love, and Freedom with informed choices - Steve Perry
PS - next time someone hears an advertisement on the radio or TV for raw eggplant shoot me an email.
Graphic from:
Resource:
http://www.epidna.com/abstract/pm/18312311
Well said! My wife and I are making those choices that will lead away from these "Western Diseases". A diet rich in fresh local vegetables, correct portion sizes, and a couple days a week of exercise. I Thank you for posting your thoughts~ They do not go unheard!
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