Respondent: Diabesity

In chapter three under the section, “Diabesity and Darwinian Medicine”, obesity and diabetes is considered to be a current pandemic (World wide). As learned in this chapter, when individuals are overweight it is a chief risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. As I read this chapter, I pondered, “Can skinny people acquire Type 2 diabetes (DM), as well as obese individuals? And can some visually perceived obese people not acquire Type 2 DM?

I’m not a searcher for this week, but check this out…

http://chriskresser.com/think-skinny-people-dont-get-type-2-diabetes-think-again

I personally agree with Paige when she stated, “Hormonally and neurologically our bodies are far more influenced by the drive to eat than the subtleties of satiety”.

Just as Lieberman elucidated, “Hormonal and neurological mechanisms control appetite (i.e., Hunger and Satiety);  Lieberman continues to state that there is “ a drive to eat and a low sensitivity to satiety”.  This may be due to increase in a high dense diet with little nutritional value.  With modern conveniences, low energy expenditure our bodies are adapting to this daunting change.

And even though researchers have proven that we are genetically programmed to eat like our Paleolithic ancestors, we are indeed opposite of this. The Paleo diet is considered to be healthy, but don’t we need to consume carbs for instant energy usage (if there is no carbs in the Paleo diet)?  So why are we so fluffy if we need carbs for energy?  Lieberman stated, “Obesity and diabetes are referred to as inactivity-mediated disease”.  As we have learned in this weeks reading, as well as last week readings more energy in and less energy out can lead to storage of excess energy that can cause a host of medical problems. So carbs are okay, just as long as we as individuals exert our available and stored energy.

As Paige stated, “It seems only natural then that we would face this diabesity problem when we are evolutionarily urged to eat and more is always available”, I completely agree.  I’ve noticed in my personally life, when I have access to more food (healthy and/or unhealthy), and money, I tend to overeat. I tested this theory for a week by limiting the amount of money I spent, and food access. Surprisingly I ate significantly less that usual, and my appetite was diminished. I realized that when I thought about the food that I had access to, I started to salivate and feel somewhat hungry (usually during boredom).  

Overall modern lifestyles of decreased activity levels, and increased consumption of calories has opened an unfortunate doorway for chronic irreversible, but controllable diseased like Type 2 DM. In order to combat this pandemic, individuals need to reduce calorie intake (eat smaller portions), and increase energy expenditure (exercising, with ADLs), to prevent chronic illnesses to stay healthy.