History of obesity

This post is about history of obesity. it is not about people being overweight it is about why there are growing number of overweight people specially in the Metropolitan Cities. If we can go back to our fathers or our grandfathers time we will observe that in those times people were not worried about being overweight or about their belly fat because it was not a problem then. Were not there fat people? Yes there have been, since the dawn of human civilization. but this article is not about that, this article is about why there are growing number of cases of people being overweight. 

Why should I learn about the history of obesity?

First question comes to the mind then why do I need to learn about the history of obesity? It is because it is said that if you want to find out the root cause of any problem you better learn the history of it. So today we will see what is the root cause of obesity and how this knowledge can help us in our health Journey. 

When it all started?

Data shows that it was started in 1950s. So what happened back then? what happened in those times that has caused a drastic change in how average human looks? 

One thing happened that time, women of the house started working in industries. But Why ? Why in those times? because of two main reasons. 

Reason #1 is by that time there was sufficient industrial advancement. There were machines to take the heavy loads and do things automatically. So now there was sufficient facility for women To work in industries. 

Reason #2 is, if you can recall hour GK book or our history books, it will tell you that World War Two started in 1939 and was ended in 1945. so during this time all men were at war. Either directly on border or somehow being in the supply chain and supporting soldiers. There was no one to run the industries, to run the economy of the country. And that is where women came as savior of the economies. They came out in masses and started running industries. During the whole World War 2 it was mainly women who were running the industries. World War Two ended in 1945 but this trend did not 

Before World War Two women usually used to do household chores, this was first time in the history of mankind that women, in masses were going out of home and working  in industries as professionals  like men. 

Now there was lack of time to do household stuffs, cooking, being the most time taking process which you need to do three times a day, took a backseat. People started eating out in restaurants in food joints, they started eating on the go. Food was outsourced. 

There was a huge demand off something which was ready to be served hence the industry for ready made food started. There was a challenge to keep the food fresh and not go stale and hence the era of refined food started where they used to refine the food and strip off so many nutrients to increase the shelf life. There was a competition Among many companies to sell more food to more people they wanted to make food tasty and hence they started adding more and more fat to the food because fat is usually tasty.  

Now you will begin to see the trend that the physical moment had become less and people were eating more of outside Food and refined food. Even when they were eating at home they were trying to buy something which was readily and easily available. As a result people started gaining weight in two decades.  

Scientist started to looking into this and there were a lot of study published that people are getting fat because they are eating more fat which was not even half truth.  

Now there was a time that companies had to cut on fat. So they needed something new which can make things tasty without having fat in it.  

Rise of sugar usage in almost everything

Sugar came for their rescue company started to reduce fat in their product and adding more and more refined sugar to make it tasty. it was a triple boon for companies because first thing sugar is tasty, and second thing is sugar is addictive and the third thing is, it increases shelf life of the product. This increased the overall sale and of course added to more profit for companies but consumers were at loss. 

By eating more refined sugar, food stripped of vital nutrients and less of physical movements  people started getting into a vicious circle where they were not getting enough nutrients so they were not having enough energy but they were consuming more of those empty calories which was making them gain weight plus the food which they were eating was addictive so they were asking for more of it. If this was not enough companies experimented with substances called taste enhancers. What does enhancers do that they make taste buds swollen so that the food tastes good. And when it tastes good it creates a dopamine response from where the loop of addiction starts. So you get addicted to the food because of sugar and taste enhancers which is already devoid of nutrients so you end up eating more food which just don’t fulfill your body requirement. 

With this busy hectic and not so Healthy lifestyle one more thing happened that people were lacking time for entertainment because most of their daytime was busy in earning money and making their living standard better. So they started to see the time for entertainment in the night with the advent of electricity it was not a big deal. This made them distant from nature’s clock and made them immune to their own body’s calling.  

In India this trend is started a little later with the entrance of multinational companies but now we can see that everywhere. So now we understand from where it all started what were the root cause and what are the takeaways from the history. There are three main key takeaways if you understand them and follow them well, maintaining weight and staying healthy will become less of a deal. These takeaways are- 

Takeaways-

1. Eat home cooked whole food do not eat refined. 

2. Increase your physical movements, these are not necessarily your gym or your yoga studio time. Here I’m talking about including movements in your day-to-day activities like walking while you are talking on phone like taking stairs like walking the dog etc. 

3. Follow nature’s clock. This nowadays called circadian rhythm. Be in tune with nature also with your own body. 

If you can follow just these three simple steps most of your weight loss journey started. Of course there are so many other components but this gives a solid foundation. 

Do let me know how did you like this and if you have any questions I will be more than happy to take it. 

Thank you