Finger focused on instant gratification given by industrial food and excess calories
In the common feeling, the correlation between obesity and lack of physical activity and therefore, by extension, a laziness and willpower. Still, several recent studies demonstrate a much more complex reality, in which lifestyle is only the card of a larger mosaic. At the base of obesity there is often a problem of dependence, an altered activation of the cerebral circuits of the reward, as well as individual psychological issues and genetic predispositions that go beyond environmental factors. And a significant responsibility falls onfood industrywhich in recent decades has promoted the consumption of ultra-transformed foods, rich in empty calories and capable of activating an immediate gratification that in some can push to excess.
Obesity and sedentary lifestyle, the study
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An important study published on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesconducted by the researcher Amanda McGrosky, analyzed the data relating to diet, physical activity and body composition of 4,213 adults, from 34 populations in six continents. The participants, aged between 18 and 60, were subjected to the measurement of different parameters: the total energy expenditure (Tee), the energy expenditure deriving from physical activity (AEE), the basal (bee), in addition to the percentage of body fat and body mass index (BMI). The analysis revealed that the main responsibility of obesity lies in excess ingested caloriesespecially in the form of ultra-transformed foods, such as ready dishes, sweet snacks and industrial preparations. The research underlines, in fact, that “the percentage of upf in the diet was positively related to the percentage of body fat”, while physical activity appears to have a marginal impact on obesity.
And on the other hand this is not surprising; After all, these are laws of thermodynamics: To fatte we must introduce more calories than it consumes. Sic et simpliciter.
Obesity and economic development
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Another significant conclusion of the study concerns the relationship between Economic development and energy expenditure. The data collected show that, in the economically more developed populations, a slight reduction (about 6-11%) of the total and basal energy expenditure compared to the less developed countries is observed. However, contrary to what could be expected, the energy spent on physical activity remains overall superior in the richest nations. A fact that highlights how sedentary lifestyle cannot be considered the main cause of the increase in BMI or body fat in advanced countries. Indeed, the total energy expenditure is only weakly correlated with obesity: it affects just 10% on the increase in the incidence in economically advanced populations. So physical activity is not needed to lose weight? Not exactly.
However, physical activity remains essential
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Physical activity remains ancrucial habit for health. The authors of the study reiterate that although it does not represent the main cause or the definitive solution for obesity, an active life still has important benefits for the prevention of numerous chronic pathologies and for psychological well -being. The main indication? Move regularly and, at the same time, reduce the consumption of calories, especially those from highly transformed industrial food products. In a nutshell, renounce the practicality of the fridge bench to abandon itself to a decent diet.
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