obesity (Page 24)

Newswise – Swimming in the cold water of the ocean or a lake instead ofin the warm water of a swimming pool can increase yourappetite, making it harder to lose unwanted pounds. Thiscould be why swimmers, as compared to dieters who do otherforms of exercise, lose less weight. Researcher Lesely Whitesays,”A study] reported that women who swam did not lose asmuch weight as those who jogged or cycled.”

According to White, “?It may not be the exercise itself thatcauses the problem?rather it?s the increased eating afterthe exercise is over?[However,] water exercise is anexcellent activity for many people, particularly those withjoint disorders, thermal regulatory problems and balance orcoordination difficulties.”
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Newswise – The current administration’s almost total concern with thewelfare of Big Business, often to the detriment of theordinary citizen, is nothing new. In the 1950s, baby formulamanufacturers convinced mothers in this country thatbreastfeeding was embarrassing and unnecessary?and the U.S.government went along with this idea. Now we know that thischange is the cause of some of the major diseases of moderntimes.
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German scientists have found that mutations in the MC4R genehave a “major” impact on people’s body mass index. Peoplewho have the mutations are much heavier than those who donot.

The researchers examined the body weights and DNA of 181relatives of 25 extremely obese patients who carry the genemutation, and found that the people who had the geneticmutation were significantly heavier. They say this provesthat this mutation is linked to a “strong predisposition” toobesity. They say, “It is well known that body weight isinfluenced by many genetic and environmental factors.” Butthey think the mutations do not, by themselves, account forobesity, because some thin people also carry the geneticmutations.
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?And it doesn’t work, either. Most dieters end up gaining more weight than they lost. Losing and regaining weight may harm your immune system, while maintaining the same weight over a long period of time is good for it.

When researchers studied 114 overweight but otherwise healthy women, they found that their immune system function had decreased in proportion to the number of times they’d gone on a diet, making the dieters more susceptible to viruses and even some forms of cancer.
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