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Weight gain causes, diseases and countermeasures
contents
- Disorders of the metabolism
- stress
- Heart and kidney
- The pituitary gland
- Normal commuting
- heart failure
- Insulin and diabetes
- What is the doctor doing??
- Prevent
- Weight gain in ex-smokers
- What to do to prevent weight gain after quitting smoking?
Also, water deposits in the body, so-called edema, let the weight rise. The victims do not accumulate more fat, but water. For athletes increasing means not getting fat - on the contrary: who trains his body, although slimmer than if he had previously worn a Schwabbelbauch, but also weighs more. The body converts fat into muscle and muscles are heavier than fat.
Disorders of the metabolism
Disruptions in the metabolism can cause us to gain weight, because the organism does not use the substances supplied to it to the same extent as a healthy body. A lack of thyroid hormones, for example, slows down the metabolism. As a result, we gain weight, although we lose appetite and even eat less.
Metabolic disorders such as hypothyroidism or hormone fluctuations can lead to a sudden increase in weight. (Image: Voyagerix / fotolia.com) Hormone fluctuations before the period lead to a weight gain of up to three kilograms in women. Belly, bosom, hands and feet collect water. The pill can also cause women to gain pounds.
stress
Stress affects weight in two ways. For one, many people eat more and more uncontrollably when they feel stress. Some even cram themselves full of chocolate and sugary sweets to feel happy.
Second, we release cortisol or adrenaline in stress. With positive stress, the body prepares itself for physical tasks. He then produces more adrenaline and norepinephrine so we have plenty of energy. So we can lose weight.
However, with negative stress, anxiety, frustration and stress that can not be changed at the moment, the body produces cortisol and suggests: I need energy. We eat sweets, which accumulates as fat, the negative stress increases. We eat sweets again, the stress rises again.
For an effective stress reduction, sport is urgently recommended here. Running, swimming or weight training not only reduces stress, but also stops stress-related deposition of fat and storage of water.
In addition, "stress eaters" can pay attention to balanced meals. When symptoms of stress are manifested, such as shortness of breath, increased heart rate or muscle tension, this is the "therapy": instead of devouring sweets, eating fruits and vegetables and jogging around the block. Often a longer walk is enough to relieve the stress.
Anyone who picks up on sweets and greasy snacks quickly in stress should always pay attention to the appropriate balance. Often a long walk helps to reduce stress. (Image: eyetronic / fotolia.com) Heart and kidney
However, if they eat healthily, or if they have not fundamentally changed their eating habits, they regularly set their body on the move and still gain weight in a short time should they see a doctor.
If no cause is identified, it may be a weight gain from heart failure or kidney failure. They should pay particular attention if the increase is associated with other symptoms such as loss of appetite, swelling, bloating or pain.
The pituitary gland
To gain weight quickly and in a short time does not mean that it is "sick" when we increase with age. Even if we do not like it, the weight increases with age as well - that's perfectly normal.
After all, our pituitary gland produces somatotropin, a growth hormone that helps us build body fat. Biologically, it is mainly used in young people to promote the growth of the body.
However, we are full-grown in our teenage years, and the older we get, the less of the hormone our body provides - from the age of 40, we have little left.
So, when teenagers "eat like barn thresher" and shoot up, but do not use fat, this reverses with age: we need less food to maintain our weight, and what is the norm in developed countries - we take fast, if we consume more than the minimum.
However, we can boost somatotropin production even at an advanced age. The body produces namely "on demand". When we exercise or are exposed to positive stress, more of the hormone is released.
Normal commuting
If we increase or decrease a few pounds, that is completely normal. Our body weight fluctuates, even if we are completely healthy and are in no danger of becoming fat. Such fluctuations can be up to ten kilos. It is important to look at the development over a period of at least six months.
Carbohydrates bind water. So if we put ourselves on the scales in the morning and ate plenty of potatoes, pasta or wholegrain bread the night before, we can easily weigh three kilos more than before. But that's over.
Some panic because they are increasing despite a healthy diet. Healthy does not always mean low in calories. Here's the iron law: if you consume more calories than you consume, you'll gain weight. While they are healthy, they are increasing.
If the scale suddenly shows a kilo or two more in the morning, it may be because we took in a lot of carbohydrates the night before. (Image: nenetus / fotolia.com) heart failure
Dramatic, however, is a heart failure. If you move a lot and pay attention to a balanced diet, this points to this problem.
The rapid weight gain is due to edema in the tissue. These arise because the blood that flows back to the heart can no longer be pumped by the weakened heart muscle; it creates a backwater in front of the heart.
This can expand into the abdomen and feet and increase the pressure on the veins. There, liquid then presses into the tissue and remains there as water. The body can not break down this water automatically, and so the weight increases.
You should be critical if you increase two kilograms in three days or less, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recommends.
Weigh yourself without having eaten or drunk beforehand, and remember if you had carbohydrates hours before.
Insulin and diabetes
Insulin therapies are regarded as dummies par excellence. It's not that easy. When Ty-2 diabet's patients inject insulin, they do not gain weight because they are ill, but because their metabolism is just improving. If you are still eating too many calories from your diet, you will soon be overweight.
The Diabetes Journal 1/2014 shows in the article "power insulin thick" the following factors:
- Those switching to insulin therapy often take on average 2 to 4 kg. But: insulin as a hormone itself does not make you fat, which you can also see in the many slim type 1 diabetics. An increase in weight can not cause insulin alone. To do this, you must always consume too much calories in the form of fats, protein and carbohydrates.
- Insulin causes the body water, which is reduced in a derailed diabetes by frequent urination, returns to normal. Some of the pounds are not due to an increase in body fat, but to a normalization of the water balance.
- In the case of diabetic diabetes, sugar is excreted through the urine as soon as blood glucose levels exceed the renal threshold of about 180 mg / dL (10 mmol / L). So many calories are lost on the kidney and urine. Of course, this mechanism disappears when insulin reaches a better blood sugar metabolism. The previously excreted carbohydrates are now available to the body. The result: one increases. Now it's time to save calories.
- If you inject too much insulin, you will often get hypoglycaemia. Many respond to slightly lowered blood sugar levels by eating more and eating more than they need - thus avoiding low blood sugar levels. Again the consequence: one increases.
- Light hypoglycaemia can also directly increase appetite. This is also shown by recent studies, which prove that even in patients with a newly started insulin treatment, excessive calorie intake is the main factor for increasing body weight.
Many people with diabetes are afraid of gaining insulin treatment. But the hormone itself can not cause weight gain, but it must always be taken too many calories. (Image: dmitrimaruta / fotolia.com) What is the doctor doing??
A general therapy to correct weight gain, there is not, because the causes are very different.
Patients themselves should keep a record of when they increased how much they otherwise noticed, such as excessive food, high alcohol intake, etc., and what symptoms were added, such as nausea, shortness of breath or listlessness.
If the cause is poor nutrition and lack of exercise, then a plan helps to change the diet and exercise. Dietitians can help you further.
In the case of drugs as "offenders", the specialist can advise you whether you can change the medication or change the dose.
In case of hypothyroidism, tablets help with the hormone thyroxine, which stimulates the metabolism.
Prevent
To prevent weight gain in people who are not suffering from heart failure, a disturbed thyroid or other organic diseases: Restore the calories, eat healthy mixed diet and move. Reduce alcohol to reduce cravings for sweet, salty and greasy.
Long walks, jogging, climbing, cycling or swimming are equally suitable.
Old people who "naturally" accumulate less fat and move less, can schedule at least half an hour of easy hikes daily.
As you exercise and build muscle, you gain weight without becoming obese. If you still want to weigh less, be fit and slim, focus on endurance sports and not on muscle training.
In short, run long distance instead of going to the Mucki stall.
Former smokers often struggle with extra kilos because they use in stressful situations instead of the cigarette now in the Gummibärchen-bag grab. (Image: Janina Dierks / fotolia.com) Weight gain in ex-smokers
Many people gain weight when they quit smoking. Others are afraid to stop smoking because they are scared of it.
What are the reasons for gaining weight? For one thing, nicotine calms down, and many smokers reduce stress. If the cigarette is missing, they are looking for a substitute, for example in the form of sweets. But they contain many calories, unlike cigarettes.
The rule of thumb is that the more cigarettes a person consumes before, the greater the temptation to resort to Haribo.
Second, smoking curbs hunger. Ex-smokers therefore feel the need to eat if they previously smoked a cigarette. Nicotine increases the metabolic rate of metabolism, so ex-smokers gain weight, even if they consume the same food as before.
Ex-smokers are hungrier and at the same time burn less energy than before.
What to do to prevent weight gain after quitting smoking?
Congratulations, if you manage to quit smoking. Unfortunately that's not all. At first you should pay close attention to their eating habits. Take about 150 calories a day less than before.
Best of all, you always have low-calorie snacks ready, and they also replace cigarettes: apple rings instead of potato chips, kohlrabi pencils instead of colorful bags and quartered pears instead of chocolate.
Instead of sweets, you can sometimes bite into a chilli pepper: like the cigarette you reduce your appetite, the "pain stimulus" is stronger. Always bring sugar-free chewing gum or Fisherman's friend with you - as an emergency aid when you're weak. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)
literature
Journal of the American Dietetic Association (1996; 11: 1150-1155)
American Journal of Public Health (1996, Volume 86, Number 7)
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1986; Volume 43, 486-494)
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1982, Volume 35, 366-380).