Soya and Weight Control -- Ruchihealth.com

If you frequently worry about your weight and study the new diet books featured prominently in bookstores every publishing season, you are not alone. Millions of Westerners are concerned about weight control for health reasons and also because body image is important in our culture. Every year, consumers in the U.S. spend 35 billion dollars on weight loss products and programs, making the diet industry an important component of the economy. The messages of many diet books and plans often contradict each other and serve to confuse consumers, many of whom look for a miracle that is not forthcoming.

Weight control is a confusing issue because it can legitimately be viewed as a medical concern with serious psychological and social components. It is both a major public health problem and a source of anguish for some individuals whose personal and professional lives are adversely affected by overweight or obesity. For many, emotional turmoil is also brought on by an unrealistic quest to be as thin as current fashion models. Twenty-five years ago, an ideal fashion model weighed about 8 percent less than the average woman in the U.S.; today, that 8 percent has risen to 25 percent. Obviously, these models are not good examples for our society's adolescent girls, or for adult women either.

Responsible physicians must balance their need to educate patients about the hazards of excess body fat with the growing preoccupation on the part of young girls and women (primarily) with body image. At any given time, approximately 15 percent of the population are following weight loss diets, and 75 percent of girls in the their mid-teens are attempting to lose weight.

The phrase, "diets don't work," is popular today at least in part because it expresses sentiments that reflect dieters' experiences. Unfortunately the statement is not completely accurate. In fact, while many weight loss diets do not work for some individuals, one's diet is most certainly an important component of both the problem and the solution.

Obesity versus Overweight

Many individuals in our society worry about overweight, and they may talk freely about wanting to lose ten, twenty, or even thirty pounds. But these same men and women would balk at the notion that they are obese and most likely, they see their difficulty as a social or psychological one, but not necessarily a concern that has medical implications. Depending on additional factors, this may or may not be true. True obesity is a medical condition and is defined as being more than 20 percent above ideal body weight. Using this definition, about 25 percent of the U.S. population is obese. More alarming, however, is that at least one in three individuals has a degree of overweight that puts them at some medical risk. When one considers that 33 percent of the population is at higher risk for a variety of conditions, it is no wonder that various diet programs and weight loss aids comprise a multibillion dollar industry that receives daily media attention.

Table 1 lists conditions in which overweight or obesity is a contributing factor. Some of these diseases are discussed in detail in this book because adding Soya to the diet has been shown to be effective as part of a disease prevention program and additionally, this miracle food is a sensible component of a dietary treatment plan for these conditions.

Morbid obesity, usually defined as being 50 to 100 percent above desirable body weight, is the most serious condition, and affects a staggering number of individuals in the U.S. It has been estimated that approximately two million adults between the ages of 20 and 79 are morbidly obese, and five times as many women as men are affected. The term "morbid obesity" is not accidental. It is in fact descriptive of a condition in which survival prospects are limited because complications (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney disorders, etc.) of the condition are present, often in advanced stages.

Morbid obesity aside, most adults--and a growing number of children and adolescents--are concerned about obesity and overweight because of the increased risk of developing the degenerative diseases listed in Table 1. Health conscious individuals view maintenance of an ideal weight as a kind of insurance policy against their future illness. The question is, of course, what is an ideal weight?

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