5 Top Causes of Weight Gain and How to Overcome Them

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased many-folds in the past one or two decades all over the world. Both of these are associated with many physiological, psychological and economic factors. The causes of weight gain are many but more important are the causes are within individual’s control.

So, the 5 top causes that are under our control are:

1. Increased overall calorie consumption
2. Increased consumption of refined and processed foods
3. Lack of physical activity
4. Lack of sleep and improper sleep hygiene and
5. High stress levels

The above-mentioned reasons all together can be classified under one term that is incorrect lifestyle.

The question therefore arises as how to correct these? The answer is not as simple or easy as it sounds, that is changing lifestyle. As one may not be able to change the lifestyle all together due to the personal, economic or social requirements, the solution therefore would be making knowledge- able choices in order to remain not only within the required weight range but also to be healthy.

• One should try to make conscious choice of eating fresh raw, less processed and low- fat foods which are locally and seasonally available. It is advisable to increase consumption of fresh seasonal fruits, vegetables, salads, locally available least processed grains and their products. Even when eating out of house choose from foods which have been cooked using either no or least amounts of oil, oriental and continental foods are two such examples, especially those dishes which are not fried and not made using too much cheese, butter or mayonnaise.
• Refined and processed foods not only promote weight gain but also are associated with other additional problems, such as they are “addicting”, reduce energy expenditure, cause insulin resistance and effect the satiety centre in the brain’s hypothalamus. All humans enjoy consuming palatable, comfort foods as these activate the reward/pleasure centres in the brain. Unless this pleasure seeking behaviour is consciously resisted, weight gain is inevitable. The urge has to be dealt with strong mental discipline and there has to be a continuous effort on one’ part in order to achieve the desired goals.
• Eating too quickly also effects the brain’s satiety centre and delays feeling of full ness. It is therefor advisable that one should eat slowly in order to reduce overconsumption of calories and improve satiety signals.
• In order to improve one’s BMR (basal metabolic rate- or the rate at which a person burns energy), it is important to include a minimum of 20-30 minutes of daily physical activity. The activity can be done in one go or can be broken into three 10-minute activity cycles. In fact, research has shown that doing three rounds of activity of 10 minutes each, spread across the entire day, has better results than doing it in a single go.
• Lack of sleep increases overconsumption as it increases hunger. It also causes insulin resistance, reduces production of satiety regulating hormone and increases appetite-stimulating hormone. Identifying the underlying causes of sleep reduction specifically and improving sleep hygiene in general, are important for effective weight management. It is best to sleep for about 7-9 hours per night.
• Psychologists suggest that stress and anxiety add to the problem of weight gain. People generally tend to eat more due to the fact that food acts as a comforter. It is proposed to increase physical activity when in stress, as it reduces anxiety and depression due to the production of “endorphins”. Endorphins trigger positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain.

Over a period of evolution, humans have developed a “thrifty phenotype”, which means they store energy in the form of fat during periods of abundant food supply.  Overweight/obesity is thus, a state of food addiction leading to overconsumption and reduced satiation, which may also be associated with feelings of sleeplessness, anxiety and poor health.

These people lack the motivation to increase physical activity and reduce food consumption. People, therefore need to be educated to engage in proper lifestyle choices that prevent weight gain,  made aware of the various causes that need to be managed for proper weight management and slowly but regularly nudged into changing habits causing increased weight gain.