Anushka asthana talk to Dr. Andrew Jenkinson, a consultant in bariatric (weight loss) surgery. He discusses how his patients’ experiences with unsuccessful weight loss led him to spend years researching metabolism and weight reduction. Why is it that while most people consume foods with too many calories, only a few become obese?
Genes make you more prone to obesity, he says, but your genetics must be triggered by changes in the environment in order to become obese. In parts of the world where the population eats local, fresh ingredients, the population does not become obese. But if you turn that food supply into processed food, some of those populations will become obese.
The United Arab Emirates is a good example of this, says Jenkinson, who holds clinics in Dubai. He notes that two generations ago, the population ate a Bedouin diet. Now they have a much more processed diet and obesity rates have skyrocketed – 50% of women in the UAE are obese.
Jenkinson believes that people can permanently reduce their weight by lowering sugar and refined carbohydrates, increasing our omega 3 and 6 levels and lowering our cortisol (stress hormone) levels instead of reducing calories.
Jenkinson’s book Why We Eat (Too Much) is out now. whyweeattoomuch.co.uk
Archive: YouTube; ABC the biggest loser; University of Minnesota School of Public Health; Fox; Get the Gloss; The Body Coach; Huntley Film Archives
Photo: Chris Radburn / PA
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