The Deadly Quartet

It is said that abdominal fat obesity can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), also known as the deadly quartet. This will result in angina, myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke among other conditions which are mainly due to arteriosclerosis. Also, it is known that people in this situation are 30 times more likely to suffer from these diseases than a healthy individual.

During the time when food was more scarce, the elites were those who could accumulate more fat in their bodies in order to survive harsh food shortages. On the other hand, in this current age, most of those who can accumulate fat effectively end up building up too much unnecessary fats and will face a high risk for the deadly quartet.

Our Natural Ability to Store Fat

Although obesity is the result of too much fat accumulating in the body, you should not give too much offense to it. Human beings have always battled hunger in its history. Even now people are battling hunger.

Our bodies were designed to survive during a shortage of food by minimizing the amount of food needed in order to cope with starvation. The body stores the food as fat in order to prepare it for periods of food shortage.

In short, gaining fat was essential to surviving hardships during human history. However, in present, wealthy countries where people can eat anything anytime, this ability works negatively.

Eating whenever we want, or eating too much leads us to obesity.

Fat is not a bad thing but if it exceeds a healthy amount, it will cause a burden to our health.

The Risks of Apple Shaped Obesity

As mentioned before, there are two types of obesity, apple shaped and pear shaped. There is a much higher risk in developing a lifestyle disease when an individual has apple shaped obesity. Through a CT scan, we can see there are also two ways someone can develop apple shaped obesity. One is through high abdominal fat, the other is through high subcutaneous fat.

It is clear that someone with high abdominal fat has a greater risk for high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) and diabetes. It is said that inner fat takes a direct effect on our organs. However, abdominal fat is easier to reduce than subcutaneous fat.

In order to reduce abdominal fat, men need to reduce their food intake to about 1500-1800 kcal and women, 1200-1500 kcal a day. Also, they will need to include about 30 minutes exercise and muscle training.

If you discover you have over 100mm (3.9in) of inner fat, you should reduce your food intake and to exercise. You should be able to reduce 1/3 of your inner fat within a month.

The Definition of Obesity

The real meaning of obesity is less to do with weight and more to do with having a high body fat percentage. The largest component of our body is water, which is about 50-60% of our body's composition; 8-10% of which is blood. The second largest component is fat, which is about 15-20% for men and 20-30% for women. The rest of our body is composed of proteins and minerals which are found in our bones and muscles as well as saccharides, or sugars.


Our bones are mainly composed of protein and calcium, however the total weight of bones is relatively light and only amounts to about 5% of our total body weight. We gain weight either by an increase in water or an increase in fat. When our body has too much water it is known as edema. When it has too much fat, it is known as obesity.

Most obese people have inactive sympathetic nerves

Those who do not exercise much look for available seats when they get on trains. They want to use the escalator or elevator instead of the stairs. They have magazines, newspapers, the TV remote control, sweets, fruit and tissues, basically everything they could possibly need, within reach of their sofa. These are the types that are likely to use little energy in their daily lives. If they continue such a low energy lifestyle, their muscles, which contribute to our basal metabolism in consuming energy, become weak. As a result, their body will become one that stores more fat. We call this the MONA LISA hypothesis, which stands for Most Obesities kNown Are Low In Sympathetic Activity. The basis is that most people become obese because their sympathetic nerves become dull. If they continue their inactive lifestyle, their sympathetic nerves become duller.

When our world wasn’t as automated, we had no choice but to be more active. Nowadays we can accomplish many things without moving as much. Though exercise does not consume a lot of energy, without moving our body, all the energy will be stored in the body as fat. It is important to remember how people used to live a long time ago to see why we need to reserve time for exercise now.

Obesity

Do you know the actual definition of being obese? Don’t you think it means weighing too much for your height? In actuality, being obese is not just about how much you weigh. The fact is that being obese means your fat ratio in comparison to your body weight is abnormally high.

The largest component of our bodies is water, including blood, which amounts from 50-60% of our body. The next biggest element is fat which amounts from 15-25% in the average male body and 20-30% in the average female body. The rest of our body’s components include protein, minerals, fructose, and so on. Our bones also include lots of proteins and minerals such as calcium. We start to gain weight when fat or water increases in our bodies. When fat increases, it can lead to obesity. When water increases, it is only swelling.

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