It if often a running joke that the minute you eat something fattening it goes immediately to your waistline. However, researchers are discovering that while it can be easy to determine how quickly food is digested, it is not so easy to figure out how quickly the body stores unhealthy foods as unwanted weight.
A Shack vs a Modern House
The prevailing thought about eating and metabolism has been that food goes in, waste comes out, whatever is left is stored as fat. This idea views the body as a shack. It provides shelter and has four walls, but it may not have insulation, windows may be broken and the temperature outside is the same as the temperature inside.
Compare that to the concept of a modern house, which has insulation, solid windows, air conditioning and heating. It is a self-contained unit that can be regulated from the inside, regardless of what comes into the house or what is happening outside of the house.
The human body is much more like a modern house than a shack. Body weight is often determined by a wide range of influencing factors, such as secretion of hormones, the quality of food a person eats and how fast or slow their personal metabolism burns off calories.
While fitness gurus and food experts may attempt to simplify healthy weight into an equation of the necessity of physical activity to prevent weight gain and only eating healthy foods, the reality is that the process is much more complicated.
For people who struggle with their weight and healthy eating, it is entirely possible to lose unwanted pounds by increasing your physical activity and avoiding foods high in sugar and fat. However, many people frequently get frustrated that weight loss can be a slow process, marked by plateaus of little to no weight loss at all, despite how hard they work at it. As researchers gain a better understanding of all of the factors that influence body weight and health, rest assured, eating a healthy diet of organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meat, accompanied by at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day, will increase your overall health. Although weight-loss varies from person to person, we can all benefit from being a little bit more healthy.
– The Alternative Daily
