Obesity & Weight Loss: Doing It Right – Video

Weight Loss Yes, But The Right Way

Summary

Obesity is a critical health issue, especially in industrialized nations like the US. Studies have shown that 78% of those hospitalized with Covid-19 were obese, and obese individuals are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized with the virus. Fat is not inert but rather immunologically active, leading to an overblown immune response to viruses and infections.

Obesity is also associated with comorbidities such as heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, and cancer. It also affects the microbiome, which can determine whether a person is inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. Dr. Vikki emphasizes that there are no effective weight-loss drugs and quick weight loss can be detrimental to your overall health. She advocates for personalized approaches to address the root causes of weight issues, approaching weight loss the right way, and really promote overall health. 

Transcript of the video

By Dr. Vikki Petersen

Obesity is a huge issue here in the US, actually across the world in industrialized nations. Some 78% of those hospitalized with Covid were obese. And your risk of being hospitalized with a virus, especially Covid, is you’re 113% — more than twice — as likely to be hospitalized if you’re obese.

Obesity: multiple issues at work

Now, this has nothing to do with fat-shaming. This has to do with just fat.

Fat is not inert. We used to just think, “Oh, fat cells got bigger” and that was it. So the body weighed more, bigger fat cells, and that was sort of the end of the story. But we’ve known for quite some time that fat is not inert. In a matter of fact, it is immunologically very active.

The more fat the body has, the more immune cells can be produced in a negative way causing an hypervigilant response or too much of a response to a virus or an infection.

And so it’s kind of overblowing the [immune system’s] reaction such that the person is ill longer and more likely to have other negative things happen.

The comorbidities (meaning things that happen at the same time) associated with obesity are heart disease risk, diabetes risk, cognitive decline, and basically cancer. All the diseases you don’t want to get are unfortunately associated with obesity.

It [obesity] also alters your microbiome, which we talk a lot about. That’s those 38 trillion organisms in your gut that, in themselves, are dictating whether you are inflammatory or anti-inflammatory — meaning healthy. You can actually look at the microbiome of someone and determine whether they’re obese or not, just by the organisms you see in their microbiome.

Now, none of this means, “Okay, bummer, I don’t want to hear about it. There’s nothing I can do“.

Weight loss: Let’s not do it the wrong way

There’s a lot you can do. But none of these stupid drugs, sorry. There are just terrible weight-loss drugs on the market. I just did a video about that.

This quick weight loss is really upsetting your entire system… only to gain it back again and more. You’ve heard this, this should not be a surprise.

Here at Root Cause Medical Clinic, we’ve always said, “We’re not a weight loss clinic” because we get those requests all the time. “Are you a weight loss clinic? Can you give me something?“… The American way… “What can I swallow? What can I inject to lose weight?”

No, we want to get to the root cause for each individual. Our programs are entirely personalized.

Why are you having issues with weight loss? Because there’s a reason your body’s not designed to be obese. It’s designed to have a healthy, normal weight for your size, your bone structure, your genetics. Everybody’s different.

What do we want? We just want to feel great. We want to have a healthy, optimally functioning body… You want to get your weight down to a level that’s not predisposing you to these dangerous diseases. Staying sick longer, shedding a virus longer, being more likely to be hospitalized. Okay, that’s clear. That’s what we don’t want.

Obesity: Fixing it

How do we fix it? There’s not a one-size-fits-all, I’m sorry.

Are there certain truths? Sure! Is sugar good for anybody? No. Is no sleep good for anybody? No. Is sitting on the couch all day good for anybody? No.

Right? I mean these things [are well-known truths].

But what’s the deeper level for you, and how did you get there?

So if you’re serious about what I like to call “sane weight loss” versus the “insane” variety (which is taking these crazy drugs or just starving yourself), if you really want sanity in your weight loss, which would equate to sane health and truly feeling great because we got to the underlying reason… if that’s you, then definitely contact us.

As I said, we are not a weight loss clinic. We’ve always addressed weight as part and parcel of working with the whole body of an individual. But I mean, it just keeps getting worse. Every time we evaluate how much obesity is in this country, the number just keeps climbing. It doesn’t even plateau, it just keeps getting worse.

So obviously we [as Americans] are doing something very, very wrong. There’s no quick fix, but there is a fix.

If you’re interested, give us a call. This is very personalized, very personalized healthcare, and it’s not overnight, but it’s real, and you’ll regain your health in a very real way. So we look forward to talking to you soon.

Our Nutritionists’ Programs

Root Cause Medical Clinic is not a “weight loss clinic” in the traditional sense of the term. Our medical team and registered dietitians/ nutritionists approach health, disease, and the restoration of the body’s capability to heal itself from the viewpoint of Functional Medicine, or Root Cause Medicine. To each person, an underlying cause. This root cause must be found before any health program can be tailored to fix it. With the help of our doctors and thorough lab testing, our patients can find the root cause of their ailments. Then our Registered Dietitians and nutritionists work with each person and in coordination with the other members of the medical team to address the core issues the right way. A personalized program involves changing certain lifestyle habits that are not helping you heal. Some patients have a tough time making these changes; this is where the support offered by our nutritionists and doctors is critical: even if you struggle with the changes, as long as you have the will to get better and do the necessary steps, we will help you all along. Our nutritionists have an excellent track record of success because of all these factors.

Call our front desk at 727-335-0400 to book a medical & nutrition consultation.

Additional resources

Research paper published by NIH about obesity and health conditions

Research study on obesity as a risk factor for metabolic disease

Research publication on obesity and cancer