The Truth about Obesity - BBC 1 Now

Thanks for the heads up. Will watch on iPlayer later.

Watching now. Red Button to start from beginning via iplayer.
Thanks @Mbaker

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON OBESITY

1/Genes - up to 60% of us have genes which encourages obesity. Cambridge research on leptin resistance and which genes increase obesity.

2/Microbes in mainly the lower gut - varied foods loaded with fibre increases them.

3/Time we eat (I disagree, tiredness slows down our metabolism).

4/Psychology - training ourselves to stop choosing bad food choices.

5/Gym or general activity being the best way to burn calories? (I agree, general activity makes more of a difference).

6/Bariatric surgery. £6,000 op for obesity improvement. Hormone changes.

7/New injection from London trials based on bariatric surgery hormones and other benefits to curb our appetite. (appetite suppressant).

Have I missed something? Kids now in bed asleep.

Mbaker said:

Some interesting stuff about fibre and gut microbes. It was good to also see that you can't exercise away a bad diet.

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Were you surprised?

I'm going to watch this tomorrow but just wanted to say that the gut is an intrinsic part of metabolism too often ignored by the boffins.

Not directly about this programme but............

This attracts my attention because I believe higher due to more people being tested now.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35959554

Guzzler said:

I'm going to watch this tomorrow but just wanted to say that the gut is an intrinsic part of metabolism too often ignored by the boffins.

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That is why metformin helps. It works in the gut but affects the liver's job.

I just keep thinking a low varied diet should be classed a form of malnutrition, for the gut.
Variety of high fibre foods is my cry too. I'm securing more money to provide that.
I'm soooo close.

ickihun said:

That is why metformin helps. It works in the gut but affects the liver's job.

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It sure does.. especially in my case. gut worked over a treat!

Viewed the programme today. My take on it was that it consisted of 90% CICO and 10% gut health, bariatric surgery, hormone drug research. So nothing really new to see. Interesting that they had an economist (statistician?) on the programme but at least they told the truth about BMI and suggested the less rough guide of height to waist measurement.

One thing - did you see them doing the finger blood test?
Literally rivers of blood running down the finger.
When I test I get about a pin head size which is plenty for my meter.

I did like the bit about the offshoot from bariatric surgery. Roy Taylor has already developed a diet based on the preparation diet for the surgery. Now they are discovering hormonal changes post surgery which can be artificially replicated. A very productive field for research.

Guzzler said:

Viewed the programme today. My take on it was that it consisted of 90% CICO and 10% gut health, bariatric surgery, hormone drug research. So nothing really new to see. Interesting that they had an economist (statistician?) on the programme but at least they told the truth about BMI and suggested the less rough guide of height to waist measurement.

Click to expand...

I think we on here are lucky to get to know so much.
Ordinary man on the street may find programme informative.
Also aimed at all obese people not just those with diabetes. Hopefully none diabetics took something from the programme too.
You never know.

LittleGreyCat said:

One thing - did you see them doing the finger blood test?
Literally rivers of blood running down the finger.
When I test I get about a pin head size which is plenty for my meter.

I did like the bit about the offshoot from bariatric surgery. Roy Taylor has already developed a diet based on the preparation diet for the surgery. Now they are discovering hormonal changes post surgery which can be artificially replicated. A very productive field for research.

Click to expand...

Yes! If that had happened to me the first time I tested there would never have been a second test.

ickihun said:

I think we on here are lucky to get to know so much.
Ordinary man on the street may find programme informative.
Also aimed at all obese people not just those with diabetes. Hopefully none diabetics took something from the programme too.
You never know.

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I loved the bit on how doing ordinary activity sometimes uses up more calories than going at it like a demon in the gym. Like Monty says, give up the gym membership and get yourself a compost heap!

Guzzler said:

I loved the bit on how doing ordinary activity sometimes uses up more calories than going at it like a demon in the gym. Like Monty says, give up the gym membership and get yourself a compost heap!

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Me too.
Walking is soooo good for us.

ickihun said:

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON OBESITY

1/Genes - up to 60% of us have genes which encourages obesity. Cambridge research on leptin resistance and which genes increase obesity.

2/Microbes in mainly the lower gut - varied foods loaded with fibre increases them.

3/Time we eat (I disagree, tiredness slows down our metabolism).

4/Psychology - training ourselves to stop choosing bad food choices.

5/Gym or general activity being the best way to burn calories? (I agree, general activity makes more of a difference).

6/Bariatric surgery. £6,000 op for obesity improvement. Hormone changes.

7/New injection from London trials based on bariatric surgery hormones and other benefits to curb our appetite. (appetite suppressant).

Have I missed something? Kids now in bed asleep.

Click to expand...

Just watched it now. I'd say that's a very good summary.

The presenter, apart from being pretty, certainly doesn't look like the image often portrayed in the media as the typical obese (in his case right on the border of obese) person. He's the same height and BMI as me at the moment. I like that he was the 'face of obesity' for this programme. The more and more I think about how I look and how people I see e.g. at work look, obese / very overweight can very often look "normal". A lot of people can carry weight well, and you have to study them from the side / especially when sitting down to see the problem - all that visceral fat.

I've had two doctors now, knowing I am Type 2, tell me that I don't need to lose weight. They hadn't weighed me, they just went off how I look from the front, and, presumably, their own body image prejudice which is hard to forgive in a doctor, and quite probably delayed my initial diagnosis by 3 months - I ended up diagnosing myself.

I used to genuinely believe people at work were being polite when they said I was looking 'trim' last year. Very recently, someone said I can't afford to lose any more weight. I had to turn to the side, relax my stomach as much as possible and squeeze it with my hands to convince them I still have a ton of fat I can use up.

Crikey, when I sit down I can feel my man-boobs resting on my big barrel of fat that is my stomach. And I know from my weight 20 years ago when I was very fit that I am carrying several stone of fat I don't need - it's certainly not muscle!

Anyway apart from all the science stuff the prettiness and body shape of the presenter may help people to realise that 'weight issues' are normal in our society, it's easy for it to creep on without us realising, it can affect us all. I certainly wish I'd heard of the piece-of-string test earlier and was aware of just how unhealthy visceral fat can be. That's not to say that I would definitely have taken action years ago and managed to avoid T2 - given the genetic elements at play it can be impossible to avoid. It's a battle that's worth fighting however and the best time to start is long before diagnosis.

I think a lot of people watching this program who will otherwise have thought they were not on track for obesity-related health issues will probably think twice, and it could come down as much to the way the presenter looked as any of the things discussed in the show.