Weight gain seldom is independent and single-dimensional. Extra weight from higher than desired body fat levels is a precursor and key risk factor to multiple other ailments. A person with extra weight is most of the times at a higher risk of other metabolic disorders including Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular risks, High blood pressure, Alzheimer’s/Dementia, Stroke, Non-Alcoholic fatty liver disease,  and Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) in women. Given the multiple levels of potential complications that having extra weight can expose one to, this needs extra care to manage and ideally lose weight by addressing the underlying root cause.

Weight gain can result from a variety of issues and imbalances. The focus of our solution is weight gain mediated by imbalances and resistances in key hormones such as Insulin, Leptin and Cortisol. One major cause of weight gain is insulin resistance. Another key cause of high levels could be high levels of Cortisol resulting from chronic stress. Leptin resistance also leads to unhealthy weight gain.  It is a vicious cycle that builds up over time and leads to a person gaining weight. Our lifestyle choices lead to higher than healthy levels of glucose. Our body responds by producing more insulin to handle the extra glucose. Over time, this leads to Insulin Resistance that reduces the effectiveness of our insulin. To compensate for this, our body produces more insulin. Insulin plays a role in signalling our body to store energy as fat for future use. This leads to an increase in our weight by increasing levels of body fat. And we start seeing the symptoms of weight gain and get exposed to additional complications and risks as well. Higher levels of cortisol lead to a cascade of hormonal activity that eventually increases insulin levels as well. Leptin is a key hormone that plays a role in reducing hunger. The more fat cells we have, the higher is the leptin levels we have. Chronically high levels of leptin lead to leptin resistance which in essence gives you a sense of continuously being hungry and leads to overeating which again drives higher body fat percentage and insulin/leptin resistance.

Absolutely! Currently, prevalent weight loss choices are typically symptomatic in nature and do not address the underlying root cause nor drive improvements on a sustainable basis. Blaming self-control, calorie counting, portion control etc. will show positive outcomes in the short term but are not sustainable and do make the situation worse over the long term.  To address the root cause, the underlying hormonal imbalances must be rebalanced. Insulin and Leptin resistance must be addressed, and the resistance must be converted to sensitivity. Cortisol levels must also be brought down by reducing the levels of chronic stress. These can only be done through lifestyle modifications. And if this is done, and sustained over a period, you will be addressing the root cause of Weight Gain and achieving sustainable weight loss.

The goal of any lifestyle modifications is primarily to regulate the functioning of some key hormones (primarily Insulin and to an extent Cortisol and Leptin). In addition, the goal would be to reduce chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Choices of what we eat, when we eat, how frequently we eat – all contribute to our hormonal behaviour. Stress and the quality of our sleep plays a key role in this as well. In addition, the right nutrition also impacts the level of inflammation and oxidative stress in our body. Our fitness levels determine the efficiency of glucose usage. Our muscle mass determines the storage available for glycogen. Any stress we deal with increases Cortisol and indirectly increases the levels of Insulin. Our sleep quality and quantity determine the effectiveness of our body’s cellular health maintenance. Our actions across all these vectors must be deliberately changed to drive the appropriate resolution of the underlying root causes.

Our body likes to be in a state of equilibrium, ensuring good health, called Homeostasis. Our central nervous system (Brain and Spine) constantly gets inputs from different parts of the body and responds with direction on the right action to take.

Every day we make choices – some bad and some good. However, over the years when we keep making bad choices, we end up challenging our body’s ability in ensuring good health. While the body does its best to ensure issues are resolved, over the years these issues pile up and affect our three vital functions which in turn manifest as various lifestyle conditions:

1. Imbalance in the Metabolic Processes

Over time, due to the wrong food choices we made, we start producing more glucose than we require. Glucose production is directly linked to what we eat and the extent of stress we face. Our body starts producing more and more insulin – the glucose regulator, to take care of the excess glucose. A constant excess production of insulin in the body leads to a decrease in sensitivity towards insulin. This condition is called “Insulin Resistance (IR)”.

Insulin Resistance(IR) leads to the creation of a vicious cycle, where, to compensate for the loss in sensitivity, the body produces more insulin thereby further decreasing its efficiency in glucose regulation. Over time, this leads to a conversion of the extra glucose into fat which drives obesity. Another major factor in developing IR is the lack of adequate physical activity. Having more muscle mass helps in the absorption of excess glucose and hence arrests development of IR.

Our liver does the bulk of heavy lifting in processing the food we ingest and converting the extra glucose to fats. With more glucose getting converted to fats, the liver starts accumulating some of this fat and this leads to excess fat depositions in the liver. This condition is called ‘Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease’.

A combination of reduced flexibility of our vasculature and factors that increase the blood volume drives onset of high blood pressure. This gets impacted by obesity and in turn has an impact on cardio-vascular disease. Lack of adequate physical activity also impacts this condition.

Our lifestyle choices also lead to increases in the small/dense LDL & triglycerides, while the protective HDL in our blood reduces. In addition, lack of appropriate nutrients in our diet, results in increasing inflammation in the body by the reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are byproducts of our energy production cycle which react with the small/dense LDL and lead to arterial plaque. This over time increases our cardio-vascular risks.

While all this is happening our blood sugar could still be in control, but the metabolic imbalance would have already started. As this continues, the IR worsens, and our pancreas maxes out on the amount of Insulin it can produce. This is when we eventually get diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes due to the rising blood sugar levels.

Higher insulin resistance also impacts cleansing of the metabolic by-products – beta amyloid and tau protein in the brain. Over time, it impacts the nutrition of our neurons and leads to decline in our cognitive capabilities and could develop into Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Lack of adequate and quality sleep also impacts the cleansing of metabolic waste from our bodies.

Metabolic & hormonal imbalances including insulin resistance are also at play in the onset of PCOS.

2. Reduced Cellular Health & Function

Our cellular health and function depend a lot on the right mix of nutrients we consume. In the absence of the right nutrient mix, various building blocks of the cell and the human body do not function properly.

Our cell and mitochondrial membranes play a critical role in cellular health and function. These are bi-lipid membranes made of fat. In the absence of the right quantity and quality of fats and other nutrients, the membranes do not form properly and hence do not function at optimum levels.

Our DNA, genome and epigenome also play a critical role. In the absence of the right nutrients, as cells replicate, there is a loss in the fidelity and function of the epigenome. This eventually leads to an increased risk of losing the genome sanctity, giving rise to mutations, and hence to higher susceptibility to disease.

Our cellular health also has an indirect role in impacting our metabolism.

 3. Weakened Body Defense Mechanisms

Our immune system which forms the core of our defense mechanism, comprises various defense departments such as Macrophages, Natural Killer Cells, T Cells etc. It is critical in ensuring our body can fight against dangerous pathogens while also dealing with damaging toxins. It is imperative that we develop, nurture and maintain a high level of immunity to protect us against diseases and maintain good health. Lack of adequate nutrients impacts our immunity.

Stem cells play a critical role in re-building of the various cellular components. Without the right nutrition, our ability to maintain and nurture stem cells is compromised. This reduces our ability to fight diseases and repair damages.

Our body is a host to trillions of good bacteria. Most of these reside in our gut. The presence of the right diversity and density of gut bacteria plays a significant role in the quality of our metabolism and in ensuring a good emotional balance. However, without the right nutrients and with exposure to harmful toxins (includes antibiotics), this balance in our gut microbiome gets impacted, thereby affecting our metabolism.