What is obesity?: Definition, causes, types, and a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective.
What is obesity?
Obesity is a condition caused by excessive fat accumulation in the body, and it is not a sign of "health" as people believe.
Obesity typically refers to an excess of energy intake compared to the body's energy expenditure, resulting in the body converting excess substances into fat and storing them in various tissues and subcutaneous tissues. This manifests as a body fat percentage exceeding the normal range, or even exceeding the standard. Other factors can cause obesity, such as secondary obesity, which occurs alongside certain diseases and is known as morbid obesity; this is less common. Changes in physiological function, such as a decreased basal metabolic rate and weakened energy metabolism, are significant contributing factors to middle-age weight gain.
Obesity affects a person's appearance, altering body shape, causing abdominal distension, increased bust, waist, and hip measurements, turning beautiful women into "spare tires" and men into "beer bellies," resulting in a bloated physique. It makes it difficult to fit into nice clothes, or if they do, they don't look good, making shopping a challenge for women. In fact, obesity and weight gain bring more inconvenience to work and daily life. For example, climbing stairs causes shortness of breath; even slight physical activity results in profuse sweating; participating in team competitions or group activities can lead to embarrassment; simple tasks like bending over to tie shoelaces become difficult; even eating causes profuse sweating; job hunting may be met with skepticism or repeated failures. Obesity not only affects physical appearance and makes movement clumsy, but also damages self-esteem, leading to psychological problems. For example, people may dislike looking in the mirror, be afraid to wear skirts, dislike shopping, and even face ridicule at work and in life, affecting their mood. More importantly, it easily leads to various complications, accelerating aging and death. Therefore, obesity is a precursor to disease and a signal of aging.
Obesity is a global public health problem and a significant risk factor for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease, and its causes may be singular or multiple. It is characterized by an increase in the size and number of fat cells, an abnormally high body fat percentage, and excessive localized fat deposition. Patients with simple obesity typically have a relatively even distribution of fat throughout their body, without endocrine disorders or metabolic diseases, and often have a family history of obesity.
There are many factors that contribute to obesity, including internal and external factors. Currently, the main ones considered to be: First, genetic factors. Multifactorial inheritance is generally common; when parents pass on their constitution to their children, multiple genetic factors determine the child's constitution, not just one. This is called multifactorial inheritance, as seen in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and obesity. If one parent is obese, their children have a 40% chance of being obese; if both parents are obese, the chance is 70% to 80%. Second, social and environmental factors. Many people believe that being able to eat is a blessing. In today's society, there is a wide variety of food, and various delicacies are often tempting. Furthermore, overeating has almost become a lifestyle, especially high-fat, high-sugar fast food, which is a major cause of obesity. Third, psychological factors. To relieve emotional distress and instability, some people use food as a way to vent, which is also a cause of overeating and obesity. Fourth, factors related to exercise. Exercise helps burn fat. In daily life, with the development of transportation, mechanization of work, changes in lifestyle, and reduced housework, the body has fewer opportunities to burn calories. However, due to dietary habits, energy intake does not decrease, leading to obesity. Obesity causes daily activities to become slower and more sluggish, further reducing calorie consumption, creating a vicious cycle that also contributes to obesity.
Traditional Chinese medicine classifies obesity into five types.
Binge-eating obesity: As the name suggests, this type of person is a "big eater" with a voracious appetite. Such individuals can temporarily lose weight through strict dieting. However, once they lose control of their appetite, the weight will rebound, and they are likely to be even heavier than before. In fact, the common problem among those who "binge eat" is excessive internal heat. Therefore, taking traditional Chinese medicine can clear intestinal and stomach heat, suppress hyperactivity, improve metabolic function, and convert excess energy accumulated in the body into body heat for dissipation, thus leading to weight loss.
Stress-induced obesity: Obesity caused by stress is also known as "liver and stomach stagnation and heat obesity." Excessive stress leads to a decline in liver function (in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the "liver" encompasses not only the functions of the liver in Western medicine but also those of the central nervous system, autonomic nervous system, and motor nervous system). It can even affect the stomach, causing stomach heat and abnormally strong appetite. People with this type of obesity experience symptoms such as increased appetite, headaches, and bloodshot eyes when they are irritable.
Edema-type obesity: also known as "phlegm-dampness retention obesity," characterized by swelling in the buttocks and thighs, or what is commonly referred to as "lower body obesity." This is caused by poor water drainage in the body, leading to the accumulation of excess water. Main symptoms include: normal appetite but weakness in the limbs; dislike of exercise; feeling weak and wanting to lie down after meals; sticky mouth; urinary retention; frequent stomach upsets; and puffy eyes upon waking.
Anemic obesity, also known as "blood deficiency obesity," is caused by insufficient blood in the body, leading to a decline in basic bodily functions and abnormal metabolism, ultimately resulting in obesity. These individuals are characterized by: a normal appetite, but a full and protruding lower abdomen; thin hands and feet but a plump body-what we commonly refer to as "secretly gaining weight."
Fatigue-related obesity: This type of obesity is caused by insufficient "vital energy," leading to decreased digestive function and abnormal metabolism. Individuals may experience loss of appetite, irregular meals, but a tendency to snack. Main symptoms include: extreme fatigue, excessive sweating and shortness of breath with minimal exertion, sensitivity to cold and susceptibility to colds, infrequent urination, and puffy eyes.
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