Participants: Margot Marshall (Host), Dr. Eddie Ramirez
Series Code: HL
Program Code: HL000019A
|
00:15 Welcome to "Healthy Living!"
00:16 I'm your host Margot Marshall. 00:18 Most of the world's population live in countries 00:22 where overweight and obesity kills more people 00:25 than underweight. 00:26 What are the causes and what can we do about it? 00:30 Stay tuned for practical, doable solutions. 01:10 My guest today is Dr. Eddie Ramirez who will be sharing 01:14 research and practical solutions he presented at the 01:17 "International Congress on Obesity" in Vancouver, Canada. 01:22 Welcome Eddie! Thank you very much. 01:24 Lovely to have you on the program. 01:25 Now you've described obesity as an epidemic, just how bad is it? 01:31 This is a huge public health problem not only here 01:36 in Australia, but in many areas around the world. 01:39 In fact, the latest statistics for Australia tells us that 01:45 2 out of 3 people in Australia either are overweight 01:50 or obese, and you know the problem gets even more 01:55 complicated if in Australia there were only Caucasian 01:59 people, (white people), that wouldn't be - I mean it still 02:03 is a problem but that wouldn't be such an emergency. 02:06 But the problem is that there are people from all over 02:11 the world in Australia and obesity affects certain 02:16 minority groups worse than others. Is that right? 02:20 So when I went to India, I was doing a series of conferences, 02:25 in fact, I'm involved in a few research projects with them. 02:28 I don't know how you do all you do? 02:30 It just seems we keep hearing about the research you do, 02:32 and I'm really, really pleased. 02:34 I want to say this - that we have you on our program 02:36 because you do have really good cutting edge information 02:39 to share on a lot of subjects including this one, 02:42 so tell us more. That's right! 02:44 So I learned there something fascinating - 02:46 See, in India, what we consider normal weight, we use a 02:52 measurement called "body mass index," if you're interested 02:55 in getting yours, just Google "body mass index," 02:57 the little formula is there, you take into account your 03:00 height and your weight. 03:01 In the Western worlds, the normal body mass index, 03:06 the top part - what is considered normal is 25. 03:11 That formula gives you a number and you put it in there. 03:14 In India the top number is actually 23 because 03:21 somebody from Indian origin above 23 of body mass index 03:28 it's too much for him and the doors for diabetes, heart 03:32 disease, hypertension and many other problems open up as you 03:38 go above that 23. 03:40 And that's not only unique for people from India, 03:44 this guideline also is very applicable to people 03:48 of Asia, many of the Hispanic world also and people 03:54 from Africa. 03:55 So many times in measurement, what we may be using here, 03:59 may not necessarily be the optimum for them. 04:01 Okay, you know I once heard a doctor give a - or a dietitian 04:06 actually, and he gave a good way to find out whether you're 04:09 overweight or obese because the body mass index 04:12 some people would do that and it's like - "Oh, a bit 04:14 complicated," but he said, "I've got a really, really 04:16 simple way for you to know. 04:18 He said, "What you do is, you take your clothes off, 04:20 you stand in front of the mirror and if you look 04:22 fat, you probably are." 04:23 And I thought, "Oh, that's really cruel." Laughter. 04:26 But it's a starting point anyway. 04:29 And that's exactly why you need some sort of measurement 04:33 because especially if somebody that is 24 body mass index, 04:39 it doesn't look too overweight and it can be tricky. 04:47 In fact, in Latin America where I have done many clinical 04:50 consultations, there are people that you would not suspect 04:55 that they are overweight, yet they're numbers 04:59 indicate that and also the type of health problems 05:03 and so forth that they have. 05:04 That's interesting, so we're setting ourselves up 05:07 for health problems without that 05:08 visible evidence that we talked about. 05:10 So it can be tricky; in fact, it's interesting. 05:13 I don't know how many times mothers bring me their 05:18 children to consultation and they say, "Doctor, I 05:21 need you to check my child. I think my child has worms! 05:27 Look at him, how thin he is. 05:29 He doesn't look very healthy." 05:31 So we go ahead, you know, there are some standardized tables 05:33 in which you take the height and the weight, and you compare 05:36 to the rest of the population, everything is normal. 05:39 Why does the mother think that? 05:43 Because when he is being compared to the rest 05:47 of his peers, he actually looks thin compared to the other 05:52 ones that actually may be having some weight issues. 05:55 In fact, statistics in Australia tells us that one 05:58 out of 4 kids in Australia are overweight or obese. 06:05 One in 4, that's a really... because it's so hard 06:10 once weight has been gained, it's hard to get on top of that. 06:16 Yeah, what about the extent of this problem overseas 06:19 and everything like that like, you know, 06:21 it really spreads doesn't it? 06:22 This is a worldwide crisis; in fact, just yesterday 06:28 I was reading a research paper that came out in the literature. 06:32 It was showing how around the world metabolic problems 06:38 are increasing even in third world countries. Oh really? 06:42 So high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, 06:46 and obesity are increasing dramatically when compared 06:51 to just a few years. 06:53 See, I used to go to Hawaii to 06:59 help there with a "Lasso Program." Oh, okay. 07:01 And you see something fascinating there. 07:04 There are a lot of Japanese people that like Hawaii, 07:09 and even some signs in the roads 07:11 are in Japanese and so forth. 07:13 But when you go to a restaurant there, 07:15 you see something interesting. 07:17 You can quickly tell who is first and second generation, 07:22 who is third and fourth generation. 07:24 You can tell that just by - 07:26 Just by looking at the people you see that the third and 07:31 fourth generation - those tend to be obese or overweight. 07:36 While the first and second generation tends to be 07:40 thin and have their normal weight. 07:44 And how do you actually know that they are 07:47 third and fourth generation? 07:49 By the language they speak. 07:51 The first and second generation, they're not comfortable 07:55 with the English, so they speak the Japanese, while the 07:58 third and fourth generations, those are actually losing 08:02 their Japanese and they are more 08:04 comfortable talking in English. 08:07 So as being somebody that is interested in languages, 08:10 you can quickly see there how... the genes didn't change, 08:14 but the diet and the habits changed. 08:17 Speaking of languages, I just have to put this in, 08:21 I asked you how many languages you speak and you were very 08:23 modest and you said, "Ohh, I don't speak but a little bit." 08:26 Was it 6 or 7 languages? Somewhere there. 08:28 That's very impressive and it has actually inspired me, 08:31 and I'm actually thinking about learning a language. Very good! 08:34 Just on the basis of that but go on, 08:36 I just... 08:37 So we have this pattern in which obesity is increasing. 08:43 In America, they did a fascinating study. 08:46 Back in 1985, the Public Health Organization of the country, 08:52 called the "CDC," realized they were having a big crisis 08:57 on their hands as obesity and overweight 09:00 was increasing in the country. 09:03 So what they decided to do, they decided to map the problem 09:07 to see in which areas of the world this problem was 09:12 prevalent and common. 09:14 And we can see on the screen, one of the graphics that 09:19 they released and you can see here that using color codes 09:24 that the dark blue color - it means that from 10 to 14% 09:30 of the people living in that state, they had a problem 09:38 with obesity in that state, so you can see what is 09:41 called "the South" in America, started to have an issue there. 09:46 So let's walk through time so we can see how this advanced. 09:50 ... 87, 88, 89, 90, we continue with 91 and you can see 10:00 that a new classification was put on. 10:03 Now that very dark blue color is where 15 to 19% of the 10:09 people were overweight and obese. 10:12 And we continue, 96, 97, a new classification, 10:19 now more than 20% of the people in those states are obese. 10:26 2000, 2001, a new classification, now more than 10:35 25% of the people are obese. 10:39 2004, 2005, 2006 and a new classification 10:48 again in more than 30% of the people are obese. 10:53 2009 and the latest one that we have is from 2010. 10:57 Now I want you to see the pattern. 11:00 The area in America where you find the most obesity, 11:06 it has the name "the Bible belt" because you find the highest 11:12 amount of evangelical Christians in that area - yet it is 11:19 the most sick area of America. 11:23 And the reason why, I speak very frequently in evangelical 11:28 circles and so forth, unfortunately some of the 11:33 evangelical people have ignored the principles that the Bible 11:39 teaches about health and you can quickly see the results. 11:43 In that area of America where you find that highest density 11:47 you find the most heart disease, the most diabetes, the most 11:52 obesity and the list goes on and on and on. 11:56 And the beauty of this is that in the Bible, we find 12:01 the solution to this problem. 12:04 From the very beginning, God gives a diet to human beings. 12:09 At the time of Noah, God introduces a new element, 12:14 yet He put some rules depending on which 12:17 animals you're supposed to eat and which 12:19 animals you're not supposed to eat. 12:21 Before there were Jews and things, so people say, 12:23 "Oh because on the cross these things were done away?" 12:26 Not necessarily, this was a principle 12:28 for human beings. Go ahead. 12:30 Just in case not everyone is familiar with what God 12:32 recommended right there at creation, what foods 12:36 did He recommend for human beings 12:38 right at the beginning there. That's right. 12:39 At the beginning, God introduced the fruit type 12:45 of foods with some nuts. 12:49 Then after that, after sin came into the picture, 12:53 God allows people to eat the herbs of the field. 12:57 So you had a full plant vegetarian diet from the 13:01 very beginning, that was the vision that God 13:04 had for humans to eat. 13:06 Not until the time of Noah when vegetation was destroyed 13:10 God gives permission to eat animals and with special rules 13:13 that still, if you are still eating animal products, 13:17 it still applies for today. 13:19 It's interesting, Jewish people actually are the 13:23 ethnic group in the world that has gotten 13:27 the most Nobel prizes. 13:29 See, because when you partake of those animals that are not 13:33 on that list, actually your IQ decreases - we don't have time 13:37 to talk about that, but actually it has a negative effect 13:40 in the brain such as the partaking of pigs, 13:43 meat and so forth. 13:45 So there's a connection with brain health? 13:47 Absolutely! 13:49 Now females tend to have more of a problem with their weight. 13:55 The reason why is because they tend to be small, 13:59 usually the type of work they do - they are less active, 14:03 and also because of the biological purpose 14:06 that God had for them. 14:08 They need to have the baby developing inside of them, 14:14 so the body tries to have enough reserves in order to 14:19 help that baby grow properly. 14:23 That's the reason why females tend to have a little bit more 14:26 of a problem, while males have muscle mass and muscle mass 14:31 tends to burn more calories. 14:33 Quite a lot more calories. 14:35 Muscle burns a lot more calories than fat, doesn't it? 14:37 That's right. So concentrate on that 14:40 if you want to have some help. 14:42 In a minute, we'll tell you the method. 14:44 I also presented some research on the latest "Obesity 14:49 World Congress" that happened in Vancouver, Canada. 14:52 I presented three papers and we can see the first of them 14:56 on the screen. 14:57 We're finding out that regularity in eating 15:00 and sleeping was helping with weight control and was also 15:06 improving mental health. 15:09 So that was a very good finding. 15:13 You need to have order in your life. 15:15 That's interesting - so eating at regular times? That's right! 15:19 And sleeping at regular times. That's right! 15:22 Even on the weekends. Even on the weekend. 15:24 Then the second paper I presented there - it was about 15:30 how plant-based diets are one of the best ways. 15:35 And please notice in little graphic on the bottom right, 15:39 it was showing that full plant vegetarian nutrition 15:44 will actually - if you are normal weight or underweight, 15:48 it won't affect your weight, but if you are overweight 15:52 or obese, it will actually help you lose weight 15:57 in a natural way without suffering which is something 16:00 I'm against. 16:01 Isn't that incredible how it doesn't make you lose weight 16:05 if you're underweight or normal, 16:07 but it helps you if you're overweight. 16:08 The body is a marvelous thing and it does regulate 16:11 a lot of these things. 16:12 It's a bit like getting vitamin D from the sun, 16:14 it will only produce as much as the body needs. 16:17 You don't get an overdose that way. 16:20 Exactly! So it's better to work with physiological 16:25 type of approaches. 16:27 And then a third one that we presented showing that 16:31 these also apply to pediatric participants. 16:36 So young people that partake of this method are able 16:41 to lose weight in a natural way again without 16:45 suffering and so forth. 16:47 So let's go a little bit about how this method works. 16:50 This is actually from what is called "The NEWSTART Program." 16:52 If you Google about the NEWSTART Program 16:54 in Weimar, you can see if you are interested in even coming 16:59 and being one of these patients in our place. 17:03 So there is something that is called, 17:06 "The Point Theory," that's the name of it. 17:08 The Point. The Point Theory. 17:10 It says that you usually tend to maintain a certain equilibrium. 17:17 If you are of a certain weight and you quickly lose weight, 17:21 you're probably going to bounce back to that point. 17:24 If you gain weight very fast, you will actually come 17:28 down to try to approximate to that point. 17:32 Now there are two specific ways that you can use 17:38 to lower the point so that you lose weight. 17:44 Like a set point. Yes, like a set point. 17:47 #1 is very, and I'm talking about very intensive exercise. 17:54 Let me tell you just so you can picture it in your head. 17:57 One-half a kilo of fat in your body is approximately 18:04 3,500 calories - that is a lot. 18:09 See, if you go running at race speed, you will probably 18:15 burn about 500 calories from that 45 minute run or so. 18:24 So that is just 600 calories, we said you need 3,500 18:33 calories to lose just half a kilo. 18:36 That means that you can lower the point with exercise, 18:40 but you would have to invest 4 or 5 hours a day of exercise, 18:47 something that is not practical for most people, 18:50 and most people actually don't have the fitness to handle that. 18:54 So a better strategy if you want to tackle this problem long-term 19:00 is to change the composition of your diet. 19:05 In that way, you don't suffer! 19:08 Again, I am totally against those methods that say, 19:12 "Oh you just have to eat two portions of this and one portion 19:15 of this," and the person is all hungry 19:18 and suffering throughout the day. 19:19 Look, you can do that for a week. 19:21 You can do that for 2 weeks, but long-term? 19:24 That is just not acceptable. 19:26 No, it's just unsustainable, isn't it? 19:29 In the study that we were presenting, the way that our 19:34 patients ate - it was buffet style. 19:38 Patients just served themselves what they wanted. 19:42 Of course encouraged in moderation and automatically 19:46 their bodies started to lose that weight. 19:49 Now, we need to understand that fats increase the point. 19:55 So foods that have too much fat like free oils - that one 20:03 will increase the point while starch and vegetables 20:07 will decrease the point. 20:09 So what you need to do, you need to change 20:13 your plate and you need to make sure that you're eating 20:17 one-third of your whole plate needs to be raw fruits 20:24 or vegetables - the rest of it needs to be cooked food. 20:28 If you want this process to be even faster, 20:32 switch it to half - half of your plate it's going to be 20:38 raw fruits or vegetables. 20:41 And by doing that, you will see the advantage. 20:45 And see, some people are afraid of starches 20:48 and these type of foods - those foods are fabulous! 20:52 See, as I travel around the world, 20:54 I've seen this with my own eyes! 20:55 What's the staple food in Japan, for example - it's rice. 21:00 What's the staple food in Papua New Guinea - it is 21:03 these roots, these yams - this type of foods. 21:07 What's the staple food in Mexico - it's beans and rice. 21:12 What's the staple food in Peru - it's potatoes. 21:15 What was the staple food in Europe - it was bread! 21:21 That was what they based their food on. 21:24 So the problem is not these foods, 21:27 the problem is what we put on them. 21:29 That's right - yes, often bread is just a vehicle (That's right) 21:34 for things that would raise that set point. 21:37 And see, when you eat foods in its most natural state, 21:42 what it does is it fills your stomach and there are 21:46 sensors in your stomach that sends the signal to your brain 21:49 and say, "Okay, you had enough, okay." 21:51 But when you're eating concentrated foods such as 21:55 animal products, they have a lot of calories 21:58 and absolutely no fiber. 22:01 Animal products are deficient of fiber. 22:04 Fiber only comes from vegetable products. 22:08 So you ate some cheese; you ate some milk, 22:11 and still your stomach is not full enough and he says, 22:14 "What else are you going to feed me, you know I'm 22:16 still hungry." 22:18 And you end up increasing the number of calories and you 22:22 end up moving that point towards the top. 22:25 So let's review some of the most common mistakes 22:30 people make while trying to lose weight and I'm sharing 22:34 this with you from my clinical experience what my patients 22:37 give me input on. 22:38 #1. They eat too much high fat foods. 22:44 See, "oil," that is not good for you. 22:49 If you are marathonist and you have to train 3 hours a day, 22:53 please use oil in your food, you need it. 22:56 But if the type of work that you do is just sitting down 23:01 in front of a computer, low level of activity with just 23:07 30-45 minutes of exercise per day, you don't need 23:13 that excess oil. 23:15 In fact, I would actually encourage you to eliminate 23:18 it from your diet and use something like "Pam," 23:21 that spray - so that your food doesn't stick to your plate. 23:25 And I'm talking also about olive oil - some people say 23:29 "Oh it's olive oil, you know, it must be healthy," 23:31 and here it comes on the salad! 23:33 You're putting a bomb of calories there, 23:36 so - oils, be careful. 23:38 #2. Be careful with sugars. 23:41 Sugars are concentrated food, sugars increase a very 23:47 important hormone in your body called "insulin" and insulin 23:51 helps you gain weight. 23:53 And beware, honey also has that effect. 23:56 Even the Bible says, "A little bit of honey is good for you." 23:59 Follow that counsel. 24:01 Not because it's honey, it doesn't mean that it's 24:04 not going to do that reaction when it's eaten in the excess. 24:06 I remember reading through the Book of Proverbs which was 24:09 written by the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, 24:12 and he even wrote a couple of proverbs about honey 24:15 which kind of surprised me the first time I actually saw it. 24:18 And one of them says, "If you find honey, eat just enough, 24:21 too much and you'll vomit." That's right, very true! 24:24 That's very graphic, very true, yes. 24:27 So be careful with ingredients that end in "ose," 24:31 fructose, glucose, maltose, all those things are sugars! 24:37 Next problem - Blenders, beware of blenders. 24:42 People right now are very much into smoothies and juices. 24:48 These things are concentrated calories! 24:52 Once in a while, you eat this, no problem. 24:55 As an everyday thing, if your goal is to gain weight, 24:59 go for it, but if your goal is to lose weight, beware 25:04 of blenders as they destroy the fiber, increase the 25:07 glycemic index of the food, increase the insulin response 25:10 in your body and encourage gaining weight. 25:13 Another problem - alcohol. Huge problem alcohol! 25:17 Alcohol by two problems affects you. 25:19 #1. Empty calories. 25:21 #2. Affects your frontal lobe. 25:24 So just one glass of wine, you probably have determined, 25:29 "You know, I'm not going to overeat today," 25:32 but when alcohol is onboard, then those breaks don't work 25:38 and studies show you're going to end up overeating. 25:41 And the next thing, very important - dry fruit. 25:44 Beware of dry fruit. 25:46 Dry fruits are bombs of calories. 25:51 Once in a while you eat this, and it's no problem. 25:54 But I see people have this big bag of dried fruit, 25:59 those things are just bombs of calories. 26:01 And finally - exercise. 26:03 You need to increase the amount of exercise 26:07 so that it can help you have a healthy appetite and it 26:11 actually encourages self control. 26:14 So put those vegetables to work for you and lose weight 26:19 in a natural nonpainful method. 26:22 Something that's sustainable, something that you could see 26:24 yourself doing for the rest of your life. 26:26 If it's something you can only do for a short term 26:29 whatever that term is, that's not going to achieve 26:33 what you want to do because you just can't sustain it. 26:36 That's right and that's why I like the "CHIP" programs 26:39 that are taking place here, what does "CHIP" mean? 26:42 Yes, we better straighten that out. 26:43 "Complete Health Improvement Program." That's right! 26:50 It's not the fried ones. 26:51 So go ahead and Google one of those programs 26:54 in your locality and try to see where is one of those 26:58 programs - they have cooking classes and so forth. 27:02 They are nonprofit programs and I would definitely 27:05 encourage you to participate in one of them. 27:07 Make sure that you use all the food groups that will 27:11 help you lose weight which are the fruits, 27:14 the vegetables, the legumes and the legumes we're 27:17 talking about the peas, the beans and lentils, 27:20 whole grains and a little bit of nuts in quite moderation. Yes. 27:27 So that's really good. 27:28 I actually was speaking to someone who did the 27:31 "CHIP" program - he needed a kidney transplant, 27:35 they couldn't do it until he lost weight, 27:37 and he wasn't able to. 27:39 He went to "CHIP" and in a short time - I just don't 27:42 know how many weeks it was, he had lost enough weight 27:45 to have the operation but he didn't need it because 27:48 his kidney function was normal. 27:50 Incredible program! Absolutely incredible! 27:53 He had a few other good outcomes too and I could 27:55 tell you many of the outcomes that people have when they do 27:59 that complete health improvement project 28:01 as the community-based thing, so really a brilliant 28:05 way because often people do need support to make 28:09 lifestyle changes and that does it because it's done 28:11 over a period of time. 28:13 Well, we want you to have the best that life has to offer, 28:18 so keep tuning in for more encouragement and strategies 28:22 for healthy living. 28:24 And if you'd like to watch our programs on-demand, 28:26 just go to our website: 3abnaustralia.org.au 28:30 and click on the watch button. 28:32 We'll see you next time. |
Revised 2019-10-16