The obesity epidemic »

In Canada, an astounding 23% of adults are obese, with a body mass index of 30 or more. Obesity is a leading contributor to a variety of health problems, impaired quality of life, diminished productivity, premature death, and is a major burden on our healthcare system.

There are plenty of factors to blame for what can only be called an epidemic: oversize portions, unhealthy foods, and not enough exercise. The result is a nation in which almost a quarter of adults are dangerously overweight and incredibly unhealthy.

Why are people obese?

To put it simply, it’s because our bodies are not designed for a sedentary lifestyle and extra food. The human body is designed to handle hardship, food shortages and hard physical labour that were common for all but the last hundred years of human history. As a result, our bodies have mechanisms to adjust to not having enough food, but they don’t have any to counteract the opposite: too much food and not enough activity.

To lose weight and keep it off, you have to change the balance between what you take in and the energy you expend. But you already know that; chances are, you’ve been on more calorie-reduced diets than you care to count. You have lost weight, but have more than likely gained it back, probably more than once.

Losing and gaining weight over and over again actually makes it harder to lose weight and keep it off because it slows down your metabolism. Why? Because your body is using its “hardship mechanisms,” and fighting deprivation by slowing down how fast you burn calories, and getting better and better at storing fat. And your body isn’t the only part of you being negatively affected by years of dieting; your self-esteem has also had to deal with the emotional burden of failure after failure.

So what are your options when every diet and program and drug has failed? A drastic change to the way you eat that simply isn’t achievable with conventional dieting. An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (April 10, 2007) recommends bariatric or weight loss surgery (such as Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding) as an acceptable option for people with a high body mass index who have tried all other conventional weight loss methods and failed.

There is a solution

Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding can help you succeed where diets have failed. For more information, or to set up a consultation, please contact us. We want to help you achieve a healthy weight – for life.

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