Weight gain is influenced not only by the difference between energy intake and expenditure, but also by other factors, including sleep, microbiota, exposure to chemicals. This was told by the therapist Kirill Belan in an interview with Gazeta.Ru.
As a rule, obesity occurs against the background of a long-term difference between energy intake and expenditure. However, this imbalance cannot always be corrected by increasing physical activity and reducing calorie intake. According to the doctor, the problem is that energy intake and expenditure, and therefore body weight, are regulated by complex hormonal, neural and metabolic mechanisms.
“In addition, most of the energy consumed is spent not on physical activity, but on general body functions: breathing, maintaining body temperature, organ functions,” Belan explained.
Hormones play an important role in metabolism, and they in turn are influenced by many factors. According to the doctor, one of them is sleep.
“Lack of sleep is a powerful stress factor that causes increased production of cortisol, leads to increased insulin levels and insulin resistance,” he said.
Another factor is the state of the microbiota, the gut bacteria community.
Research has shown that fiber intake increases microbiota diversity and decreases the rate of weight gain, independent of energy intake, the therapist pointed out. Belan added that body weight is also affected by certain chemicals that disrupt the endocrine balance in the body. In this regard, he advised avoiding plastic utensils and not heating food in a microwave oven in plastic containers.
“Use glass or ceramics instead,” the doctor advised.
Source: Rosbalt
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