Obesity « DogtorJ.com :: Food Intolerance in Pets & Their People

Obesity

This is a new section as of June, 2007. Although I have been studying the subject for some time, I was finally motivated into creating this section by a forum post that was dealing with the link between air pollution and obesity. “Say what?” you might be asking. The relationship between the two will hopefully make sense by the time the reader gets through this developing section.

Obesity is a complex condition but one that can be understood once we see a few very important scientific facts and dispel some very common myths. I will try to cover both in this section, including the role of viruses in obesity and the misconception that Dr. Atkins disproved (again): That eating fat causes us to become fat.

While I work on this section, I would suggest that the reader dive into the lectin section and become familiar with how cells respond to certain dietary proteins (e.g. those of the “big 4”- gluten, dairy, soy and corn). There is a big clue in there. Oh, and do a search for “virus, obesity”. You may be very surprised.

Dogtor J

On This Page:

Viruses and Obesity- A Forum Post – The following is a post I made on a veterinary forum that had a post discussing the role of air pollution in obesity. It was suggesting that toxins stored in fat contributed to obesity but for reasons different from the ones I wrote in my response (found below). My study of lectins and viruses has given me some ideas that I shared with the forum…and now with you.

Obesity – How it Develops and What to Do About It – (Link only) This is a paper that I wrote following numerous exam room lectures on the topic and finally triggered by a real-life experience. The obesity epidemic is not a mystery but the reader may be surprised at some of the factors involved.

Viruses and Obesity- A Forum Post

Hi Everyone,

In keeping with my newest “obsession” with viruses and their role in so many disease states, I had to respond to this post.

First of all, it would be great for everyone to do an Internet search for “virus, obesity”. You will find some really cool stuff along these lines….really cool. You may also come to the conclusion that I have that lipomas are viral tumors. Personally, I believe what some researchers have said for years: That all neoplasia is ultimately viral, with carcinogens simply being the “triggers” that are making the viruses form the tumors. But, that is a whole ‘nother post.

So, what you then see is that obesity can be viral, as a study showed in chickens (which you may have found on that Internet search). Yes, they showed by feeding three groups of chickens the exact same amount of food that the one group possessing a certain virus gained three times more weight (in fat) than the other two groups without that virus. After my study of lectins and viruses, this made perfect sense to me.

And what do they feed chickens? Commercial chicken farms stuff them with feed that is loaded with gluten grains (wheat in particular), corn and now soy- three of the “big 4” foods that I write so much about and those with the most damaging lectins. We can then see why corn-fed/grain-fed beef develops the desired- but totally unnatural- marbling of the meat. Fat is being deposited within the muscle. Hmmm… Do we want fat in our muscle? Why would this happen?

If viruses are involved in fat production (e.g. marbling of meat, lipomas, and obesity), then an appropriate immune response is necessary to keep that process in check just as in any virus-related disorder (e.g. cancer and immune-mediated disorders such as chronic active hepatitis caused by Hep B in people). Immune suppression would lead to a worsening of that condition, wouldn’t it?

And that is exactly what air pollution does. It is inflammatory to all tissues, toxic and/or carcinogenic, and immunosuppressive- a really bad combo when viruses are afoot. And where are many of our toxins stored again? In the fat, as the poster so accurately pointed out, in that same fat where viruses are hanging out. And since one of the main purposes of fat is to store these toxins toxins/”carcinogens” (e.g. pesticide residues, PCB’s and excessive estrogens), why wouldn’t fatty tumors (lipomas) be one of the first tumors we see in dogs and people? Makes sense to me that they are.

So, now you see why I had to post here. This is a glaring example of what I have been studying for the past few years: The role of chronic latent viruses, many of which are embedded in our very genome, in the development of our particular disease state, whether it is cancer, epilepsy, chronic active hepatitis, MS, obesity or cold sores. The cool thing to see is that they are not the malicious creatures we have made them out to be. They are simply responding to the insults that we keep throwing at them. (And, man, are we throwing some toxic garbage at them.)

So, there is merit to the claims that some (but certainly not all) individuals cannot loose weight by conventional means. Why? Because they are immunosuppressed, something that is much harder to reverse than caloric intake. In fact, some diets make this immune deficiency worse, again substantiating the claims that some forms of dieting can actually make things worse. I have had a number of dogs gain weight on weight loss dog foods. Why? Because they incorrectly take out the fat and add more grains, the very thing leading to the obesity. Talk about an upside-down approach. But now we know why…right?

I hope this helps,

John

PS. Does obesity really kill as many people as claimed? Does obesity really lead to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes as so many purport? Or, do the foods (and chemicals) that cause the obesity lead to these other conditions?

If we are going to label something a “cause”, we had better be able to explain why it doesn’t cause the problem in all cases. When we see that the virus is the underlying “cause” of cancer (by telling the cell to divide rapid in response to carcinogens), then we can see why Aunt Edna could smoke 5 packs a day ‘til she had a stroke at age 97 and never developed lung cancer. Smoking doesn’t “cause” lung cancer, but it is one heck of a trigger.

Many conditions are “syndromes” (e.g. epilepsy, SIDS and cancer), with causes (e.g. viruses), triggers (e.g.carcinogens) and immune suppression all being required to yield the ultimate outcome (e.g. cancer). As I like to tell people of faith, God made it hard for us to get seriously ill. We have just made it incredibly easy to do so.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000EEADC-A456-13DA-A45683414B7F0000

http://www.ketv.com/health/3962522/detail.html

http://monado2.blogspot.com/2006/07/obesity-is-virus.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/01/obesity_virus.html