Obesity ( Science) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Obesity ( Science) - Essay Example Obesity can simply be described as the over accumulation of fats in our body. It poses a serious threat as it may lead to several heart diseases and even diabetes. The main reasons for obesity are overeating, irregular eating patterns and habits as well as lack of daily physical activity. Some of the common problems caused by obesity are increased sweating, difficulty in breathing, difficulty in doing physical activities and so on. As mentioned earlier, the only remedy for this health problem is to lose weight through a systematic and organized diet system, which incorporates both elements: food and exercise. Our body needs a certain amount of calories each day. The excess calories that we obtain through overeating is stored as fat. This stored up fat can be burned out only by exercising. â€Å"Patients with obesity often have multiple nutrition-related medical problems (e.g. Hypertension and diabetes) that make a needs assessment necessary to prioritize the treatment approachesâ₠¬  (Gumbiner, B., 2001, P.170) This paper deals with an investigation and comparison of Atkins diet and the Cabbage Soup Diet, the two popular diet plans that may help people to reduce weight and set them free from obesity. Atkins diet was created keeping in mind people who eat too much. These people take in large amounts of carbohydrates daily. The body is designed in a unique way to obtain energy from the food eaten. This is done by burning the carbohydrates and fats stored in the body. Atkins diet tries to reduce the use of carbohydrates, which will lead to the use of excess fat in the body that will help in loosing weight. â€Å"By restricting carbohydrates drastically to a mere fraction of that found in the typical American diet, the body goes into a state of ketosis which means it burns its own fat for fuel† (The Atkins Diet, 2011). When a person is in this state, his or her body burns the excess fat instead of the carbohydrates, which reduces the feeling of hunger and this ultimately results in weight loss. On the other hand, the Cabbage Soup Diet is just a restrictive diet. It has a well planned, systematic list of the things that one has to eat each day of the week. Kathleen M. Zelman says that these meals have to be eaten at home as they are not available in any restaurants. â€Å"The Cabbage Soup Diet plan promises a 10- pound weight loss in one week† (Zelman, 2011). It is said that Cabbage Soup Diet helps to reduce weight if one sticks to the list of allowed food on alternate days along with fat free cabbage soup. â€Å"The new cabbage soup diet (Margaret Danbront) allows dieters to eat as much cabbage soup as they like, plus other food as directed† (IDEA Health & Fitness. 2002, P. 79). A person following this diet should drink plenty of water and should avoid alcohols at any cost. On the first day, along with the cabbage soup, the individual following this diet system should eat fruits and drink unsweetened tea, coffee or wat er. On the second day, again the cabbage soup as well as vegetables that contain low calories and baked potatoes with butter must be taken. On the third day, the individual is supposed to have both fruits and vegetables as taken on the first and second day along with cabbage soup. On the fourth day the plan is to consume up to eight bananas with skimmed milk, but without omitting the soup. Next day marks the beginning to eat beef, chicken