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Monday, July 9, 2007
Is the Link to Obesity and Stress Legit?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Recently, you may have heard reports that researchers have found a specific physiological component linked to obesity and stress. Though, this may be legitimate, there are some things that I would like to point out. First though, you may need to be informed of what this component is. According to researchers, they have found that neuropeptide Y(called NPY) that is higher than normal in laboratory mice subjected to stress. How they determined this was by giving two groups of lab mice a diet high in fat and sugar, similar to that of junk-food. One group of mice was subjected to chronic stress. This group developed twice as much fat than the other group. As you may have figured by now, this group had higher amounts of NPY. To counter the effects, they injected the mice with a substance to block NPY. When they did this, the fat began to “melt away” (in their own words). Besides linking stress to obesity, the purpose of this study is to find a “cure” for the current obesity epidemic that is in America today. Admittedly, they state that they are looking forward to developing a patent. Critics, far more educated than I, state that the findings are good. However, there is nothing that will be more effective than proper diet and exercise. I agree. This will probably be put in the same batch of other hormones, fat blockers, antidepressants, amphetamines, and other drugs promising to do the same thing. If there is one thing that research over the decades has found, is that a proper diet (not quick fix diets) and exercise are the key components to battle stress, thus battling obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc. I do believe that this kind of therapy may be beneficial for groups of people who have suffered from an obvious mutation causing obesity. This has been seen in Pima Indians in Arizona. The researchers believe that NPY might be an alternative to the current cosmetic therapies and surgeries used today. Once again, there is no better way to improve neuropeptides and other physiological components, than a lifestyle of proper diet and exercise. There never will be.
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