'Beer Belly' Enzyme Discovered In Time For Xmas 42
dbolger writes: "azcentral.com has this article about how scientists in Boston have found the enzyme that causes fat cells to cluster around the stomach. The hope is that this discovery will eventually lead to a "cure" for the male beer belly. Good news for those "activity challenged" geeks among us, especially at this time of year :)"
USA (Score:1, Funny)
Re:USA (Score:1)
Re:USA (Score:1)
Exercise (Score:5, Insightful)
Okay, so abdominal fat is worse than other sorts; but inhibiting this enzyme still means the fat is going to end up somewhere else.
The real cure for beer-bellies is proper diet and exercise.
Drugs like the one proposed just encourage laziness, but laziness is the primary problem.
Re:Exercise (Score:2, Interesting)
Well, I'd say that's only half the problem. Let's not forget the huge amounts of stress inflicted upon us in this rapid-pace, highly complex post-modern society, and the enormous geographical distances, which predispose people to driving everywhere, instead of walking (or bicycling).
Re:Exercise (Score:2, Insightful)
to get rid of them is to consume less beer. Exercise, of course,
also helps.
The real question, though, is how to succeed in that..
Re:Exercise (Score:1)
Consume less beer ?????????
The guy is crazy!
Research has consitently found that consuming significantly less oxygen is 100% effective in stopping wieght gain.
Excercise myth (Score:2, Interesting)
Excercise doesn't do jack. Period.
Just do the math, one hour in gym increases your daily energy consumption in _low single digit_ percentage.
I repeat: One hour of _heavy labour_ has *minimal* effect on your daily energy use.
Ok, got that?
So what you're left with is choking the energy and especially fat input.. When you have *that* under control, it's beneficial to excercise some, which forces your body to speed up metabolism to cope with periodical energy-drain sessions. That could mean taking bicycle to work.. Combine that with your starvin' marvin' diet and you *can actually lose weight*!!
Excercise? Oh please. Unless your work is manual labor and you actually exercise 8 hours, five days a week, excercise *still is not going to do jack*.
Re:Excercise myth (Score:1)
It also makes you less hungry. On the days I work out, I come home STARVED. I hit the gym and by the time I get home, I'm not that hungry.
This assists in creating a calorie deficit, which allows you to lose weight.
I work out twice a week for an hour at a time. I weigh the same as I did when I was 'fat', but I'm in a helluva lot better shape (literally and figureatively.)
What did it? What's my secret? A persistent NAGGING repeating alarm for Mondays and Wednesdays that said "Go work out".
IF I hurt, i stopped. If I didn't feel like working out on Wednesday, I didn't. But I didn't remove the alarms. So I kept working out.
The best no bullshit description of the process can be found here: http://www.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm
Re:Excercise myth (Score:1)
By the way, weight watchers recommend you *don't* excercise until you're close to the weight you want to keep. Because excercise makes you feel hungrier, most of us anyway..
I went to gym for 2 years and had some 20 kilos overweight.. Then I stopped gym and started on swimming and went on low fat/low sugar "diet". Meaning I changed the way I eat and got rid of those 20 kilos in about 18 months.
Moral? I don't know. But it's far easier to cut down on calorie input than to up the energy output.
Re:Excercise myth (Score:2)
That sounds a bit bizarre to me. Are you sure you're starved? If your body is actually hungry for fueld (ie, not a mental habit or food addiction) and you do heavy physical work, it sounds like a recipe for bonking.
Since you're talking about adding muscle mass, I hope you're at least eating when you get home. To add muscle mass, it's generally accepted that you should use the "glycogen window" within an hour (some say longer, some say shorter) of a long exercise session. ie, fuel up with a good amound of primarily carbs within that window and your body will convert carbohydrates to muscle glycogen at triple the rate it normally would. As time passes after the workout, the rate drops, so the sooner the better. Naturally, rehydration is pretty important.
Mind you, this is only important if you're trying to put on more muscle mass. If you're a big, muscley, chubby person to start with and you're looking to get slimmer, this probably won't achieve the desired result.
Re:Excercise myth (Score:1)
That's a bit odd. I was told that excercise speeds up the metabolism and makes you hungrier. I know that when I worked out, I'd come home and eat a pound of bread and drink a liter of milk easily - without gaining weight.
Still, YMMV and EPID, I suppose.
Yan
Re:Excercise myth (Score:2)
Of course the heavy stuff is ski-mountaineering but that is too athletic for me. Alterntively, just try Himalayan mountaineering or work in the Arctic/Antarctic. The minimum intake per day is such that you burn a lot off fast.
But you are right, ordinary exercise doesn't really hack it, except, perhaps swimming.
Re:Excercise myth (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Excercise myth (Score:1)
Excercise doesn't do jack. Period. Just do the math, one hour in gym increases your daily energy consumption in _low single digit_ percentage.
I repeat: One hour of _heavy labour_ has *minimal* effect on your daily energy use.
I'm not entirely sure where you got your information. For example, according to this website [oxygen.com], a 200-lb person burns 900 Calories an hour jogging.
If that is a single digit increase in your daily energy use, then you're a machine!
Re:Excercise myth (Score:2)
People who jog a lot end up with bad knees, and knee surgery is not only quite expensive, but unreliable. Once you get a knee replacement, you can count on repeated future surgeries to maintain it.
Look at any ex professional athlete, and they've got all sorts of physical problems ranging from bad backs to arthritis to worn out joints.
It really seems like common sense to just reduce the calorie intake if you're gaining undesireable weight. Trying to exercise/work-out is the less efficient and safe way to accomplish the same goal.
Re:Excercise myth (Score:1)
I guess it depends on the workout. But there are certainly workouts which don't lead to injuries, in general. Certainly if you do all kinds of running, or lifting all kinds of sick weights, you're asking for some sort of injury. But if someone does a good amount of swimming, or walking, the chances of incurring an injury are small. And, actually, in fact, certain types of injury (say, in the back) are actually much less likely amongst those who are athletic. So, as long as it's reasonable, it's a good idea.
Re:Excercise myth (Score:1)
I think the important part is flexibility. Strength coming second. And fat reduction something I don't even think about (though I am trying to tone my abs to improve posture).
You're right--if you want to lose weight lower your intake. Juice fasting is something to try, good for your overall health and can even help with muscular problems such as inflamation (that's why I fast).
But excercise is still important for everyone.
Re:Exercise (Score:1)
Partially, but there are many people who don't get fat on almost no exercise and poor diet, and others who get fat despite a fair amount of exercise and a reasonable diet. Fixing the latter situation would be a good thing.
Re:Exercise (Score:1)
Re:Exercise (Score:1)
greasy underwear
Now that is a disgusting thought. I shuddered when the mental image of "greasy underwear" popped into my head... ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Re:Exercise (Score:1)
Not only am I the inventor... (Score:3, Funny)
how are you going to use this? (Score:1)
all that fat is there because more calories were eaten than were burned in the daily activities.
i think that the only people who might want to take advantage of this would be transvestites. block the fat from accumulating on your gut and add estrogen to your diet. voila! a woman's chest on a man!
isn't technology wonderful?
Woohoo! (Score:4, Funny)
and, of course...
I can't wait!
Re:Woohoo! (Score:2, Funny)
You'd spend more time on the toilet (Score:4, Interesting)
Since you are not taking in any more fat, the fat you have will be burned off during the normal course of the day and you will lose weight.
Re:You'd spend more time on the toilet (Score:1)
Fat busting pills? (Score:1)
I think we're getting a tad too reliant on pills to solve all of our problems. There's a pill for high cholesterol, a pill to make you feel happy, a pill to keep you off other pills... When will it stop?
Re:Fat busting pills? (Score:2)
You sound like you are very stressed. Maybe depressed too.
Here, take these two pills. They will make you feel MUCH better!
--
But for now we'll just say Momma was real real bad.
she was being mean to Dad. That made him real real mad.
Re:Fat busting pills? (Score:1)
Get off the blaming (Score:2, Insightful)
Stop saying all people with weight problems are like that because they eat like pigs.
I would hope that in the 21st century some of the information about biology and metabolism might have leaked into your tiny minds.
Here's the short version:
People are different, some are tall some are short, some have big feet and some don't. Some have body odor and some have halitosis. Some like the same sex and some don't.
And some *gasp* metabolize food at a different rate, pace, level or in a non standard way! Just as a diabetic about metabolism and body chemistry.
So please learn a little something before you blame them for their wieght problems, many do everything they can to change they way they look, but it requires they change the way they metabolize food and store fat.
Its like blaming bald people for not growing hair, geeze, just grow some f***ing hair you lazy sloths.
Get off the despair (Score:2)
Also, these things are controlable. The bald man cannot exactly change his hair loss, but the overweight can make dietary and lifestyle changes to control their problem. And it is a problem. There are serious health effects of obesity.
And this is not just a thin man railing against fatties. I am badly out of shape, and its not because I'm cursed with bad genes, its because I sit behind a desk for 8-10 hours a day, eat out 2-3 times per day, and sit in front of the television or my computer with a coke or a beer every night after I get home. If I'm going to complain about how I look, I have to accept the fact that I have no excuse. I am the way I am because I haven't gotten up and gone out and ridden my bike or run around the block on any regular basis for over two years.
By the way, body odor and halitosis are largely manageable health problems too. 90% of severe halitosis problems can be controlled with more frequent brushing. Sure, it sucks to have a slower metabolism or stinkier mouth than other folks. And anyone who judges you based solely on the basis of that sort of thing is a dickweed. But if you have a manageable health problem, and you don't take the required steps to manage it, you are to blame, not your genes.
Your statement about diabetics is particularly off the mark. My grandfather had diabetes. His was caused by chronic obesity when he was younger (from about age 25 to 50). However, despite the serious metabolic and chemical problems caused by diabetes, he decided that he had to kick that if he was going to live, and so he carefully controlled his diet, began excersizing regularly, and lost the weight. It was only through his controling his disease that he avoided the circulatory problems, blindness, and other disastrous health problems caused by diabetes.
Truly some small portion of the current explosion of obesity in America is the result of serious metabolic disorders, but most is the result of lifestyle choices, and the sooner we recognize that, the sooner we can start making the changes necessary to solve the problem. Most of us need to understand that WE are in control of our problems, not our blood chemistry. We can solve this, and if we don't, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Re:Get off the blaming (Score:2)
Absolutely right ! and also, sometimes, weight problems are not problems at all.
I personally weight over 250 lbs, I'm about 6 feet tall, and most of my overweight is not muscle by any mean. By today's medical standards, while I'm not grossly overweight, I believe I am considered obese.
*but*
I do 3000 miles a year on my bike, I play pool semi-professionally (and believe me, when you have to stay on your feet and bend over that pool table for hours every day, it is a sport), I regularly go to the swimming pool, my blood pressure, cholesterol level and heart rythms are perfect, and I eat healthy and reasonably (healthy food, like a varied diet of everything in healthy proportions, not Weight Watcher crap).
Do I have a problem ? possibly, I might have knee problems later in life, and other side effect of overweight, but I guess it's no worse than having a tendency to develop skin cancer, or arthritis, and everybody is born with something wrong somewhere. But am I sick ? hell no! I'm just heavier than average. I guess I'll never be a ballerina, but I think I can get over the disappointment.