Originally published July 24 2005
Good health is more about habits than weight
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Healthy habits, proven to decrease your chance of disease, have more to do with maintaining a healthy, balanced diet than losing weight.
It seems some sort of warning should be put on news stories about the dangers of being overweight - and the necessity for weight loss.
The authors - researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center Institute - revised estimates for the number of excess deaths in the United States "associated with" overweight and obesity.
Without going into the details of statistical analysis or the political arguments over "junk food" taxes, I'll share my opinion about the great weight debate of 2005.
It is not healthy to be a complete couch potato, nor is it healthy to be a compulsive exerciser.
Study after study has shown people with healthy habits are at a lower risk of death and disease - whatever they weigh.
By healthy habits, I mean getting plenty of physical activity and eating nutrient-rich whole foods, as well as not smoking or chewing tobacco, not drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and not using dangerous drugs.
If you keep your weight low by smoking cigarettes, taking over-the-counter diet pills, exercising more than two hours a day, or by severely limiting your intake of any food with fat, you are not healthy.
Most dieters will regain all the weight they lose and more within a few years.
Half were assigned to a dieting group and half to a non-dieting "Health at Every Size" group.
They were told to moderately restrict their food consumption, maintain food diaries, monitor their weight and exercise regularly.
# The non-dieters showed a significant decrease in both total cholesterol and LDL "bad" cholesterol by the end of the study.
# The non-dieters demonstrated significant improvements in self-esteem and depression, while self-esteem worsened in the diet group.
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