The largest professional organization of physicians cleared the road for obesity to finally be taken seriously in 2013 when they voted to acknowledge it as a disease.

from the belief that people who are obese are lazy and lack willpower to the recognition that obesity is a chronic illness that puts health at risk and may require long-term medical care. However, a lot of people, even those involved in the campaign to accept fat, disagree that pathologizing one’s body is appropriate.

The statistics are now well-known: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released statistics showing that 42% of adult Americans are obese and 31% are overweight. Furthermore, there is ample evidence linking obesity to a number of well-known medical disorders, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and stroke.

However, what precisely qualifies as an obesity diagnosis, and are all overweight individuals unhealthy?

“One of the important things we’ve learned is that obesity is a brain condition, for lack of a better term,” Giles Yeo, a world-renowned geneticist at the University of Cambridge and a pioneer in the field of obesity research, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the podcast Chasing Life recently.

“It is now clear — crystal clear, unequivocal — that (obesity) is a brain problem: It is a problem of our brain influencing the hunger,” Yeo said. “So, hunger is a brain scenario, even though the feeling of hunger comes from your stomach. And we now know that obesity is just your brain influencing what you eat and how you eat.”

Yeo stated that although though being overweight might cause a host of problems, including arthritis and sleep apnea, it won’t always be fatal on its own. However, carrying too much excess fat is harmful because, as Yeo refers to them, your fat cells become “professional fat-storing organs,” causing the fat to leak into areas of your body like muscles and internal organs that are not meant to store fat. At that point, metabolic issues start to manifest and have the potential to develop into diseases like cardiovascular disease.

But according to Yeo, not everyone who is overweight is afflicted with a medical condition.

“If you redefine the term obesity — I am maybe doing some verbal gymnastics here, but I think it is an important nuance — the moment we begin to understand that obesity is not high body weight, but (rather) obesity is a state where high body weight begins to influence your health, then it is a disease,” he said.

The amount of fat that your fat cells can retain as well as the frequency and intensity of the hunger signal that our brains send out are both influenced by genetics.

Truth No. 1: “Anyone that tells you that weight loss is easy is lying to you — trust me: lying to you,” Yeo said. “It ain’t easy because your brain makes it not easy. So, when you lose weight, your brain hates it and will try and get you to gain the weight back.”

If you are struggling to lose weight, realize that it’s not your fault—rather, “it ain’t supposed to be easy.”

Truth No. 2: Try eating in moderation Reduce your overall food intake by a small amount.

Yeo said, “Eat a little bit less of everything,” but he clarified that following this advice would not make him wealthy. “It’s also true; it’s also known as moderation.”

He cautions against attempting to totally eliminate foods that are frequently demonized, including fat or carbohydrates. “Dairy is not poisonous for you if you can drink it,” he stated. If you want to reduce weight, cut back on everything a little bit.

Truth No. 3: You should eat meals that are slowly digested. Select dishes that adhere to the ribs.

You feel fuller after eating something that takes longer to digest.

Protein is one such. A diet higher in protein does make you feel fuller, but you don’t want to consume too much of it, he explained. “Eating foods high in fiber does tend to increase feelings of fullness.”

 Truth No 4: Prioritize quality over quantity. Take into account the food’s overall value rather than just one component.

Do not calorie-count mindlessly. Why? Because calories only indicate how much food is consumed; they do not indicate the food’s nutritional value. The number of calories doesn’t indicate the amount of protein, fiber, salt, or micronutrients that are present.

Truth No 5: Food is not a threat Yeo claimed that when people talk about diets, they inevitably talk about cutting out “bad” items rather than learning about how foods interact with one another.

“Don’t fear food,” he said. “I think we do have to fix our food environment; I think some people need to eat less food. But if you fear food … you begin to think, ‘Oh, I need to cut this, I need to cut that out.’

“I think we need to eat a little bit less food. But I think we need to love our food.”

Topics #weight gain