HEALTH MATTERS work together, they develop a deeper understanding of the food and lifestyle choices that work best for them and implement lasting changes that improve their energy, balance and health.
Gladys: Let’ s talk about the relationship between obesity and sugar. Edward has said he was a tea guy with a lot of sugar. I have heard people saying sugar is actually the worst thing when it comes to obesity.
Kepha: We have three enemies that affect our healthy status. They include sugar, salt and saturated fats. Sugar is actually the worst enemy because it provokes food cravings. When you have a tendency of eating sugary foods, your cravings become worse and you are likely to gain weight faster than other people. It is also important to understand the different types of sugar. We have icing sugar, high fructose corn syrup and processed sugar. Most people know processed sugar because that is what we add in our tea on daily basis. Processed sugar lacks a very important nutrient called chromium. Chromium controls insulin production.
Gladys: Oh really! Still on sugar and tea, I mean we are in the African set up,‘ chai’ is part of our culture. Are you saying that we stop taking sugar or we reduce on the tea spoons of sugar?
Kepha: When taken in moderation, sugar is not bad. We are actually seeing increased cases of obesity and lifestyle diseases because of excessive consumption of sugar. We should therefore blame ourselves and not the sugar.
Gladys: Some people get a bit lost in terms of the Body Mass Index( BMI). We talked about the waist being the easiest way to know whether you are overweight or obese. How do you calculate this BMI?
Kepha: Body Mass Index is a simple calculation using weight( Kg) and height( m ²) and is expressed in Kg / m ². BMI however is not an accurate predictor of health because it does not account for body fat percentage or body fat distribution.
Gladys: Does the height matter because some people are tall and overweight but they don’ t look it? I
“ Leadership styles may be diverse and have different impacts on teams within an organization. In order to drive change or transformation, a leader may need to adopt a coaching style of leadership that will allow the leader to bring out the best in each team member.”
guess because of the distribution of the weight?
Kepha: Yes, height matters and that is why we should not compare ourselves in terms of our food portions. Am saying these because you will be surprised to know that tall people are allowed to eat a bit more than short people.
Gladys: Oh! Really! Interesting. A recent report by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Kenya said the prevalence of weight and obesity among women is higher than that of men. Now let me bring in the lady amongst us. Nancy, apart from all these things you told us, the fatigue, constipation, acid reflux, gastritis and all that, you were also struggling with infertility, right?
Nancy: Yeah, I was trying to get a baby but it was not easy because of the excessive weight gain. In fact, I didn’ t know it was because of the weight until I went to see the nutritionist. I always visited gynecologists but they would tell me“ you just wait”. Kepha prescribed a nutrition program and after one year I got pregnant and gave birth to a bouncing baby boy.
Gladys: Ooh wow! Interesting perspective let’ s hear from Edward, you also mentioned that when you were dealing with excess weight you were also having hard times with your reproductive health as well. Right?
Edward: Yes, that’ s something I like talking about and it’ s a reality that we need to face because our lifestyle affects libido. It also affects your relationship with your wife and other people especially in your work place. I remember my wife had miscarriages but after implementing Kepha’ s meal plan and exercise, we eventually ended up getting my lastborn after two miscarriages.
Gladys: Oh wow! Thank you for sharing that story. Kepha clearly reproductive health is one of the things that is severely affected by obesity or even being overweight.
Share your thoughts on this!
Kepha: Obesity affects reproductive health because it causes hormonal imbalance. Hormonal imbalance during pregnancy can cause problems including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, high or low birth weight, or even miscarriage. Studies have shown that weight loss helps address hormonal imbalance and promote reproductive health.
Gladys: Nancy, you have walked this journey and you are still in the process. What would you like to say to encourage others?
Nancy: It is always important to have the right mindset and remember that weight loss requires hard work, patience and consistency.
Gladys: What about you Edward?
Edward: It is not enough to start the nutrition program, what counts is consistency. Since I met Kepha 10 years ago, I can say am much better! I can encourage others to do the same because when you change your lifestyle and you are persistent, it changes your perception and attitude towards life. It’ s always a good thing to do.
Gladys: Kepha, you see so many people walk in and out of your office. What is your clarion call?
Kepha: Despite the increasing cases of obesity and lifestyle diseases, we should always remember that what happens around us affects us by 10 %, 90 % is determined by how we react. This is encouraging because it means that we are not victims of our circumstances but masters of our destiny! ■
Kepha Nyanumba is a seasoned Marketing Africa Columnist working as a Consultant Nutritionist at Crystal Health Consultants Limited. You can engage him via mail: knyanumba @ chc. co. ke or follow him on twitter: @ knyanumba
MAL 45 / 21 ISSUE 43