Body Image and Silly Diets

by Dr. Rosemary Stanton, Nutritionist

The dedication in my recent book, The Diet Dilemma Explained states "for all who fear they are too fat and are not, and for those who genuinely are and have not known what to do about it". Most women in our society fit into one of these categories, and hopefully after reading this book, many more would realise they fit into the first group.

Excess weight is more common now than ever before at all ages and in both sexes. At the same time, concern about excess weight has increased significantly and has little relation to whether excess weight actually exists. Many women now consider their normal female body is too fat, even when objective measurements would define it as perfectly normal. We used to eat when we were hungry and stop when we felt full. Many women now think constantly about food, wanting it but striving to avoid it. Eventually, they give in and eat and then feel guilty about it.

Part of the problem lies with poor self esteem, almost certainly aided by constant hammering at women to 'improve' some aspect of their bodies. The 'improvement' industry is now turning its attention to teenage boys, convincing them that their size and shape is not perfect either.

Let's look more closely at body fat. Studies show an increasing risk of health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers if you have excess body fat. However, these problems are only related to excess fat around the waist and on the upper body - the so-called 'apple' shape. Fat on the tummy, hips, bottom and thighs - the typical female 'pear' shape is not a risk for these common health problems.

The main health hazard associated with lower body fat is damage to self esteem from those who tyrannise women by suggesting there is something wrong with the basic female body shape. In modern Western society, the ideal female is portrayed as slim-hipped and long-legged, with full rounded breasts. It's not a shape that comes naturally for most women and because it is rare, it is considered highly desirable. Problems arise when we treat anyone who does not fit the rare shape as if they are abnormal. In marketing terms, it makes for good profits if you can pick on something that the majority of people have, tell them it's a problem and then offer them a remedy.

Much of the relentless drive to persuade normal-sized women that they are faulty comes from the purveyors of products such as pills, potions and diets. The successful selling techniques were evident recently with a pill that was supposed to remove cellulite. Within one hour, the first shipment of 50,000 boxes (at $59/box) sold out, netting its marketers almost $3 million. From their second shipment of 40,000 boxes, they took another $2,360,000. There was no published proof that the product worked and no biochemical reason why it could. Women bought the product because they had been led to believe that cellulite is ugly and abnormal.

Some companies selling 'cures' even refer to it as "toxic waste trapped beneath the skin". In fact, cellulite is a normal layer of fat which serves as an energy reserve in case of famine during pregnancy and lactation. In parts of the body where the skin layer is thin and there isn't a lot of firm muscle, the fats cells clump together and give a slightly dimpled appearance. It is not a health hazard and great artists like Rubens, Renoir or Australia's Norman Lindsay honoured it as evidence of female fertility.

Supermarkets and Internet sites now sell a range of diet products with ingredients which may include such as brindleberry extract, chitosan, L-carnitine and other amino acids, choline, lecithin, collagen, kelp, chromium picolinate, pyruvate, horse chestnut extract, inositol and a variety of herbs, enzymes and vitamins. Properly-controlled trials have not shown any of these products help with weight loss, in spite of some very glowing testimonials from people identified only as Mrs LW of Melbourne or Satisfied, from South Australia.

There are also dozens of silly diets. Most are aimed at those wanting a quick fix. Very few discuss whether the reader really needs to lose weight. The latest diets are low in carbohydrate - or 'carbs'. Protein is often promoted as the answer to every would-be slimmer's prayer and many put no restriction on fats, although it is hard to understand how anyone could eat much butter or cream when everything you would normally put it on is forbidden!

There is no mystery to the fast weight loss you get with these diets - it's due largely to a loss of water. With a low carbohydrate intake, the body uses its 600 grams or so of carbohydrate stores, and also loses the 2 kilograms of water stored with them. It then begins to break down protein to form glucose so the brain and essential organs can continue to function. The leftover parts of the protein molecule must then be excreted through the kidneys, and this takes more water from the body. You lose weight, but not much fat. The lost water eventually returns and the body that was starved of carbohydrate stores up a bit extra in case the cycle is repeated.

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