Lets face it. The obesity rate has been skyrocketing despite the fact that we have the most advanced medical technology in the history of humankind.

The problem of obesity has been scientifically dissected. There are more diet pills, and weight loss remedies on the market today than ever before. And now there has even been talk of adding taxes to certain fattening food products! We have surgeons that want to operate, weight loss reality shows, weight loss challenges, and health clubs opening and closing all around us.

Yet more and more people are becoming fat in spite of it all. Does it boil down to the basic principle of eating less and exercising more? Well, those strategies are good, but I think there may be more to it than that.

Perhaps what we should consider is not only the quantity but the quality of the food we eat. Our grocery stores are filled with pre-packaged, over processed foods that are marketed with your convenience in mind, not your health.

Sure, its safe to eat the canned, boxed, bleached and frozen foods, but do those products really feed you? Or, do they leave your body craving for something more, because you have not received the basic nutrients that your body needs to thrive?

I believe that one of the main issues leading to obesity is found in the above statements. In simple terms, people are eating but not being fed. Yes they are being filled, but not with the nutrition that our bodies need to thrive. So they crave more food, eat again, and still are not fed with solid nutrition. The cycle continues and becomes a trap.

Experts all agree that the human body will store the excess as fat.
They also, for the most part, agree that you need a diet in which there is an appropriate balance of fat, protein, and carbohydrate values. More experts are beginning to agree that nutritional supplementation (vitamins etc.) should be added to the diet. Because todays mass-produced foods simply do not carry the same nutritional value that they did at one time.

What it comes down to is this: Our markets are flooded with highly processed, artificially fortified food products that are conveniently packaged for easy consumption. These foods do not provide adequate nutrition and leave you craving more food even when you are full.

Research has shown that a long term diet consisting of simple sugars and processed carbohydrates can lead to an imbalance of insulin in the bloodstream, which causes the body to crave more food. This is a very simplistic description of the physiology behind excessive snacking and food binges.

This imbalance is also what causes those energy crashes that prevent a person from being more active. Perhaps a good place to start would be to change the quality of what you consume, and then decreasing the amounts might become easier.

There are at least two things that you can do to start. First, avoid buying those foods that you know provide inadequate nutrition. A general rule of thumb, the more prepared it is the more processed it is. The more processed it is, the more it has been depleted of its nutritional value. Stick to buying foods that are closest to their natural state and prepare them yourself.

Secondly, find a quality line of nutritional supplements. But remember that some supplements are artificially manufactured, processed and, simply put, are a waste of your time and money. Below are two sites that have tons of good info if you want to research supplements further.