Obese People Sometimes Protected Against Diabetes, Heart Disease Due To Lack Of Metabolic Problems

Obesity contributes to more than 60 different unhealthy conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine decided to study the risk faced  by more than one-third of adults in the United States that are obese,. They published their findings in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

"This research demonstrates that some obese people are protected from the adverse metabolic effects of moderate weight gain, whereas others are predisposed to develop these problems," said the study’s senior investigator Dr. Samuel Klein, director of Washington University's Center for Human Nutrition, in a press release. "This observation is important clinically because about 25 percent of obese people do not have metabolic complications. Our data shows that these people remain metabolically normal even after they gain additional weight."

Klein and his research team studied 20 obese participants, who were asked to gain approximately 15 pounds over the course of several months in order to determine how the extra weight would affect their risk of disease. Before they started, the subjects’ blood sugar, liver fat, and other risk factors were measured. And then under the supervision of a dietitian subjects ate extra food from fast-food restaurants.

"Our goal was to have research participants consume 1,000 extra calories every day until each gained six percent of his or her body weight," said the study’s co-author Dr. Elisa Fabbrini, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, in the press release. "This was not easy to do. It is just as difficult to get people to gain weight as it is to get them to lose weight."

Test subjects who were in relatively healthy ranges to begin with weren’t harmed by the weight gain and none of their risk increased. However, those who were already at risk to begin with had significantly worsened once they gained extra weight. Once the study was completed, the test subjects were enrolled in a weight-loss program designed to make sure they lost all of the weight they gained.

Researchers found answers in the type of fat inside participants' liver, which helped the researchers determine whether an obese person was protected or at risk of disease. Another factor was that some people, despite being obese, had normal metabolisms. They were able to metabolize the extra weight in a healthier way than those who had slow or abnormal metabolisms. The research team’s next step is to analyze types of fat, muscle, and liver more closely in order to see why certain obese people are protected from harm’s way.

"We need more studies to try to understand why obesity causes specific diseases in some people but not in others," Klein said. "Could it be genetics, specific dietary intake, physical lifestyle, emotional health, or even the microbes that live in the gut?"

Source: Klein S, Fabbrini E, Yoshino J, et al. Metabolically normal obese people are protected from adverse effects following weight gain.

How Much Vitamins Would It Take To Kill You?

Vitamin Overdose: Taking Too Many Vitamins Can Be Bad For Your Health, But How Many Would It Take To Kill You?

One wouldn’t take an antibiotic without being sick, but for some reason countless individuals are taking vitamins despite having no deficiencies. While in most cases this is simply a waste of money and the extra vitamins are simply flushed out in urine, for those who take large quantities of unnecessary vitamins, the health consequences are serious. But just how many vitamins does it take to kill a person?

Vitamins are organic compounds needed in small quantities to sustain life, Medical News Today reported. We normally get the necessary amount from our daily diet, but sometimes, due to dietary restraints, individuals will develop vitamin deficiencies. However, Marissa Puleo, a registered diectian working in Pennsylvania, stated that one needs to be careful with vitamin intake.

"Taking too many vitamins and supplements does have negative consequences," Puleo said. Although many water soluable vitamins are excreted when too much is taken, others remain in the body. "These vitamins can reach toxic levels and cause adverse side effects."

Iron

Anemia is a condition when one doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your tissues. It’s more common among women and can cause symptoms such as fatigue and feeling weak. Do not self-diagnose your anemia and especially don’t self-treat it. Unnecessary iron can accumulate in the body and even rise totoxic levels. Taking more than the recommended amount of iron over time can cause brown skin discoloration, an enlarged liver or spleen, abdominal pain, congestive heart failure, an irregular heart rhythm, and insulin dependent diabetes, just to name a few.

Excessive amounts of iron are especially common in pregnant women. A recent study by a team of doctors in India found that excessive iron dosage among healthy non-anemic women could lead to problems, including low birth weight, premature birth, and poor growth of the baby while in the womb.

Lisha Shastri, a final year MBBS student and one of the lead researchers on the study, explained to the Bangalore Mirror that her findings suggest the need for women without anemia to stay away from additional iron supplements, especially during pregnancy.

“Iron in high daily doses could be responsible for cellular damage through oxidative stress,” Shastri said. “This needs to be balanced with sufficient anti-oxidants, which can be obtained from fruits rich in vitamin C. The dosage of iron varies from one individual to another, which is why there cannot be a standardized dosage that can be fixed for everyone."

Often women who are menstruating or women who partake in particularly strenuous sports, such as distance runners, are at greater risks for iron deficiencies, but there are many ways to introduce more iron into your diet without using supplements. Meat and eggs are particularly high in iron, and for vegetarians, beans and tofu are also great sources of the vitamin.

How Much Can Kill You

As reported by Livestrong, a one-time overdose of iron can kill you. The limit for iron intake is put at around 20mg of elemental iron per kilogram of body weight. Any more than this and a person may experience abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, rapid breathing, and coma.  

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is arguably one of the most popular and widely recognized of all vitamins. Deficiencies of vitamin C can cause tooth lose, acne, fatigue, and even death. Taking vitamin C to help fight off a cold is also recommended by doctors. Still, despite all this there is still such a thing as having too much of it.

Unless you have a cold or it’s recommended by doctors, you’re safer getting your daily dose of vitamin C in food. Citrus fruits, berries, and vegetables such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts have high levels, the University of Maryland Medical Center advises. Also, many foods such as cereal and drinks are actually fortified with vitamin C, so chances are you’re probably getting the recommended amount without even realizing it.

How Much Can Kill You

The good news is that overdoing it on vitamin C will not kill you. Around 2,000mg of vitamin C is considered the limit. For those who consume this amount in a day, symptoms such as vomiting, heartburn, headache, insomnia, and kidney stones may follow.  However, anything over 1,000mg can lead to diarrhea.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is known for promoting good vision but also helps to form and maintain healthy skin, teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, and the mucous membrane. Medline Plus reports that individuals who do not get enough vitamin A are more likely to get infectious disease and vision problems.  

A high dose of vitamin A can cause the following side effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, tiredness, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, poor muscle coordination, itchiness and scaling of the skin, bone pain, hair loss, irregular menstruation in women, osteoporosis, and temporary or permanent liver damage. High doses of vitamin A are also known to increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers, the BBC reported.

Acute hypervitaminosis is a severe condition resulting from consuming too much vitamin A during a short period of time. It was first documented in arctic explorers who unknowingly consumed vitamin A-rich livers of many artic animals, such as seals, husky dogs, and yes, even the polar bear. The symptoms of the extremely unpleasant condition are loss of skin and hair, liver damage, hemorrhage, coma, and even death.

How Much Can Kill You

The problem with vitamin A is that unlike other vitamins, excess amounts don’t flush out in urine but rather build up in the liver. However, unless you’re eating polar bear liver, it’s unlikely you’ll consume enough vitamin A to kill you. According to the San Francisco Gate, 3,000mg of vitamin A a day is the limit and any more can have unpleasant consequences. To put that into perspective, that’s around 79 to 115 chickens eggs, according to How Stuff Works.

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