Weight Loss: The Surprising Reason You Can’t Lose Weight
Are you trying to lose weight? Do you find it very difficult to lose weight? Maybe there’s something you are not doing right.
Earlier this year, a Harvard University study
concluded that nearly half of adults in the U.S. will be obese by 2030.
Obesity is a true health scourge. It’s strongly
linked to diabetes, cancer, fatty liver, heart disease, stroke, and
osteoarthritis.
The problem is so bad that it even threatens
national security. According to the CDC, if we had a major war, we may not have
enough soldiers to fight it because one in four young adults is now too heavy
to serve in the military.
READ ALSO: Exercise Vs. Diet: Which is more Effective for Weight Loss?
Why Can't I Lose Weight?
Dr. Rami Bailony says “gross negligence” on the part
of the medical profession is fueling obesity. In a recent article he wrote that
doctors don’t take weight gain seriously because they believe it is a
“lifestyle disease.”
But at the same time, Dr. Bailony notes that they
prescribe drugs that actually cause obesity.
In fact, dozens of common medications have weight
gain as a side effect.
Dr. Louis Aronne is director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medical College. He said that as many as 15% of weight issues are related to medications.”
Common Drugs That Make You Fat
Different types of drugs cause weight gain for
different reasons.
Mood
stabilizers: These are used to treat bipolar disorder
and schizophrenia. They include risperidone (Risperdal), clozapine (Clozaril),
lithium (Eskalith, Lithobid), olanzapine (Zyprexa), and quetiapine (Seroquel).
As a side effect, they increase hunger. Some people will gain as much as 11
pounds in 10 weeks.
SSRIs.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are anti-depression medications. They
include sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa), fluoxetine (Prozac),
fluvoxamine (Luvox), mirtazapine (Remeron), and paroxetine (Paxil). These work
by increasing serotonin in your brain. But they can also increase your appetite
and cause your body to burn fewer calories. SSRIs can make you gain up to 24
pounds in a year.
Corticosteroids relieve pain and inflammation. They
include methylprednisolone (Medrol), prednisone (Deltasone, Prednicot), and
prednisolone (Orapred, Pediapred, Prelone). They affect your metabolism and can
increase your hunger, making it hard to burn fat.
Diabetes
medications. These include pioglitazone (Actos),
repaglinide (Prandin), nateglinide (Starlix), glimepiride (Amaryl), glipizide
(Glucotrol), and glyburide (Diabeta, Micronase). Newer ones—liraglutide
(Victoza) and empagliflozin (Jardiance)—may make you gain weight initially
until your body adjusts. But “some of the older drugs basically vacuum calories
into fat cells,” said Dr. Aronne. (Home Remedies To Use For Diabetes)
Anti-migraine
and anti-seizure drugs. They include nortriptyline
(Aventyl, Pamelor), valproic acid (Depacon, Depakote, Stavzor), and
amitriptyline (Elavil). Dr. Donald Waldrep is co-director of The Center for
Weight Loss Surgery at California’s Los Robles Hospital. He said some of these
medications “can up your appetite, lower your metabolism, and cause your body
to hang on to extra fluids.” (Natural Treatment Of Menstrual migraines)
Antihistamines.
Ones linked to weight-gain include loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec),
diphenhydramine (Benadryl), fexofenadine (Allegra).
Beta
blockers. They lower blood pressure and slow your heart rate.
A side effect is that they inhibit calorie burning. Some also sap your energy,
so you’re less prone to exercise. They include acebutolol (Sectral), atenolol
(Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL), and propranolol (Inderal).
If you are on one or more of these drugs, ask your
doctor whether you can discontinue them or whether there are alternative
medications that don’t cause weight gain. (How To Gain weight In A Week)
Editor’s Note: Check the drugs above if you are
trying to lose weight but not succeeding.
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[1]https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/effects/index.html
[2]https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/downloads/unfit-to-serve.pdf
[3]https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/obesity/85172?xid=nl_mpt_blog2020-03-02&eun=g1421475d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ItsAcademic_030220&utm_term=NL_Gen_Int_Its_Academic_Active
[4]https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/features/medication-weight-gain#2
[5]https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/features/medication-weight-gain#2
[6]https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-your-diabetes-drug-preventing-you-from-losing-weight/#:~:text=Some%20newer%20diabetes%20medications%20don,also%20beneficial%20to%20the%20heart.