Obesity is when a person is carrying too much body fat for their height and sex. A person is considered obese if they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater.

Today’s way of life is less physically active than it used to be. People travel on buses and cars, rather than walking, and many people work in offices, where they are sitting still for most of the day. This means that the calories they eat are not getting burnt off as energy. Instead, the extra calories are stored as fat.

Causes and contributing factors.:
1. Inactivity. 
If you’re not very active, you don’t burn as many calories. With a sedentary lifestyle, you can easily take in more calories every day than you use through exercise and normal daily activities.

2. Unhealthy diet and eating habits. 
Having a diet that’s high in calories, lacking in fruits and vegetables, full of fast food, missing breakfast, and laden with high-calorie beverages and oversized portions all contribute to weight gain.

3. Pregnancy. 
During pregnancy, a woman’s weight necessarily increases. Some women find this weight difficult to lose after the baby is born. This weight gain may contribute to the development of obesity in women.

4. Lack of sleep.
Too little sleep can cause changes in hormones that increase your appetite. You may also crave foods high in calories and carbohydrates, which can contribute to weight gain.

5. Certain medications. 
Some medications can lead to weight gain if you don’t compensate through diet or activity. These medications include some antidepressants, anti-seizure medications, diabetes medications, antipsychotic medications, corticosteroids, and beta-blockers.

6. Medical problems. 
Obesity can sometimes be traced to a medical cause, such as Prader-Willi syndrome, Cushing’s syndrome, and other diseases and conditions. Some medical problems, such as arthritis, can lead to decreased activity, which may result in weight gain. Low metabolism is unlikely to cause obesity, as is having low thyroid function.

Preventing obesity:
Have the food items which will relieve your digestive systems, such as mango, papaya, ginger, bitter greens, pineapple, and bitter melons.

Drink lots of warm water daily. Also, drink a glass of boiled water after your food. Have a lot of fresh green vegetables and juicy sweet fruits. They are fully filled with vitamins and minerals which requires for your body. These veggies and fruits contain low calories which give sufficient energy to the body. The water content in fruits and vegetables will keep the body hydrated.

Kottakkal Ayurveda is a center for Ayurvedic massage, treatment, healing, herbal medicine, and lifestyle practices. Our team of dedicated Ayurveda practitioners, trained in the art of Ayurveda are here to support your transformation and wellbeing. Kottakkal Ayurvedic Treatment Centre is the premier provider of Ayurvedic services in Dubai (Deira, Satwa), Ajman and we’re excited to share these restorative techniques with you.

How to Lose Weight with the Science of Ayurveda

Ayurveda is an ancient Indian science and it has some of the most natural and effective techniques towards a healthy mind and body.

1. A vegetarian diet
Ayurveda encourages people to stick to a vegetarian diet to be able to lead a healthy life. Include sufficient amounts of fruit, grains, vegetables, pulses, legumes, and dairy products in your daily diet. Also, we all know the fact that due to the high amount of fibers present in fruits, vegetables, and pulses, it helps in losing weight.
Fruits like oranges, strawberries, apples, pears, grapes, and lemons are the best fruits that can be eaten to get rid of that extra flab. Eat cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and cabbage in uncooked form.

The rule is to eat everything BUT in moderation. Also, if you are a meat lover, restrict the servings to once in a while.  Red meat is a big no!

2. Buttermilk
Ayurveda has claimed buttermilk to be a divine preparation. Buttermilk is a soothing drink made out of curds, salt, cumin powder and occasionally flavored with fresh coriander or mint leaves. It’s very easy to make and can be stored for a day in the refrigerator.

Curds have always been a favorite in the Ayurvedic diet. Buttermilk is nothing but curds plus water. It is a very thin inconsistency.

Buttermilk is known widely to trigger weight loss and the regular consumption of it also helps you maintain weight. Buttermilk gives you glowing and flawless skin; it aids in digestion, has a soothing effect during hot summers, and is great in so many other ways.

Drink at least two glasses of buttermilk every day.

3. Warm water
And here comes another secret from Ayurveda.  Warm water helps to cleanse out your system, gives your skin a glow, and helps you get rid of that fat.

4. Walking
Eat an apple every day and walk! Sounds simple, but walking is not that easy how it looks. Start walking and build up your stamina. Once your stamina improves, you will be motivated to walk more.

If you love to run, do that. Any exercise in the natural environment is good for you.

5. Yoga
Yoga is simply an ancient science that is a mix of physical, mental, and spiritual practices and exercises (usually known as asana). Yoga is not particularly for weight loss purposes but you can reap a whole lot of health benefits from it.
Yoga is total health and well-being packed together. Yoga improves flexibility, digestion, posture, frees one from physical ailments like back pain, obesity, etc.

5. Suryanamaskar (Sun salutations)
Suryanamaskar is also commonly known as sun salutations. These are 12 asanas that make up a set. Suryanamaskar is performed in the early morning, while the sun rises. It is known to tone your body, lose weight, get a good posture and free oneself from various physical ailments.

6. Eating on time
What time you eat is very crucial. Some days you’ll have breakfast at 8 am and some days it’ll be 10 am. This won’t work for your weight loss goals. Discipline your body and eat at regular time intervals. A gap of 3 hours between meals is perfect’ however you have to decide if you want to have 3 regular meals in a day or divide them into shorter 6-8 meals in a day.

This choice differs from person to person. Determine when you tend to overeat and then target that! Ayurveda recommends having a very light meal or maybe soup, fruits, or salad at night. If not hungry, a glass of fruit juice or milk will do. But never sleep on an empty stomach, eat something little 2 hours before you go to bed; you do not want to end waking up starving and then overeating breakfast.

7. Strictly no junk food, no alcohol, and no smoking
If you are aiming to lose weight, fried and junk food is a big no! No soda, no alcohol, and no smoking. These substances ruin your body and are some strong reasons why people suffer from obesity. If you cannot control your cravings, eat them in moderation.

8. Take adequate sleep and be an early riser
We sleep because our body needs to rest. Late to bed and late to rise is one of the biggest signs of an unhealthy lifestyle and an unhealthy mind. Give your body the rest it needs. Taking power naps during work is alright as long as they don’t last for more than 15 minutes. Adequate sleep is essential to keep away stress which is one reason for most people to gain weight. Rise early and start your day at dawn. This will definitely keep you at your active best.  Rise early to exercise, walk and meditate.

These tips are sure to help you in achieving your weight loss.  Stay active, eat right, and always wear a positive attitude!

According to Ayurveda, an emaciated body is better than an obese body because there is no medicine for obesity. But that does not mean that fatness cannot be treated and managed.  It can.  Fighting flab needs tremendous willpower and cooperation.

In Ayurveda to tackle obesity three pillars of treatment are required: Aharam (food), Oushadham (medicine), and Viharam (lifestyle changes). It is only then that pacification can be brought out.

Excess accumulation of fat in the adipose tissue below the skin and above the muscles is an expression of obesity.  Obesity is graded into different levels of severity. The most severe condition is morbid obesity when a person is not able to even move around. At this stage, only surgical intervention can help.
The starting point of obesity is defective metabolism.  

The ingested food goes through seven stages of transmission and gets assimilated at each stage to become a component of the body.  Thus the ingested food becomes chyle, blood, muscle tissues, adipose tissues, bone tissues, bone marrow, and ultimately the reproductive tissues in males and females.

In obese people, this seven-stage transmission does not happen. Instead, food gets accumulated at the adipose tissue level. As a consequence, there is a disparity in the distribution of nutrition to the body parts.  On one hand, the body has an excess accumulation of fat, and on the other hand, other tissues, especially bone marrow and the reproductive tissues do not get enough nutrients.  So the person becomes bulky but malnourished.

Obesity can lead to many grave diseases like diabetics, blood pressure, and heart disease.  Obese people tend to sweat profusely because of the excess working of the adipose tissue.  The person feels tired very quickly due to the lack of quality blood in the system.