Copyright © 2009
by Daniel Matthew Korn

All Rights Reserved

Most weight loss research is not satisfactorily explained, or we would all be thin. We need to generate new theories for the cause or causes of weight gain. To do that, we will look at the different factors that predict weight gain and are present in obesity. Any culprit that is responsible for obesity must be related to all of its associated symptoms. First, we need to figure out how the factors in weight gain are related; we need to know which factors are causes of weight gain and which are caused by the same mechanism as weight gain. For example, if obesity causes stress, then we do not need to figure out why stress levels are high in people who gain weight. However, if stress causes weight gain, it is very important that we look for what could be causing our stress levels to rise, as it could be responsible for obesity.

There are many scientists who are trying to answer the mystery of modern weight gain. By looking at some of the interesting things they have discovered, we will find clues that can help us narrow down the possible causes of weight gain. We will also examine the factors which researchers have found to be associated with weight gain—things that people who gain weight tend to do or experience. Many of these things actually predict weight gain.

What is left for us to do is piece together the puzzle of how all of these things relate to weight gain and each other. For example, why is it that soda causes weight gain? It does not sound surprising, until you learn that people who drink diet soda are even more likely to become overweight than people who drink regular soda. How does this fit in with the fact that overweight people are hungrier than thinner people, tend to sleep less, and experience higher levels of stress? If these seemingly unrelated phenomena actually cause weight gain, then they may also be directly or indirectly responsible for the diseases associated with weight gain.

Figuring out how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together will not immediately reveal the main culprit responsible for obesity. However, such knowledge will provide a better understanding of that culprit’s effects on our bodies and should enable us to narrow down the list of suspects to a manageable level. We will then be in a position to use the process of elimination to find the primary cause of obesity. With that, we should be able to return to being as thin as our ancestors were for thousands of years. So let us look at the first piece of our puzzle.

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