Before you spend lots of hard earned cash on weight loss pills and potents, and hours and hours trying to find perfect solution to your needs… Let’s examine some basic facts about why we gain weight and why we lose weight. Don’t despair, there are some truly good products available to help you lose weight. But, before you go out and start buying diet pills, there’s a few basic facts you need to understand.

Usually overeating causes weight gain or being obese, but in rare cases (about 1%) excess weight gain is a symptom of another disease. Three of most common diseases that can cause weight gain are hypothyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome and depression. Certain medications, notably anti-depressants, steroid medications, certain high blood pressure drugs, and seizure medications can also cause increased body weight. A doctor can determine if any of these conditions are responsible for your weight gain. Weight gain and weight loss has basically three components; 1) nutrition (the food you eat) and 2) Stored energy (the amount of fat in your body) and 3) level of activity (what you do each day). Everything we eat is either a) used for energy b) stored as fat for future needs or 3) eliminated from body through wastes. Another factor that has a heavy impact on amount of weight you gain is your metabolism or rate at which your body processes food you eat. Not everyone has same rate of metabolism.

Everyone’s metabolism is just a bit different. I’m sure you know people who can eat whatever they want, whenever they want it and yet still don’t seem to gain weight. Then there’s those who seemingly can just smell food and gain weight. Their rate of metabolism is what makes difference. The person that can eat anything and still maintain a healthy weight has a higher rate of metabolism, than person who gains weight easily.

The amount of energy produced by food is measured by calories. A calorie is defined as amount of heat required to raise temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade at atmospheric pressure. It’s easier to think of in terms of food you eat being converted to energy. For example, something containing 120 calories has more available energy than something containing only 50 calories does.

All three can be converted to blood glucose. However, while fats and proteins are converted slowly, carbohydrates are converted quickly causing quick spikes in body’s blood sugar levels. These spikes in blood sugar levels cause pancreas to create and release insulin until blood sugar level returns to normal.

Meanwhile, insulin, a hormone produced in pancreas that lowers our blood’s glucose levels is released into blood as soon as body detects that blood sugar levels have risen above its optimal level.

Insulin is a very efficient hormone that runs body’s fuel storage systems. If there is excess sugar or fat in blood insulin will signal body to store it in body’s fat cells. Insulin also tells these cells not to release their stored fat, making that fat unavailable for use by body as energy.