Dr. Eric Berg’s Health Tips

Many people can lose weight for a few weeks then stop losing. Let me explain exactly what is happening. But first, I need to tell you that exercise does NOT burn fat. It only triggers several hormones that in turn use fat as energy. However, if you study endocrinology texts, you will notice two terms used over and over again—”exhaustive exercise” and “intense exercise.” Fat-burning hormones are ONLY triggered to any significant degree by INTENSITY. Intensity means “an extreme degree of anything.”

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If you haven’t already noticed, people tend to accumulate weight in four different ways:

• around the belly (lower sagging)
• around the belly (higher roll)
• around the hips (saddlebags)
• around the entire body equally

In this article, I’d like to give you some insights into these different body shapes.

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I get lots of questions on exactly what the endocrine system is and how it works; so, in this letter, I’d like to cover this.

The body has two main coordination systems. Coordination just means getting things aligned and working together. The first is the nervous system and the second is the endocrine system.

The nervous system carries information fast, at roughly 280 mph. Think of it as a network of telephone wires that go through an area.

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From a hormone point of view, insulin is the most important hormone to keep on the low side—for two reasons:

1. In the presence of insulin, the body cannot burn fat.

2. In the presence of insulin, the body goes into fat mode.

This is a double-edged sword: insulin forces the body to burn only sugar fuel and changes this sugar into fat and cholesterol.

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I frequently run into this situation: A person wants to lose weight after dieting with very little result. Upon testing the individual, I often find that most of the weight is water weight. We have a machine to detect fluids inside the cells versus outside the cells. I recently had a guy come into the office who was 170 pounds overweight; we found it was mainly water not fat. You can see it around the eyelids, fingers, arms, belly and especially the ankles. If your socks leave indentations on the ankles at night, suspect water retention.

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Did you realize that there are just as many deaths from having low cholesterol as from having high cholesterol? In particular, cancers and immune problems can occur when your cholesterol is too low. Yet you don’t hear many people talking about the danger of having low cholesterol.

I had a 79-year-old man recently tell me that five years ago his cholesterol was 120 (normal is 180 to 200). His doctor then put him on a statin drug to lower it even more. After three years, it went to 110. This doctor then told him to continue taking the drug until his cholesterol reached 100. I told the man to get a new doctor—this was ridiculous!

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One of the most frequently asked questions is, “Why do my hormone levels on blood tests keep showing normal despite my having hormonal symptoms?”

When you are dealing with the endocrine system, the body will do ANYTHING it can to KEEP THE BLOOD CHEMISTRY NORMAL, no matter what!

This is a survival mechanism because the blood is the medium through which the tissues can receive instant communication. BUT what you don’t see behind the scenes are failing glands.

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I’d like to shed some light on one of the biggest mistakes people can make when attempting to lose weight.

A CALORIE is a unit of energy in food. People have been putting a huge importance on counting calories, thinking that if they eat food lower in calories, somehow this will lower their weight because more calories turn into fat.

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I’d like to introduce you to another powerful fat-burning hormone called glucagon. People get this confused with glycogen. It has nothing to do with glycogen. Glycogen is stored sugar (glucose) in the muscles and liver. 

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In this artile I’m talking to you about a very important hormone called estrogen. Estrogen gives the fat layer around a female body (just below the skin); it feminizes bodies; it causes the development of the female sex organs—the breasts, uterus, fallopian tubes and vagina. This hormone is produced mainly by the ovaries but also by the adrenal glands and fat cells. Estrogen has bone-making qualities as well as an effect of connecting the ends of bones together. This is why women are shorter than men, because of the closing of bone plates. Estrogen makes the skin soft and smooth. Estrogen has a slight effect of sodium retention. When estrogen is increased excessively, a woman can accumulate surplus fat not only under the skin as cellulite but on the buttocks, the outer thighs and just below the bellybutton. This fat (potential energy) can then be used during pregnancy to help the survival of the infant.

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