wolfchild

Man-boobs is a result of too much estrogen in your body and lack of upper body exercise. Tracking calories will not solve the problem. You need to eliminate as much estrogen as you can and get serious about working out your body.

Roody

Where'd you get this information? Any kind of real scientific evidence? It doesn't sound like a real thing to me.

Roody

I ran across an article by Ed Cara in The Atlantic that reports weight loss may not make people happier, and even has adverse psychological outcomes for some people. It's a fairly long and dense article, but worth reading in full if you have an interest in the subject. Short conclusion from article:

I-Like-To-Bike

You might consider wide mouth Thermos or equivalent brand vacuum bottles for a variety of hot or cold meals prepared at home, and/or an insulated lunch box or small cooler with ice pack for cold foods.

lindyfd

I actually looked this up after I read Wolfchild's post. Some "moobs" are caused by a condition called gynecomastia which is linked to too much estrogen. But they can also be caused by fatty chest deposits. Hopefully I fall into the just plain fat category.

I found the info here:
Gynecomastia (enlarged breasts in men) Definition - Diseases and Conditions - Mayo Clinic

Roody

wolfchild said that man boobs are caused in part by "too much estrogen." He made it sound as if there's a way to get rid of excess estrogen. That's the part where I would need to see some evidence. How do you get rid of estrogen in th body?

Machka 

Menopause.

Roody

Mvcrash

My Dad tried to teach me " Son........Fat, dumb and happy is no way to go through life." I think he was wrong.

Roody

Well, he might have been wrong...

Diets do not work: The thin evidence that losing weight makes you healthier.

I-Like-To-Bike

Thanks Roody for citing a very interesting article.

Roody

You're welcome. The other article I cited made similar points and was maybe a little more balanced.

I don't think it's a good idea to make life changing decisions based on a couple articles. Most doctors and scientists still encourage obese patients to lose weight. But there are at least two sides to the issue. Anything dealing with the human body is very complex and contradictory. It will be many years before we have a full understanding of diet, weight, and exercise--if we ever do.

wolfchild

The older you get the more difficult it becomes to get rid of it. One of the ways to lessen the negative effects of estrogen in men would be to boost or try to increase your testosterone which is not easy to do, because the older you get the more testosterone you loose... Lifestyle and diet changes can help.

katsrevenge

I've read that what matters most is diet and level of activity. You can be plump (up to a point, anyways) and very healthy if you're active and eat sensibly.

Hmmm.... it's it the case that each of us has a certian balance of these hormones 'pre-set', so to speak? There is an actual medical disorder in women called PCOS that leads to an imbalance. The only way to fix it is to take pills. I'd think that the male variant would need pills as well, and I'm not including natural aging processes. Both genders lose sex hormones as they age; it's natural.

Then again, men can and do develop breast tissue. It's normal. Being heavier would make it more noticeable though.

I do know that monthly cycles in both genders account for mood swings. Some women even approach 'male' levels of testosterone during PMS. (I've always found this funny. Perhaps estrogen is the only thing keeping some men alive, heh.)

Roody

I think you're right that many hormonal changes are normal and related to age and gender. That's not to say modern medicine can't change it. I would be careful about fixing something that ain't technically broken!

I also think the whole "low T" thing is being debunked. And they used to say that soy raises estrogn levels, but AFAIK that's been debunked also.

Rowan

The author of the cited article is Harriet Brown, who is also author and promoter of a book she has written. She has an agenda -- to make money from her publication. Oh look see... an ad on the third page promoting her book. And just to make sure, she is not a medical specialist, but a teacher in public communications... an associate professor in journalism.

Just to make sure that everyone understands that she is no different to others who promote their points of view as someone who is not a specialist in the field that they are discussing.

The problem I see here is that articles like the one that has been cited actually give people a licence or permission to get fat and then obese, on the basis that it is good for them. The article said so!

I venture to say that from the excerpt I read elsewhere, that the information she has used is now out of date in the context of what is being presented consistently to doctors in the western world.

The effects of obesity are profound unless brought under control. Check out the C&A forum here as well as the 50+ forum to see testimonials from people who have successfully dieted, lost weight and are pursuing lives free of diabetes and heart issues.

Ekdog

5 shocking reasons why Americans are getting fatter - Salon.com

Roody

Your suggestion that anonymous strangers on a website are a better source of scientific information than respected science writers...this has got to be a joke! Please tell us you're kidding!

BigT3x

The absurd drivel that journalism professor is spewing is insane. Especially the crazy myth that fat people live longer. They do - until you control for people who are skinny because they have an underlying medical condition. Remove the chemotherapy patients (not a lot of fatties in that crowd) and you get back to reality.

Roody

What is your source?

Walter S

Look around at the real old people in your life. Are they fat? I doubt it.

Roody

According to a meta-analysis published in JAMA, overweight people have lower mortality rates compared to normal weight people. Mildly obese people have the same mortality rates. More severely obese people have higher mortality rates.IOW, it's good to be a little fat, but bad to be real fat.

Walter S

Looking only at how overweight people are dodges some of the real issues. There's overall health factors to consider. You can't say "pass the donuts" just because you're not fat. It takes being the right kind of fat for you to receive the benefit statistically, which is generally a benefit in terms of how well you survive trauma. Watch out for false hopes that apeal to your human laziness instinct.

Do fat people live longer?

mrtuttle04

At 6' 2" I topped out at 311 pounds. This morning I weighed in at 190.5. The difference was fundamentally changing the way I ate and taking up bike riding.

Walter S

Congratulations! I'm 5'6" 150. I topped out at 190. Those 40 pounds feel so good, absent. I feel so much more agile and strong. I love to eat and won't be hungry to be healthy. Bicycling is what makes things work for me too.