Age-Related Obesity - A Manifestation of Aging?

Age-Related Obesity - A Manifestation of Aging?

Research has proven that with age, appetite regulation in the body is disrupted and the processes of energy formation change. This can lead to obesity. This type of obesity is also called age-related obesity. We will talk about the mechanisms of development of age-related obesity on this page.

There is a very important structure in the brain - the hypothalamus. It is the hypothalamus that regulates appetite, and therefore weight. Because that is where the center of satiety and the center of hunger are located.

The activity of these centers depends on the level of sugar and insulin in the blood. If blood sugar becomes low, a person begins to feel hungry. The hunger center signals to his consciousness: it’s time to dine.

And the hungry man, obedient to the “call” of the stomach, directs his feet towards the dining room. During meals, the sugar content gradually reaches a certain level necessary to maintain the life support of all systems and organs. Then the saturation center immediately lets you know: “The load is full. You can stop eating.” A person reacts to a signal with a feeling of satiety. It is clear that the feeling of hunger that was present before the meal disappears, and the diner already looks at the world around him with great pleasure.

This is what happens for the time being. But from the age of 30, the satiety center begins to respond to higher blood sugar levels. Moreover, this trend is only increasing over the years. Imagine, the sugar content during meals has already exceeded the optimal level, and a person eats and eats. It seems to him that he is still hungry. But if there is a lot of sugar in the blood, then the amount of insulin increases. And then all the excess eaten is safely stored as fat.

But that is not all. With age, the sensitivity of these centers not only to sugar, but also to insulin is impaired. Normally, its excess in the blood, as well as excess sugar, is felt by a person as satiety, satiety with food, and a command to stop eating. With age, the picture changes: there is already more sugar in the blood than is required, and there is just enough insulin for this sugar, and the satiety center “sleeps” and does not sense problems. And the person continues to eat with appetite.

From this we can draw the following conclusion: people over thirty years old should not trust their appetite. It is better to leave the table with a slight feeling of hunger. Otherwise, age-related obesity is almost inevitable. By the way, age-related obesity is considered to be a weight exceeding the norm by 4 kilograms (normal weight is calculated as follows: the number 100 is subtracted from the height in centimeters).

Age-related obesity can be considered part of the natural aging process. By the way, even if weight does not increase with age, the percentage of body fat still increases. Likewise, the number of people with carbohydrate metabolism disorders of varying severity increases with age.