8 valid ‘arrive excuses’

‘I have too many fat cells’

The chance of being overweight is influenced by your amount of fat cells. It is determined at a young age. Swedish research shows that under the influence of your eating behavior you continue to produce fat cells until your 20s. If you eat a lot and unhealthy as a child (high-fat snacks, soft drinks, refined sugar), you will end up with too many fat cells for the rest of your life and will become fat more easily.

When they die, they are replaced by new ones, but the number remains more or less constant. If you eat a lot, the fat cells swell. When you start dieting, they shrink. These cells want to be well filled, so they retain as much fat as possible. Dieting is more difficult if you have a lot of fat cells: you cannot reduce the number. Also a stomach reduction has no effect on that number.

‘I make too much hunger hormone’

When you are hungry, the gut produces ghrelin. This hormone activates the pleasure center in the brain: Eating something not only fills you up, but also creates pleasurable feelings. That is why such a hunger stimulus is difficult to ignore. The same pleasure center also explains the impact of addictive products.

You therefore do not only eat to stock up on building blocks, but also to achieve a satisfied feeling. Research shows that people who get too little sleep produce more ghrelin than people who get a healthy night’s sleep.

‘The packaging has gotten bigger’

Packaging and portions have indeed become larger in the Netherlands, according to research by the VU Amsterdam. Moreover, people want as much value for their money as possible. The unit price for large packages is lower than the unit price for small portions.

Research also shows that people eat more when they use larger packages, whether they like it or not. You will eat more than a little bit from a family bag of chips. A king-size menu in a fast food restaurant not only offers more value for money, but also more unhealthy ones calories. It’s hard to ignore the financial ‘benefit’.

‘My thyroid is not working optimally’

It is a frequently heard reason and it is increasingly substantiated. If the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones (hypothyroidism), burn the calories less quickly. For many people, a less active thyroid leads to weight gain, among other things: whatever you do, the pounds keep on coming. Other symptoms include fatigue, coldness, hair loss, depression and difficulty concentrating.

Do you suffer from this? Then go to the doctor. American scientists recently determined that thyroid levels in the blood can fall within normal limits, but people can still have the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

‘I am married’

Married people have fewer headaches, less back pain and less stress than unmarried people. They smoke less, drink less and exercise more. But they are also slightly thicker, both men and women. Eating together ensures healthier meals at regular intervals. People who live alone are more likely to skip a meal.

‘I sleep too little’

Children who sleep two hours less than average are twice as likely to be overweight as children with a normal sleeping pattern. Sleep deprivation also plays a role in adults. Little sleep is an indirect fatter: Shorter nights are accompanied by longer days and therefore more time to eat. We therefore have more appetite for fat. And who is tired, has less sense to exercise or sports and burns fewer calories that day.

‘My workload is too high’

There is a link between chronic stress and overweight. We tend to eat more and less healthily when we are under pressure. That has been scientifically proven. In times of stress, our body produces neuropeptide Y, a molecule that reacts with receptors on the fat cells.

Animal studies have shown that stressed mice produce more neuropeptide Y and gain more weight than mice that are not under stress. It is suspected that this neuropeptide influences the absorption capacity of fat cells. When the Y receptors on the fat cells are blocked in mice, they fall off visibly. Research in humans opens up perspectives in the case of stress-related overweight.

‘My gut flora is just too efficient’

The intestines are populated by bacteria: the intestinal flora. Bacteria play an important role in digestion. Recent research shows that there are different types of intestinal flora, such as different blood groups. Currently, three distinct intestinal flora types have been distinguished, depending on the predominant bacterial species. A relationship was found between the body mass index (BMI) and the bacteria in the gut. This is because some tribes extract energy from food more efficiently than others.

The presence of certain bacteria in the gut is therefore related to whether or not you are overweight. So you can be unlucky to have such an efficient intestinal flora that no calorie is lost. Further research is currently being carried out on how bacteria promote or inhibit the absorption of energy.