7 MOST COMMON CAUSE OF OBESITY ,NUMBER 3 IS VERY IMPORTANT.

1. Genetics


Obesity has a strong genetic component. Offsprings of
obese parents are much more likely to become obese than
offsprings of lean parents.
This is not to say that obesity is completely predetermined
because our genes aren't as set in stone as you may
think... the signals we send our genes can have a major
effect on which genes are expressed and which are not.
Non-industrialized societies rapidly become obese when
they start eating a typical Western diet. Their genes didn't
change, the environment and the signals they sent to their
genes changed.
It does seem clear that there are genetic components that
do affect our susceptibility to gain weight. Studies on
identical twins demonstrate this very well ( 1 ).



2. Engineered


"Hyperpalatable" Junk
Foods
Today, foods are often little more than refined ingredients
mixed in with a bunch of chemicals.
These products are engineered to be cheap, last long on
the shelf and taste so incredibly good that we just can't
get enough.
By making foods "hyperpalatable," the food manufacturers
ensure that we eat a lot and decide to buy and eat them
again and again.
Most processed foods today don't resemble food at all.
These are highly engineered products, with massive
budgets spent on making the foods taste so good that we
become "hooked."


3. Food Addiction

These highly engineered junk foods cause powerful
stimulation of the reward centers in our brains (2 , 3 ).
You know what else does that? Drugs of abuse like
alcohol, cocaine, nicotine and cannabis.
The fact is that junk foods can cause full-blown addiction
in susceptible individuals. People lose control over their
eating behavior, in the same way as alcoholics lose
control over their drinking behavior.
Addiction is a complex issue with a biological basis that
can be very difficult to overcome. When you become
addicted to something, you lose your freedom of choice
and the biochemistry in your brain starts calling the shots
for you.


4. Aggressive Marketing


(Especially Towards
Children)
The junk food companies are very aggressive marketers.
Their tactics can get unethical at times and they
constantly market very unhealthy products as if they are
health foods.
The food companies make misleading claims and they
spend massive amounts of money sponsoring scientists
and major health organizations to influence their research
and guidelines.
In my opinion, the junk food companies are even worse
than the tobacco companies ever were, because they
target their marketing specifically towards children.
Children are becoming obese, diabetic and addicted to
junk foods way before they're old enough to make
conscious decisions about these things.

5. Insulin


Insulin is a very important hormone that regulates energy
storage, among other things.
One of the functions of insulin is to tell fat cells to store
fat and to hold on to the fat that they already carry.
The Western diet causes insulin resistance in many
individuals ( 4 ). This elevates insulin levels all over the
body, making energy selectively get stored in the fat cells
instead of being available for use.
The best way to lower insulin is to cut back on
carbohydrates, which usually leads to an automatic
reduction in calorie intake and effortless weight loss. No
calorie counting or portion control required ( 5 , 6 ).


6. Certain Medications

There are many pharmaceutical drugs that can cause
weight gain as a side effect.
Examples include diabetes medication, antidepressants,
antipsychotics, etc.
These drugs don't cause a "willpower deficiency" - they
alter the function of the body and brain, making it
selectively store fat instead of burning it.

7. Leptin

Another hormone that is crucial in obesity is Leptin.
This hormone is produced by the fat cells and is supposed
to send signals to the hypothalamus (the part of our brain
that controls food intake) that we're full and need to stop
eating.
Obese people have lots of fat and lots of leptin. The
problem is that the leptin isn't working as it should,
because for some reason the brain becomes resistant to it
(7 ).
This is called leptin resistance and is believed to be a
leading factor in the pathogenesis of obesity.