The Tomato Effect
In the “Dark Age”, the popular belief was that the world was flat. There was even a well known woodcut sketch of a man with his head peering through the boundary of a flat earth into the atmosphere to see how the earth was made. Mythology was circulating at that time that Christopher Columbus’s sailors were afraid to venture out because they thought that they would fall off the edge of the world. This was all proven to be false as explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan and Francis Drake circled the earth and came back with stories of other cultures. However the belief that the earth was flat prevailed into the 19th and 20th centuries even after evidence had been presented that proved the opposite.
Just as a good portion of society believed they would fall off the edge of the earth, many people today have bought into their own version of a “tomato effect” with weight loss. The tomato effect is a term used to describe highly successful remedies that are rejected because they do not make sense in light of popular belief. Tomatoes belong to the Solanaceae family which also includes the deadly nightshade, whose berries contain a sweet juicy poison. Although the Spaniards and Italians had been consuming tomatoes for years and had even created recipes for tomato sauce, Europeans wear still fearful of the tomato. There is even mention of the tomatoes’ pleasant taste in the notebooks of Thomas Jefferson.
The popular belief today is that you can lose all the weight you want without exercise. In fact some people will even go as far as to say that they can lose weight and eat whatever they so desire. Despite numerous reports and years of evidence supporting the principle that effective weight loss comes through proper diet and exercise, people still carry these beliefs.
Numerous experts such as Jack Lalane have shown and proven by personal experience that exercise alone is not enough. And just like those who lived during the Dark Ages wanted to peer through the boundaries of the earth, millions of the untrained public today has considered the idea of weight loss without exercise as thought they were peering through the boundaries of the human body. There have been several commercials and infomercials advertising noticeable weight loss while asleep. You can even drink your weight off in one weekend the “Miami” way or if Miami is not your cup of tea then there is always the “Hollywood Diet”.
Whatever the case may be, when it comes to weight Americans are king of the hill. We are not only the riches country in the world with an abundance of resources, but we are also the heaviest country in the world with an abundance of fat. We have tons of information on weight control and management with studies performed by well known institutions such as the Cooper Institute and The Duke University Diet and Fitness Center. Researchers have even shown that the best and most effective way to boost your metabolism is by exercise. However with famous weathermen and actors resorting to stomach stapling and the like, the majority of the obese still tend to want a “quick fix” to shed the extra pounds. Therein lies the misunderstanding about weight gain and loss. When these individuals regain the weight or someone famous dies from using drugs like Ephedrine then people start to take notice.
Research has proven that fatty foods lead to increased cholesterol and high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease. While a regular routine of aerobic exercise and a diet low in saturated fats can lead to an increased metabolism, decreased cholesterol and lower blood pressure.
People have already been educated on the fact that a good weight loss program includes healthy diet modifications and a routine exercise plan that allows you to safely lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. The benefits of practicing safe weight loss with diet and exercise instead of depending on pills or surgery are not only limited to becoming healthier and more fit but also gaining an increased awareness of how the body responds to proper treatment and care with positive lifestyle changes.