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Is Your Medicine Making You Fat?

An article written in the April 2008 issue of O Magazine, titled "Is Your Medicine Making You Fat?" addresses weight gain as a side effect to many medications as well as offers strategies to "fight back." The article notes that although currently fewer than 5 percent of Americans are overweight secondary to medication use, this is still a number to be concerned about. This is especially so in light of the fact that medications used to treat depression, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are culprits of this weight-gaining phenomenon. And, these diseases are on the rise, which means we can expect the percentage of patients suffering the side effects of these medications to increase as well. The article continues by proposing some strategies to monitor weight gain due to medications. First, they advise examining yourself closely and regularly with a five-pound weight gain gauge. Meaning, if you gain five pounds after starting a medication, then you should check in with your doctor. Second, they recommend switching any concerning medications whenever possible. Finally, if you cannot change to a different medication, they suggest counteracting the weight gain by eating 100-200 fewer calories a day as well as increasing your exercise.

Drug induced weight gain is a frequent and serious side effect of many commonly used medications. This list includes, but is not limited to, antidepressants, antipsychotics, steroids, diabetic drugs, cancer therapy, and blood pressure medications. The mechanisms for weight gain are poorly understood and can differ for each class of medication. They can be as varied as stimulating the appetite, slowing the metabolism, increasing fluid retention, and inducing fatigue. This unfortunate side effect can be dramatic with patients gaining significant amounts of weight in relatively short periods of time. Not only can this be psychologically damaging and lead to non-compliance with medication; but, it can lead to co-morbid health risks associated with obesity.

This article is important to remind us that most medications are not benign. On the contrary, they are often associated with many serious side effects. As a result, before choosing to begin a medication, I would ask myself and my physician a few pertinent questions. "Is it absolutely essential for my health-care and well being?" "What will happen if I do not take this medication?" "Does the medication do what it says it will do?" "What are the biases of the supporting studies…are they commercially funded by the drug company manufacturing the medication?" "What are the side effects of this medication?" "What benefit can I achieve and at what risk?" "What are my alternatives?" If after thoroughly addressing these questions and exhausting ALL other options, an informed decision is made to begin a medication, I would monitor my reaction to my medication closely. If weight gain was my primary concern, I would begin paying attention to how I feel in my clothes. I may also check my weight weekly (because our weight may fluctuate slightly from day to day, I would not recommend doing this daily). If I noticed that I was gaining weight (5 pounds would be a good indicator) and after exhaustive exploration had no other explanation (ex. I did not start eating 3 pints of ice cream every night), I would see my physician. Together we could re-evaluate my condition and if it was still decided that the benefit of medication out-weighed the risk, I would seek an alternate drug. If, in fact, you must remain on a particular medication then there are other options you may want to consider.

Although cutting calories and increasing exercise may work, for most of us that is a depressing and non-viable choice. This is especially so if our medications are causing us to feel hungry and tired all of the time. So what can be done? You can change the composition (rather than the quantity) of your food. The composition of the food in the standard American diet (SAD) is particularly savvy at causing weight gain. To make matters worse, it is sometimes difficult to tell which came first, the chicken or the egg? In other words, when people are sick they sometimes turn to rich foods in an effort to feel better. It is those rich American foods that cause weight gain in the first place. Couple the obesity-promoting standard American diet with medications that are often ineffective at curing disease, and you end up on a road littered with chronic illness to which new weight related problems have now been added. On the other hand, the benefits of a plant-based diet are irrefutable for the reversal of many common and chronic illnesses. These include heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, depression, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune diseases, and many many more!

Thus, altering your diet to include a mostly low fat whole plant based diet will serve several purposes. One, it will help bring you or keep you at your ideal weight. It is nearly impossible to gain weight on a natural whole plant based diet as recommended by Exsalus Health & Wellness Center. In fact, we challenge you to prove us wrong! Two, it will keep you satisfied so that your hunger drives are better controlled. On the Exsalus plan you can finally eat to your heart’s content. Furthermore, you can make delicious recipes that will keep your tastes buds happy without packing on the pounds. Three, the Exsalus program will actually improve your energy, rather than drain it, so you can remain active. Finally, these significant changes in nutrition and lifestyle will often result in the reversal of many of the chronic illnesses for which these pills were prescribed in the first place, ultimately leading to the elimination of many culprit medications. When you look at your choices here, this is an obvious "no-brainer!" There is absolutely no downfall to trying these nutrition and lifestyle changes, as the only side effects to "worry" about are weight loss, increased energy, and overall better health…so give this a chance! Most importantly, struggling with nutrition and lifestyle change in the past does not mean this is a futile option. If you have struggled in the past, let Exsalus Health & Wellness Center help you get to where you actually want to be, instead of just being satisfied with where you end up!

Review article from the April 2008 edition of O Magazine: "Is Your Medicine Making You Fat?" by Sara Reistad-Long.

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