http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/03/lose-the-visceral...
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/01/how-excess-fat-ti...
It's the fat.
I'm pretty sure the people proclaiming that all we need is a miracle drug to eliminate fat are the ones involved in wishful thinking.
Read the facts: http://higher-thought.net/complete-notes-to-good-calories-ba.... Being fat may have some health costs, but the primary impact is caused by the diet that made you fat. If you believe that simply removing the fat caused by an unhealthy diet will make you healthy again, now that is wishful thinking.
If you don't eat healthy, you won't be healthy, no matter how many pills you swallow and how much you exercise.
* Other than say breakfast cereal and snack soups, eat mainly or only food cooked at home,
* By implication, no fast food,
* Lean toward simple minimally processed ingredients,
* No soda,
* Buy smaller plates, US standard dinner plates are way too big,
* For any restaurant, only ever eat half the portion. Sack the rest and eat as leftovers later in the week,
* Where possible, avoid foods such as bread, ready meals, cereal, jams and jellies that contain HFCS,
As a further bonus, a diet like this cut our grocery bill for two down to around $300 / month. And we still get dessert!
I kept some desserts, but replaced all my snacks with cashews and other nuts (high fat/protein content, low carbs).
I've lost almost 20 pounds since then. It's damn effective.
I'm not a big guy, but I was getting kinda burly. I made one change, which was eating only half a Chipotle burrito bowl for lunch, instead of the whole thing. That ONE CHANGE dropped me 10 - 15 pounds.
No doubt about it, soda and processed food are poison. It not even like you have to go full-on zealot, just a trip back 20 years to eating meatloaf, nuts, vegetables, home-made bread.
I'm going to eat my vegetables, go to the gym, and pass on the weird shit.
Really, it just illustrates how ridiculous and poisoned the cultural environment has become surrounding fat, aging, and research that someone would knee-jerk the remark above.