OBESITY TREATMENT THROUGH THE LENS OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Abstract

Obesity is characterized with increased body fat compared to lean body mass and is a chronic disease caused by excess energy from the energy consumed by the body's nutrients. Obesity is a growing health problem of today's world. The prevalence of obesity has almost doubled between 1980 and 2008 in worldwide research, and according to this finding; almost more than half a billion adults were obese in the worldwide. The main factor that causes obesity is that the amount of energy entering the body is more than the amount of energy consumed. Much of this extra energy comes from increased carbohydrate and fat consumption. In recent years, the incidence of obesity has increased due to increased consumption of carbohydrates, fat-rich foods and carbonated beverages. The area and distribution of fat in the body is associated with the morbidity and mortality of the diseases.  In the treatment It is aimed that to reduce energy intake below the energy consumption at obesity treatment. Because of this, one of the treatment method is taking additional nutrients that we can count under the Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM). Especially in China, it is used extensively among alternative therapists. A lot of different studies were carried out related to obesity and treatment possibilities using with CAM methods in the world, and a lot of different results were obtained from these studies. Since CAM methods much cheaper than other methods, everyday prefers by the people increasingly. But the possible negative effect of these CAM methods should be explained to the public widely and the people to be warned