Ask Dr. Mike: Are Nutritional Deficiencies to Blame for Being Overweight?

Here you'll find the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions posed by Healthy Talk fans.

Listen in because what you know helps ensure healthy choices you can live with. Today on Healthy Talk, you wanted to know:

Are nutritional deficiencies to blame for being overweight?

When you lack proper nutrition, your body may be showing you signs that you have a nutritional deficiency. These signs can be a number of things like brittle nails, bleeding gums, painful joints, hair loss, acne, dry skin, and many others. What about weight gain?

A study from a children's hospital in Oakland, California conducted three eight-week trials involving the twice daily intake of nutrient bars for two months for 43 lean and overweight/obese adolescents. What researchers found was in the overweight/obese participants, there was a reduction in weight, weight circumference, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, triglycerides, insulin resistance, C-Reactive Protein, and inflammation.

Nutrition is extremely important; in fact, it's listed as one of the nine pillars of successful weight loss Dr. Mike wrote about. The rest of the pillars are:

  1. Restore insulin sensitivity
  2. Restore youthful hormone balance
  3. Control rate of carbohydrate absorption
  4. Increase physical activity
  5. Restore brain serotonin
  6. Restore resting energy expenditure rate
  7. Restore healthy adipocyte signaling
  8. Inhibit the lipase enzyme
  9. Eat to live a long and healthy life

If you have a health question or concern, Dr. Mike encourages you to write him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call in, toll-free, to the LIVE radio show (1.844.305.7800) so he can provide you with support and helpful advice.