What is a LED Tube Light?

To me, there is an 800-pound gorilla looming in the background of "The Weight of the Nation," the four-part documentary that began on Monday and concludes Tuesday on HBO. It's a menacing presence that may be hard to spot among so many 300-, 400- and 500-pound Americans on screen, but I know it's there because not so long ago I was obese.

The unseen presence, I believe, is the role that insulin plays in storing body fat. In my case, tackling that beast led to dramatic weight loss and greatly improved health and fitness.

I started learning about the relationship between insulin and fat nearly three years ago when a loved one was diagnosed with a tumor on the pituitary gland that could cause Cushing syndrome, which is characterized by a rapid progression to obesity. When our family first got this diagnosis I frantically researched the condition and learned that this tumor can start a series of responses in the body’s endocrine system resulting in high levels of insulin, which causes excess fat storage.

Whenever insulin levels in the blood rise, the body stores fat. In most people insulin rises after a meal, and rises higher after meals with a high carbohydrate content, especially simple carbs like sugar, pasta or white flour.

There is debate among scientists, researchers, physicians, nutritionists and other diet experts over just what causes obesity. One side argues it's a simple matter of energy balance: "calories in vs. calories out." The claim is that the first law of thermodynamics requires that any calories that enter the system must either be metabolized, expelled or stored, and the obesity epidemic is the result of excess calories and too little exercise.

The other side — proponents of low-carb diets — argues that carbohydrates in the diet cause the blood sugar to rise, leading to fat storage. People eat more and exercise less because they are storing excess fat, not the other way around. The carb/glucose/insulin side says that if you drastically reduce dietary carb intake, then blood sugar and insulin levels stay low and the body will metabolize fat for fuel — including stored fat — leading to weight loss.

About a year after we got tumor diagnosis (we were very fortunate an observant doctor caught the subtle signs of the tumor, a prolactinoma, early)  I was told by my own doctor at a checkup that my blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides were good, but moving in the wrong direction. My health would soon be at risk, he said.

Armed with my new understanding of the role of blood sugar and insulin in fat storage I researched a number of diets and chose the Atkins plan, as it was the one that cut carbs the most and kept insulin levels down.

As a skeptic, and an advocate of science-based medicine and evidence-based diet, I felt like I was taking a leap of faith. Although there are numerous studies showing the effectiveness of Atkins compared with other diets, there is an enormous backlash against low-carb diets in the medical and nutritional communities.

"The Weight of the Nation" doesn't just take the "calories in/calories out" side of the debate, it proceeds as if there is no debate at all.

It does well enough in documenting the breadth and scope of the obesity epidemic. And, as an experienced carb-counter, I saw that nearly every bite of the food they blamed for obesity was high-carb: the very foods that cause insulin levels to rise and lead to increased fat storage.

The Federal government has been regulating electrical products almost since electricity was invented. And, for decades, it has set energy efficiency standards for a variety of products -- from cars to air conditioners to refrigerators.

All of this is good for consumers. Collectively we save billions of dollars every year because the federal government has pushed GM to make cars that go further on a tank of gas and Carrier to make AC units that cool our homes for less money. As much as laissez-faire theorists tout the ability of markets to solve all problems, too many of us in the real world are too lazy to utilize "perfect information" when choosing consumer products. We don't stand at Home Depot with a calculator figuring out which washing machine is going to save us the most money over a five-year period. And even when we do the math, we often opt to pay a little less now then pay a lot less over an extended period.

In other words, we make dumb choices. I certainly do as a consumer. That's why many of us appreciate it when someone -- like, say, the government -- narrows down our options so we make better choices that will save us a bunch of money.

Regulating for efficiency has alway been controversial, but there were always plenty of Republicans who got that it made sense. George W. Bush may have disliked regulation, like other conservatives, but he didn't have a problem signing bipartisan legislation in 2007 that called for phasing in new higher efficiency standards for lightbulbs. After all, companies like GE were already at work on better lightbulbs and it was estimated that speeding up their adaptation could mean big savings in a country with four billion light sockets -- more than $12 billion a year.

Well, that was then. As the Republican Party has moved further and further to the right, all sorts of formerly mundane government functions are now being depicted as sinister plots against the common man.

Conservative groups and tea party favorites in the House, including GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, have accused the government of a heavy-handed attempt to ban incandescent bulbs and limit consumer freedom.

“This wasn’t a light bulb manufacturer to me; this was an issue of the fundamental freedom of the American people and one more area where the federal government was encroaching in a place where it didn’t belong,” said Texas Rep. Michael Burgess, who has backed multiple efforts to block the standards.

This campaign, like so many others from the right, pivoted on a distortion of the facts, with the lightbulb liberty crowd saying that the Feds were going to ban the beloved incandescent lightbulb, forcing all of us to live under the socialistic glare of fluorescent lighting. In fact, the law mandates no such thing. Incandescent bulbs are fine, as long as they meet the new standards -- and plenty of such bulbs already do, which you can learn by walking into any department store.

GE Lighting, an industry leader in major lighting solutions for commercial, industrial and residential use, highlighted its regional partnerships with leading public and private sector entities in the Middle East region to promote energy sustainability through innovative lighting solutions at the annual Arab Future Cities Summit 2012, in Doha.

The company also unveiled its new range of advanced LED lighting products that contribute to sustainable development in the Middle East.

Among the new lighting solutions unveiled by GE at the Summit are the new-generation LED Area Lighter, which is ideal for parking, pedestrian and general area lighting; LED Road R250 assuring maximum LED performance for street and highway illumination; Iberia LED, focused on improved visuals; and a range of white light solutions that enhance motorist visibility and are environmentally more sustainable.

George Bou Mitri, General Manager, Middle East, Africa and Turkey, who also addressed the Summit, said: "The Arab Future Cities Summit enables policymakers to set the developmental agenda for future city development. For the cities of the future, energy sustainability will be a key challenge - to be addressed effectively across all platforms, including lighting of homes, commercial entities, roadways and streets. To help meet the increased demand for power in the region, GE Lighting is introducing innovative solutions that contribute to higher energy efficiency."

He added: "Our newest products have the potential to contribute to up to 50% in energy cost savings, and choosing the Summit to introduce these products highlights our commitment to the region, where we have a strong history of operations. We are committed to partnering with the sustainable development plans of the region, offering safer, healthier and more energy efficient lighting solutions."

The upgraded LED Area Lighter luminaire for exterior applications offers immediate energy savings on installation and a better respect for the environment. It is suitable for a wide range of lighting applications such as parking areas, pedestrian zones or general illumination. It provides excellent vertical lighting distribution, which delivers the required amount of light needed for each application, thereby reducing light nuisances and improving safety and security, whilst curbing drastically energy consumption.

The new generation of LED Road ERS luminaires is combining the experience of GE Lighting in street and highway illumination with the design and performance capability of a reliable and robust LED system. Its advanced optical system improves the uniformity of both vertical and horizontal light, enabling better quality and control of public lighting. The design of the luminaire, together with the advanced LED optical system, increases both horizontal and vertical uniformity of light, reduces glare and provides a more effective illumination of urban and road areas by reducing dark zones.

GE Lighting's Iberia LED outdoor lighting solution is a decorative luminaire designed specifically to provide high performance and energy efficiency lighting. Suitable for all amenity lighting applications, Iberia offers up to 90W with symmetrical and asymmetrical distribution and is the ideal choice for lighting pedestrian and street areas. Considerable energy savings are achieved due to its advanced no-shielding design, which achieves lower light trespass while delivering light precisely where it is needed.