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We are getting fatter and fatter
Obesity is a national and global epidemic at a time when whole countries are still suffering poor diet, malnutrition and starvation. Many individuals are obsessed with their weight and looks in a Size 0 fashion-led world and the dieting industry is a proven way to help people lose pounds £££££literally.
Whilst their may be some mitigating genetic factors the cause is a lifestyle problem. Individuals eat too much and exercise too little. It is a simple matter of scientific fact that if calorific intake exceeds calorific expenditure then you put on weight.
The problem is exacerbated because many convenience and fast foods contain excessive amounts of fat, sugar and salt which means we literally ebcome addicted to them. And unfortunately they often contain little nutritional benefit or the individual just eats far too much for the sedentary lifestyle they live.
The rise in childhood obesity in particular is a major concern for the future as a generation will inevitably fall prey to weight-related health problems such as diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and cancer.
Basic weight loss tips
The most usual way to try and lose weight is to embark on a weight-loss diet. This can be a challenge as you exchange old habits for a new eating routine. As you shift your eating patterns, don’t let vital nutrients slip through the cracks. Cutting back doesn’t have to mean a nutritional nosedive. Remember to seek a doctor’s advice prior to kicking off your diet.
Don't skimp on fat
Many diets encourage decreasing fat consumption. By all means avoid saturated fat, but say yes—in moderation—to poly- and mono-unsaturated fats—the good guys. Fat helps with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. It’s also a concentrated source of energy, and the essential fatty acids in fat are vital for many important body functions. Reach for foods rich in omega-3—an essential polyunsaturated fat. Good sources are linseed and its oil; walnuts; oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna; and hemp oil.
Fill up on fibre
To curb hunger between meals, bulk up on high-fibre foods such as fruits, vegetables, pulses, and whole grains. Fibre gives you a feeling of fullness and slows digestion. When food moves slowly through the digestive system, blood-sugar levels remain on an even keel. To curb hunger between meals, bulk up on high-fibre foods, such as fruit.
Vitamins for vigour
Exercise goes hand in hand with dieting and will help you reach your weight-loss goals more quickly. Don’t fall prey to low energy levels due to your lower calorie intake. Pack your diet full of B vitamins, which assist in many bodily functions, from energy production to regulating metabolism to overseeing thyroid and adrenal function. Include the following B-vitamin foods in your diet: whole grains, beans, eggs, yoghurt, green leafy vegetables, almonds, avocados, poultry, broccoli, brewer’s yeast, organ meats (like liver), nuts, and fish.
Minerals for health
Recent studies have linked calcium intake to weight loss. Whether or not further studies bear this out, calcium remains a critical nutrient, especially for women. Calcium is vital to the formation and growth of the bones and teeth and helps to prevent osteoporosis, among its other roles. Get your calcium from green leafy vegetables, tofu, tinned salmon, and dairy products.
Lesser-known minerals are also hard at work keeping your body healthy and running at top speed. Trace mineral chromium assists in stabilizing blood-sugar levels and is found in brewer’s yeast, egg yolks, beef, hard cheeses, liver, and whole-grain breads. Zinc supports protein synthesis and is essential to the formation of insulin. Zinc sources include Brazil nuts, shellfish, eggs, and lean meats. Manganese helps regulate cholesterol metabolism and blood glucose and is found in wheat germ, spinach, split peas, nuts, and porridge.
6 Simple Ways to Lose Weight
Rise and dine
If you think skipping breakfast will help you shed a few pounds, think again. Not eating a morning meal can actually trick the body into thinking it is starving, which makes it hold on to fat or cause you to eat more during the day. To keep your metabolism up to speed and blood sugar levels steady, eat breakfast within 45 minutes of rising. The healthiest choices contain a balance of fat, protein, and carbs, such as porridge with a handful of nuts or a vegetable omelette. There is much truth in the Old Wive's Tale - breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper. Put simply, eat your biggest meals early to give them time to digest. And don't go to bed on a full stomach.
Combine carbs
If a carbohydrate wasn’t grown, picked, or harvested, don’t eat it. That means shunning refined breads, pastas, cakes, and pastries, and choosing good carbs like brown rice, sweet potatoes, or an apple. And while you’re at it, try to never eat a carbohydrate by itself. Simply adding a bit of good fat, such as olive oil or lean protein will slow digestion, steady blood sugar, and keep the body from storing fat.
Drink plenty
Even if all you did was start drinking more water you would likely lose weight. That’s because the body needs to be fully hydrated in order to maintain a healthy metabolism. Try drinking about 30 ml of water per kilo of body weight every day, and see the difference.
Eat more
If eating more often in order to lose weight sounds too good to be true, listen to this. Your body needs calories in order to burn fat. So, to turn your body into a fat-burning machine, eat small meals throughout the day. Ideally each mini-meal should consist of lean protein, good fats, and complex carbohydrates. For example, 4 ounces (113 grams) of chicken, 1 cup (150 grams) of brown rice, and a green salad.
Get pumped up
You’ve heard that muscle weighs more than fat, but did you know that muscle burns more calories? That’s right, building lean muscle through weight training causes the body to burn more calories throughout the day. When combined with regular aerobic exercise, weight training can help you lose more weight.
Be kind to yourself
You know what they say about all work and no play—well, that goes for weight loss too. Giving up all the foods you love can backfire and sabotage your efforts. Be sure to allow yourself a day each week when you indulge in conservative amounts of your favourite foods. Remember, a serving should be about the size of an average apple.
Natural aids to weight loss
There are several natural products with good clinical evidence to support their use in a weight control plan. As with any other dietary aid, these supplements will only be effective if used as part of a calorie controlled diet and in conjunction with a rigorous exercise programme.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
This is a slightly altered form of the essential fatty acid linoleic acid and is found mainly in dairy products and also in beef and poultry, eggs, and corn oil. Bacteria that live in the intestine of humans can produce CLA from linoleic acid, but supplementation of a rich source of linoleic acid did not produce increases in blood levels of CLA in one human study.
Research suggests that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) may help to reduce body fat and increase muscle. The research supporting CLA’s ability to help reduce body fat is good, but more is needed. There are at least seven human studies (two are double-blind and the others are controlled) showing significant reduction of abdominal obesity and body fat mass in overweight and moderately obese people. However, since most of the studies involved a small number of participants and were short in duration, larger double-blind studies are needed to further document the benefits and mechanisms of action.
Although CLA promotes weight loss, which is good for heart health, it is important to moniter cholesterol levels as it may reduce HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
A double-blind trial found that exercising individuals taking 1,800 mg per day of CLA lost more body fat after 12 weeks than a similar group taking a placebo. However, two other studies found that amounts of CLA from 0.7 to 3.0 grams per day did not affect body composition.3 4 Most double-blind trials have found that larger amounts of CLA, 3.4 to 4.2 grams per day, does reduce body fat;however, one double-blind study of experienced strength-training athletes reported no effect of 6 grams per day of CLA on body fat, muscle mass, or strength improvement.8
Are there any side effects or interactions?
Overweight volunteers who took 4.5 grams of CLA per day for one year had an increase in their blood levels of lipoprotein(a), a risk factor for heart disease. In a double-blind study of human volunteers, supplementation with 4.2 grams per day of a mixture of cis-9,trans-11 CLA and trans-10,cis-12 CLA for three months increased the concentration of C-reactive protein, another risk factor for heart disease. In a study of healthy volunteers, supplementing with 4.5 grams of CLA per day for 12 weeks caused an impairment of blood vessel function (endothelial dysfunction), which is believed to be associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Taken together, these findings suggest that long-term use of CLA could increase the risk of developing heart disease.
In a double-blind study of people with type 2 diabetes, supplementing with 3 grams of CLA per day for eight weeks significantly increased blood glucose levels by 6.3% and decreased insulin sensitivity.12 A reduction in insulin sensitivity was also seen in a study of overweight men without diabetes after treatment with 3 grams of CLA per day for three months. However, in another study of obese men and women, supplementation with 6 grams of CLA per day for 24 weeks had no significant effect on blood glucose levels or insulin sensitivity. Moreover, in a study of young sedentary men, 4 grams of CLA per day for eight weeks improved insulin sensitivity. Although the studies are conflicting, it would be prudent for people who have, or are at risk of developing, diabetes to monitor their blood sugar levels during long-term use of CLA. One unpublished human trial reported isolated cases of gastro-intestinal upset.16
At the time of writing, there were no well-known drug interactions with conjugated linoleic acid.
Phaseolamin 'Phase 2'
Phasolamin is a substance found in several food staples, such as wheat and the white kidney bean which is known to have anti - alpha amylase activity. The enzyme alpha-amylase is produced in the saliva and is responsible for the conversion of dietary starch into glucose; the glucose end-product of this digestive process can then be absorbed in the small intestine. In theory, the reduction in activity of this enzyme leads to less starch being converted into sugars during digestion, and a reduced intake of calories from starch.
The activity of Phaseolamin was first identified in the 1940s leading to its use in weight loss supplements. However, the early preparations contained little phaseolamin and little alpha-amylase activity, and did not produce significant weight loss. Recent technological advances have resulted in newer high quality preparations such as PharmaChem Laboratories 'Phase 2' preparation derived from the white kidney bean, which have produced promising results in preliminary clinical trials. In a pilot study of 11 volunteers, consuming 1.5g of Phase 2 led to a 66% reduction in starch absorption. A second 'full meal' study and consuming 0.75g led to a 28% reduction in starch absorption.
The expected effects of phaseolamin were confirmed in a placebo controlled pilot study, which found that overweight individuals consuming Phase 2 as part of their diet lost an average of half a pound per week, compared with the placebo group who lost 0.1lbs over four weeks.
For maximum benefit, phaseolamin should be consumed with starchy foods such as bread, pasta and potatoes.
The recommended consumption of phaseolamin is 1000mg. Ideally, phaseolamin should be taken at the beginning of a meal, although it can also be taken during a meal but the effectiveness will be reduced.
There are no known interactions with prescription medications, but as with all supplements, consult your health practitioner before starting any supplement or a weight loss diet. Taken at levels which are higher than the recommended doses, some mild wind/ flatulence can occur.
If taking a supplement which includes a digestive enzyme blend, check that enzymes other than amylase have been included. Inclusion of amylase will reduce the effectiveness of the supplement.
Zotrim
Zotrim is a unique and patented herbal formulation which has excellent evidence of efficacy for weight-loss and a known mode of action. Scientific and consumer studies provide the following evidence on Zotrim:
Effective at weight-loss (Study 1,3, 7)
Effective at maintaining weight lost over twelve month period (Study 2)
Effective at reducing waist measurement (Study 7)
Loss with Zotrim over four weeks compares favourably with longer-term weight management therapies (Study 7)
Slows the rate of gastric emptying, an important factor in eating control (Study 4)
Decreases the time to fullness and hence the amount eaten during meals (Study 3, 5)
Reduces the tendency to snack (Study 3, 6, 7)
Only OTC weight loss aid with demonstrated clinically and statistically significant evidence on weight loss (Additional evidence, 8)
Completed studies on Zotrim include:
1. Placebo-controlled study on weight-loss
The effect of the Zotrim herbal preparation on weight-loss over 45 days was investigated in a study undertaken with 47 overweight subjects aged 20 – 60. They were allocated either capsules of the Zotrim herbal preparation* or placebo capsules containing lactose and were instructed to take three capsules with a large glass of water before their main meals.
The subjects receiving the Zotrim herbal combination lost an average of 5.1 kilogram (11.3 pounds) compared with 0.3 kilogram (0.7 pounds) for those receiving placebo
(Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 14, 243-250 (2001))
2. Effect on weight maintenance
Keeping off weight lost is known to be difficult. A follow-on study was therefore undertaken to explore the success of the Zotrim herbal preparation in maintaining weight loss. Twenty-two of the twenty-four subjects who had taken Zotrim herbal preparation in the above study were provided with the preparation for a further twelve months. They were weighed monthly and instructed to take Zotrim as needed.
At the start of the period average weight was 73 kilogram (161 pounds) and at the end of the twelve month period it was 72.5 kilogram (160 pounds) (Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 14, 243-250 (2001))
3. Consumer study on weight loss and eating behaviour
Fifty UK adult consumers wishing to lose weight were provided with Zotrim tablets* and instructed to take two Zotrim tablets with a glass of water three times a day before their main meals. Questionnaires were completed after 7, 14 and 28 days.
Average weight-loss was 2.5 kilogram (5.5 pounds) in 28 days
Over half reported they had eaten less than usual at meals
Two thirds reported they had snacked less than usual between meals
(Nutrition & Food Science 34(1), 25-28, (2004))
4. Gastric emptying rate study
A gastric emptying study was undertaken since stomach fullness and gastric emptying rate are known to be closely connected to eating control mechanisms. This was investigated in seven previously fasted subjects in a placebo controlled study in which the subjects took three capsules of Zotrim herbal preparation or three placebo capsules of lactose with 20ml apple juice followed 15 minutes later by 400 ml apple juice. Gastric volume was assessed by ultrasound measurement every 10 minutes and the time to empty the stomach measured.
Average gastric emptying time was 58 minutes when subjects took Zotrim herbal preparation compared with 38 minutes when the same subjects took placebo
Investigator: Jan Fogh, Charlottenlund, Denmark
Presented: Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 14, 243-250 (2001)
5. Time to fullness study
The time to perceived gastric fullness was investigated with 20 subjects taking two capsules of Zotrim herbal preparation or two placebo capsules of lactose. Subjects were instructed to take capsules with a glass of water 10 – 15 minutes before meals. The subjects recorded time to perceived gastric fullness during each meal and the times for three daily meals were combined.
Average combined time to gastric fullness over three meals was 35 minutes when subjects took Zotrim herbal preparation compared with 61 minutes when they took placebo (3rd Health and Nutrition Conference, London, Nov 2002)
6. Effect of TV viewing and Zotrim on snacking
TV viewing has been identified as a factor which may influence eating behaviour and overweight. The effect of TV viewing and Zotrim on energy intake from snack foods was explored in eleven healthy adults. Subjects took either two Zotrim tablets or two placebo tablets with a drink in the morning and before lunch. Two hours after lunch the subjects were exposed either to a TV video or to blank screen with the option of reading/studying and had unlimited access to snack foods (crisps, chocolate, sweets and soft drink). Total energy intake during lunch and snacking was measured.
Energy intake was significantly higher when subjects watched TV compared to not viewing
Energy intake when watching TV was reduced when subjects took Zotrim compared to placebo
(3rd Health and Nutrition Conference, London, Nov 2002)
7. Effect of Zotrim on weight loss and reduction in waist circumference
In a consumer intervention 61 overweight females took Zotrim for 4 weeks. Hunger and eating patterns were monitored by questionnaire. Both weight loss and waist measurement were taken at start, two weeks and four weeks. Waist measurement was made since this is an independent determinant of chronic disease risk.
Average weight loss of 1.8kg (4 pounds) in four weeks
Average waist reduction of 4.3cm (almost 2 inches) in four weeks
Subjects felt less hungry between meals and fuller after meals
Changes with Zotrim over four weeks compared favourably with longer-term weight management therapies
(Nutrition and Food Science, 35, Issue No. 5, October 2005)
Additional evidence:
8. Review of key ingredients in over-the-counter weight loss aids
The study identified the key ingredients in weight-loss preparations sold in the UK and reviewed the data available in support of their efficacy.
Zotrim formulation identified as the only one with demonstrated clinically and statistically significant effect on weight loss
(British Food Journal, 107(2), April 2005)
For a complete analysis of the natural products on the market visit our Healthnotes link. |
