Six Weight Loss Tips: What Your Doctor Probably Won’t Tell You

You hear a lot about weight loss. Low carbs, plant-based, Keto, and exercise! Here are some tips that often get overlooked in the discussion.

Go Green!

A whole food, fiber-rich, plant-based diet achieves greater weight loss compared with other dietary interventions that do not restrict calories or mandate exercise.¹)

When it goes to fat loss, calories are not all equal. Consider this exciting study. Dieters who adopted a low-calorie vegetarian diet lost weight more efficiently than did those on a conventional low-calorie diet. Additionally, the vegetarian participants also improved their metabolism by reducing muscle fat. Both groups in this study had reduced fat under the skin. However, compared to a standard low-calorie diet, the vegetarian participants experienced more reduction in the fat that lines the muscles and a considerable reduction of stored fat inside the muscles.² Losing muscle fat improves both glucose and lipid metabolism. This finding is particularly significant for people who have pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

In a study from New Zealand, researchers studied overweight participants randomized to receive either standard medical care or semiweekly classes offering advice and encouragement to eat a low-fat diet centered around fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes—empowerment with knowledge. Participants did not have meals provided. There was no significant change in body weight in the control group. Still, the plant-based group lost an average of 19  pounds by the end of the 3-month study despite freely eating all the healthy foods they wanted without restrictions on portion sizes.http://3

Although the study concluded at the end of three months, the researchers decided to check on their progress later. Get this! The plant-based group had left the 3-month study 19 pounds lighter, but at six months were down about 27 lbs. Plus, many of them were able to discontinue their medicine.

Cultivate a Regular Schedule

Your metabolism works better when it is in synch with your body clocks. Disturbed circadian rhythms may encourage obesity and discourage appropriate weight loss. Light and dark signals control these circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms help to influence compounds from your gut bacteria. These biorhythms affect your liver’s metabolism and how your body stores fat. ⁴ Friendly gut flora or bacteria increase production of energy from the food. In contrast, unfriendly gut bacteria cause subclinical inflammation seen in metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. ⁵ Upset body clocks also increase the risk for complications that result from obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Feed Your Friendly Gut Bacteria

A diet of processed foods reduces the biodiversity of beneficial bacteria populating the gut. While the excess calories consumed are a direct cause of the fat accumulation, low-grade inflammation due to an altered distribution of gut bacteria may also be involved. A low fiber diet fuels inflammation in the intestines, decreases gut health, and promotes weight gain. ⁶  Diet is not the only factor that determines gut health! A regular schedule, exercise, controlled meal frequency, and sufficient sleep are essential for optimal gut health!

Prebiotics come from complex, fiber-rich carbohydrates that take a long time to digest. They nourish friendly bacteria. Although prebiotics seem to have a neutral effect on body weight, they decrease fasting and postprandial glucose They improve insulin sensitivity, the cholesterol profile, and noticeably reduce certain markers for inflammation. Prebiotics demonstrate significant but small effects on body weight. Probiotics introduce new bacteria into the gut and have demonstrated significant but small effects on body weight. ⁷

Limit Intake of Fatty Foods

While we do need to eat good fats from nuts, seeds, and avocados, a high fat diet changes the circuitry of the brain in such a way as to render appetite control more difficult. Fatty foods, especially the unhealthy saturated fatty acids, cause inflammation in the brain regions responsible for eating behavior.⁸ Twenty minutes after a meal, gut microbes produce proteins that can suppress food intake in animals. Consuming a high-fat diet changes the shift of gut bacteria in such a way that it could reduce the brain’s ability to control eating. ⁹ Additionally, a high-fat diet upsets the body clocks involved in appetite regulation.¹⁰

Eating a sufficient amount of healthful fats increases satiety and provides essential fatty acids that our bodies do not make.

Eat Oatmeal or Cooked Whole Grains, Not Ready-To-Eat Cereals (RTECs)

A study, contrasting an oatmeal breakfast to RTECs, found that consuming the oatmeal breakfast resulted in a greater increase in perception of fullness and a greater decrease in perception of hunger and desire to eat in the 4-hour period after breakfast when compared to consuming the RTEC breakfast.¹⁴

Conclusion:

Proper diet and sufficient exercise are important to successful weight management or loss. However, if you have clicked on the links within the article, you will see it includes so much more!

1. Greger M. (2020). A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Is Effective for Weight Loss: The Evidence. American journal of lifestyle medicine.14(5) 500-510. http://https ://doi.org/10.1177/1559827620912400[↩]
2. Taylor & Francis. “Vegetarian diets almost twice as effective in reducing body weight, study finds.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 June 2017. http://<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170612094458.htm>[↩]
3. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170612094458.htm>[↩]
4. Argonne National Laboratory. “Gut microbes affect circadian rhythms and metabolism in mice.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 August 2015. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150803212713.htm[↩]
5. Barengolts E. Gut Microbiota, prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics in the management of obesity and prediabetes: Review of randomized controlled trials. Endocr Pract.2016 Oct; 22(10):1224-1234.[↩]
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8. Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior. “High fat diet changes gut microbe populations and brain’s ability to recognize fullness.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 July 2015. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150707212451.htm[↩]
9. Cell Press. “Gut microbes signal to the brain when they’re full.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 November 2015. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151124143330.htm[↩]
10. Northwestern University. “High-fat Diet Disrupts Body Clock.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November http://<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071106133111.htm>[↩]
11. Garaulet M, et al. FA. Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness. International Journal of Obesity. 2013; 37(4):604-11.[↩]
12. Garaulet M, et al. FA. Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness. International Journal of Obesity. 2013; 37(4):604-11.[↩]
13. Peeke, P. M., et al.  (2021). Effect of time restricted eating on body weight and fasting glucose in participants with obesity: results of a randomized, controlled, virtual clinical trial. Nutrition & diabetes, 11(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41387-021-00149-0 [↩]
14. Rebello CJ. Acute Effect of Oatmeal on Subjective Measures of Appetite and Satiety Compared to a Ready-to-Eat Breakfast Cereal: A Randomized Crossover Trial. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2013; 32 (4): 272[↩]