The main reason to be concerned about your weight is that being obese or overweight facilitates diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease. In addition, weight loss leads to a happier you with a better self-image that improves your life so that you do not just live but flourish. The best diet is not a diet at all, but a healthy lifestyle.
Put simply, a healthy lifestyle means eating nutritional food like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish, nuts, low-fat dairy, red wine, and olive oil; and cutting way back on red meat and dairy products that contain unhealthy saturated fat. Then of course, one must exercise just about every day, doing a combination of aerobics, strength training, and stretching.
Research Says Eat Low-Density Food for Weight Loss
Experts have recently fine-tuned weight loss techniques based on research, and one approach includes a way to watch your weight and eat more food. Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., promotes low-density food that contains a lot of water and is high in fiber. Her plan (The Volumetrics Eating Plan) fills one up with fewer calories so you do not feel hungry. This nutritional science professor turned 10 years of research into a practical guide.
Research Reports Monounsaturated Fat Aids Weight Loss
Another research tactic advocates eating fat to lose weight around one’s middle. Belly fat, the visceral type that intertwines around internal organs, can be especially troublesome leading possibly to heart problems and diabetes. A small Spanish study, reported in the July 2007 issue of Diabetes Care, has determined that increasing consumption of monounsaturated fatty acids, found in avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, dark chocolate and olive oil, expedites loosing inches in the core area. (The Flat Belly Diet embodies this research.)
Research Focuses on Protein, Water and Alcohol for Weight Loss
As reported in the February 2003 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, researcher Donald Layman, nutrition professor at the University of Illinois, has found that increasing protein amounts at meals focuses on maintaining muscle mass while losing weight. Strong muscles are necessary to burn fat calories. Healthy protein is in fish, chicken, low-fat dairy, eggs, legumes, and tofu.
Michael Boschmann, MD, a German researcher, advocates drinking eight glasses of cold water per day especially before meals. He believes the body’s effort in heating and absorbing the water uses up calories, and drinking before meals makes one feel full.
Keep your alcohol usage in a moderate range to lower your odds of obesity, this according to an analysis of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Researchers from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center found that moderate drinkers, one or two drinks per day, were 54% and 41% less likely, respectively, to be obese than those who were heavy drinkers, defined as those who drank four or more drinks per day or were binge drinkers.
Research Suggests Getting Enough Sleep for Weight Loss
In the December 7, 2006 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, University of Chicago researchers reported, in a small study, that young adults who slept only four hours for two nights increased a hunger hormone called ghrelin and decreased a satiety hormone called leptin.
Furthermore, the hungry volunteers craved sugary, fatty food. For the past 45 years, the researchers have noted a correlation between lack of sleep and heavy people. Most experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep per night.
Weight Loss Tips: It is All About Balance
Besides common sense approaches to weight loss like healthy nutrition and exercise, weight loss research is finding that eating low-density food, ample protein, and monounsaturated fat (replacing saturated fat) can contribute to weight loss strategies. Getting a balanced amount of water, alcohol and sleep is also a weight loss course of action.
This article is for educational purposes only; confer with your heath care practitioner for medical advice.
Reference
Rolls, Barbara, Ph.D., and Barnett, Robert A. The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000.
Vaccariello, Liz and Sass, Cynthia. Flat Belly Diet. New York: Rodale Inc., 2008.
Arlene Lengyel - Arlene is a graduate of Clayton College of Natural Health with a Doctor of Naturopathy degree. Naturopathy promotes an all-inclusive, ...
