Dieting: How can we diet successfully Friday, April 19, 2024

n our strives to be healthy, most of us are dieting. Yet, the conventional dieting approaches make our health worse, not better. Also, the conventional dieting approaches do not work. Have you noticed that most of the participants in The Biggest Loser TV reality Show gain their weight back. Why is that? While most of us are overweight, what can we do to become healthier? Obesity is a major health problem in the Western world. Not only is obesity embarrassing and demoralizing, it is unhealthy. Excess weight is accompanied by inflammation, oxidative stress , metabolic disorders, a path towards insulin resistance and chronic disease. It is life shortening. Conventional weight loss approaches include reducing caloric intake, GLP 1 agonists, and bariatric surgery. While these conventional weight loss strategies may have short term success, most times, the weight returns after the dieting stops. These conventional weight loss methods impair health and shorten lifespan. They result in muscle loss and a preferential loss of subcutaneous fat over the more harmful visceral fat (fat surrounding organs). Typically 25 % of weight loss in these conventional weight loss approaches is from loss of muscle mass. The muscle mass is necessary to keep our metabolic rate and the ability to burn calories at a good rate. The remaining visceral fat adversely affects triglyceride levels, HDL and small LDL levels, fasting glucose and insulin levels, blood pressure, c reactive protein and uric acid levels. The weight typically regained after the use of GLP 1 agonists and is nearly all fat, not muscle. Hence, our preoccupation with caloric restriction, GLP 1 agonists, and bariatric surgery we are not losing the harmful visceral fat and the weight returns with our muscle mass lessened. When visceral fat loss is targeted, glucose regulation, insulin resistance, and inflammation all improve. Lean muscle mass is preserved, there is faster weight loss and no weight regain. In order target harmful visceral fat loss, Dr. Davis recommends not cutting calories, reduce food that trigger blood glucose and inulin increases. He recommends addressing nutrient that influence insulin resistance. – magnesium, vitamin D, iodine/ thyroid and omega 3s. He recommends lactobacillus reuteri and high collagen peptides, hyaluronic acid, carotenoids especially astaxanthin. However there are some factors, lost in modern people that gives some control over weight and body composition. These include probiotics, collagen, hyaluronic acid and carotenoids.