Tag: Weight Loss

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Intermittent Fasting Is Not All It’s Cracked Up To Be

The weight loss industry is worth $58 billion. The industry continues to push out new diets every year. Currently, people are jumping on another fad diet: intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is a scheduled eating plan. Dieters alternate between intervals of severe calorie reduction and periods of normal eating. Advocates of the diet claim people can lose weight quicker, reduce inflammation, and limit other heart disease risk factors.

Critics claim the dietary fad is dangerous. Many health professionals worry about the physiological and psychological effects of prolonged intermittent fasting programs, and some suggest there are short-term risks.

Who is right about the diet, and is there only one correct answer? Some people seem to do well in the program, and others seem to fail quickly. While commitment to an intermittent fasting program is challenging, is it worth it?

The Risks of Intermittent Fasting

The reality is researchers still don't have a lot of information about the pros of intermittent fasting. On the positive side, medical professionals are all too familiar with the risks of fasting, especially when it becomes a habit.

Sleep Disruptions

Fasting can cause sleep disruptions. Several studies show that fasting reduces REM sleep, meaning you wake feeling less rested. REM sleep is also responsible for memory, learning capacity, and mood improvements.

Poor sleep can affect concentration and leave you feeling more irritable. Also, insufficient sleep can cause problems with blood sugar. It can also lead to obesity and toxin buildup in your brain.

Loss of Awareness

Fasting can cause your body to enter starvation mode, depending on the duration of the fast. The diet can reduce energy levels to conserve calories if you stick to intermittent fasting. Depending on how deprived your body is, you may feel adverse symptoms, such as:

  • Dizziness
  • Fatigue
  • Lack of focus
  • Fainting

If you are experimenting with fasting and feel or experience any of the above symptoms, you should eat something. The above symptoms are your body's way of telling you it needs food.

Loss of Muscle

When listening to advertising for intermittent fasting and similar dietary fads or products, you will often hear claims about how fasting can break down fat reserves. Sure, everyone wants to lose those few extra pounds, but the advertisements don't tell you that fat is not the only thing your body breaks down.

The human burns a combination of fats and carbohydrates. However, fat stores and carbohydrates only last about six hours before your body looks for alternatives. If you fast too often or too long, your body begins converting lean tissue into carbohydrates. Lean tissue is muscle.

While you will lose weight and look leaner, burning muscle and fat, you will also look frailer. This is because losing too much lean tissue is not healthy.

Increase in Stress

Fasting for too long and too often increases the body's cortisol production. Medical professionals refer to cortisol as the stress hormone.

When cortisol builds up in the system, it can negate any good intermittent fasting might be doing. For example, high cortisol levels can increase fat storage. As a result, many people might experience some weight loss in the first few months of fasting, but it will not last. Also, the body will begin storing as many calories as possible to prevent starvation and prepare for other moments of fasting.

The additional cortisol can wreak havoc on your system. You will probably feel tired, angry, depressed, anti-social, etc.

Intermittent fasting isn't a good choice for weight loss. While some people may find temporary success with it, the success is often short-lived. It is better to talk to your doctor about healthier options.

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Possible Reasons the Weight Isn’t Coming Off Anymore

You’ve been steadily losing weight for the past few months when suddenly, the scale won’t budge by even half a pound. You cut back on a few calories and ramp up your exercise a bit to try to get back on track, but the scale still doesn’t move. In fact, it may go up a little! This type of scenario is all too common, and it’s enough to make even the sanest among us just a little bit crazy.

Though it may seem like a stroke of black magic, there’s usually a pretty reasonable explanation for why we stop losing weight. Once you realize the underlying cause, you’ll have a better idea of what you need to do to push past your frustrating plateaus. So without further ado, here are some possible reasons the weight isn’t coming off anymore.

You’re Not Eating the Right Foods

The old adage “calories in, calories out” is a bunch of malarky in my opinion. And it turns out many nutritionists agree with me. If you’re not eating very many calories, but what you do eat is devoid of the nutrients your body needs to thrive, your body is more likely to hold onto weight.

Instead of limiting yourself to 1200 calories of whey protein shakes, sweetened granola bars and processed foods, make sure your food choices are better for your body. You need plenty of nutrients from whole foods like whole grains (not white flour!), fresh vegetables and fruits, lean proteins and healthy fats.

The nice thing about switching to a whole foods way of eating is that you can get a lot more food for your allotted number of daily calories! Don’t believe me? Just hop online and see how many calories are in a slice of pizza versus a cup of broccoli. You may be shocked to discover just how well you can eat and how satisfied you can feel when you choose better sources of calories.

You’re Working Out Too Hard

I know, it can be tempting to step things up a notch when your weight loss slows down or stops altogether. But overtraining is counterproductive and can make things worse. It’s especially important to limit the cardio you do each day. Too much cardio can slowly eat away at your lean muscle mass, which will cause your metabolism to dip and you’ll lose fewer calories throughout the day.

To make sure you don’t run into this common problem, limit your cardio to a few days per week and make sure your sessions don’t go any longer than 60 minutes most days. You can still work out every day, but switch things up by adding strength training sessions. These will help build up your muscle mass so you boost your metabolism and burn more calories without even trying. That sounds like a win/win situation to me!

You Have Too Much Stress in Your Life

If you’re dealing with more stress than your body can handle, it will respond by pumping out a lot of cortisol. This stress hormone is an important one, but when it’s present at excessively high levels, it signals to your body that it should hold onto fat. High levels of cortisol are also associated with belly fat. So if you have a spare tire around your middle, it’s time to try meditation, yoga, or anything else that will help you manage your stress levels.

These are just a few of the most common reasons for weight loss plateaus. If you have stopped losing weight despite your best efforts, try addressing the above possible causes. Once you do, you’ll hopefully start to see the scale respond in a positive way once again.

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Why I Am a Fiber Enthusiast

There always seems to be some new discovery in the world of health and nutrition, doesn’t there? Every so often, we hear about a new and exotic ingredient that can solve all our healthcare woes and help us finally slim down and enjoy optimal health. But what if the most effective solutions aren’t new at all?

I assert that fiber is one of the familiar ingredients we’ve highly underestimated in our society. While we’ve been searching for the newest and greatest health-promoting ingredients, fiber has been waiting around and hoping we’d slow down and notice its incredible health qualities. Unfortunately, 95% of Americans don’t get enough fiber in our daily diets. In fact, few of us come close to the recommended 20-30 grams of fiber we should be eating every day.

If you don’t know what fiber can do for your health and weight goals, you’re in for a surprise! Here are a few of the top reasons why I am now a fiber enthusiast.

Fiber Helps Maintain a Healthy Weight

Who doesn’t want to have an easier time maintaining a healthy weight? The battle of the bulge is a challenging one for many of us, which is why we should try to consume the recommended amount of fiber every day.

Foods that are high in fiber tend to fill us up more effectively than foods with little to no fiber. So if your current diet leaves you feeling famished all day long, the secret may be as simple as eating more fiber! High-fiber foods also tend to have fewer calories than the same volume of low-fiber foods.

Fiber Helps Lower Cholesterol Levels

It’s no secret that keeping your cholesterol within a healthy range can be challenging as you grow older But fiber can help. Studies reveal that foods high in soluble fiber (such as flaxseed, beans and oats), may lower “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein) and total blood cholesterol levels. It may even help reduce inflammation and blood pressure while it’s at it!

Fiber Normalizes Bowel Movements

Nobody likes to talk about their bowel habits, but if you struggle to stay regular, it’s time to eat more fiber! Dietary fiber softens the stool and increases its weight and size so it passes more easily. Eating sufficient fiber can also help you out if you tend to get diarrhea often because it absorbs the excess water.

Fiber Helps Control Blood Sugar

If you’re diabetic or pre-diabetic, eating high-fiber foods can slow down your body’s absorption of sugar and help control your blood sugar levels. If you don’t have diabetes, eating a healthy diet that includes sufficient insoluble fiber may help prevent you from developing the disease in the first place!

Fiber May Prevent Certain Diseases

We are all destined to die sometime, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight for greater longevity. Consuming dietary fiber (especially cereal fiber) is associated with a reduced risk of death from certain diseases (such as cancer and cardiovascular disease).

How Much Fiber You Should Take

Here are daily fiber intake recommendations for adults (as provided by The Institute of Medicine):

  • Men (ages 50 or younger): 38 grams/day
  • Men (Ages 51 and older): 30 grams/day
  • Women (Ages 50 or younger): 25 grams/day
  • Women (ages 51 or older): 21 grams/day

You can determine how much fiber you’re getting each day by looking at food labels and looking up the nutrition information of foods that aren’t prepackaged (such as produce).

Good Sources of Fiber

There are a lot of delicious sources of fiber you can turn to if you need to increase your intake. They include:

  • Nuts and seeds
  • Whole-grain products
  • Vegetables
  • Fruits
  • Peas, beans and other legumes

It’s best to get your fiber from whole foods whenever possible. If you’re ready to start experiencing the many health benefits fiber can offer, start digging in to healthy, fiber-rich foods today!

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EBMT: Advances in Weight Loss Procedures

Obesity is an epidemic, and it is one with few options — medication, lifestyle modifications, and bariatric surgery — until recently. For many patients, lifestyle alterations and drugs are not enough for lasting change. While bariatric options are capable solutions, most patients struggle to meet surgical requirements, and even if they do, they opt out of surgery because of fear and anxiety.

Thankfully, because of recent medical advancements, overweight patients have options outside of lifestyle interventions and invasive surgeries. Endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies provide a necessary median between dietary changes and surgical options.

EBMT procedures present fewer risks than traditional bariatric surgeries and are outpatient procedures. The process involves the insertion of a small, flexible scope through the patient's mouth and requires reducing their stomach volume and possible alterations to the digestive tract. The reduced risks and minimal invasiveness mean an entirely new patient pool can receive treatment for obesity and other metabolic diseases.

The Rise of Noninvasive Procedures and Customization

While not a widespread practice at the moment, EBMT procedures are growing in popularity. One of the few institutions currently providing various EBMT services in the Midwest is the University of Michigan's Michigan Medicine program.

According to the program's head, it is a multidisciplinary approach to treatment, using nutritionists, gastrointestinal psychologists, medical bariatrician, and bariatric surgeons. Each medical professional plays a role in developing a personalized plan for each patient, integrating their personal goals and expectations.

The Michigan Medicine program and others like it aim to provide noninvasive options for patients in need and customized solutions to improve the odds of a successful outcome. Unfortunately, because the methods are still new, many insurance providers do not cover EBMT procedures, meaning patients should consider the costs and work with a financial counselor to review options.

Types of EBMT Procedures

There are three popular options for EBMT procedures: intragastric balloon therapy, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, and aspiration therapy. Intragastric balloon therapy is for patients with a BMI of 30 to 40. During the procedure, a bariatric surgeon endoscopically inserts fluid or gas-filled balloons through the patient's mouth and into their stomach during a 30-minute procedure. The balloons decrease the available space in the stomach, limiting food consumption. This procedure is reversible, and balloons require removal after six months.

An endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is intended for patients with a BMI of more than 30. While it is compared to the traditional surgical sleeve gastrectomy, this procedure is minimally invasive and incisionless with a low complication rate. It is an excellent option for nonsurgical candidates and provides the possibility of sustained weight loss.

Finally, aspiration therapy is for those patients with a BMI of 35 to 55 and involves the placement of a tube device and drain. A surgeon places the device through a small incision endoscopically into the stomach, leaving a port valve outside the body. The patient will aspirate or open the drain up to three times per day, 30 minutes after each meal. The valve allows up to 30% of a meal to evacuate the system over 10 minutes. The evacuated contents can be discarded.

Aspiration therapy requires medical monitoring, but it can provide an option for long-term weight loss. Patients will need to maintain hygiene and cleanliness practices to reduce the risk of infection or other issues.

Despite the continued obesity epidemic, medical procedures constantly evolve to help combat the problem and offer a solution to qualified candidates. Have you heard of any other new treatments or procedures for weight loss or management?