How To Speed Up Weight Loss

By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Medicine

I hate trying on swimsuits. So do most of the women I know. After all, nothing magnifies physical flaws, especially excess weight, quite like donning a suit and looking at your reflection in a three-way mirror.

So this year, I thought I’d simply avoid the whole seasonal ritual by shopping the catalogs. But the pages were filled with slim, long-legged 20-something models . . . who was I kidding?

And that’s the rub. We live in a society that’s so obsessed with being thin that most of us lose sight of the most important reason to lose weight – our health.

What’s really strange is that, for a nation so focused on being thin, more than three in five Americans are overweight, and nearly one in three is obese. In fact, these new statistics point to a growing obesity epidemic that has a direct correlation to the rise in Type II diabetes and heart disease. But that’s not all. Obesity can also lead to a higher risk of developing gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and some cancers.

Dishing the Diets

But losing weight has never been easy – and it’s been made even harder because of the sheer number of diets available. It seems like every other week the media touts the mixed messages these diets espouse: carbs are good, carbs are bad; fat makes you fat, but there are some fats your body needs; you won’t lose weight unless you combine foods properly; blah, blah, blah. It’s enough to make you crazy.

Most of us have figured out by now that quick-fix diets like The Grapefruit Diet and The Cabbage Soup Diet don’t work. Sure, they’re great for losing a fast five pounds (which is mostly water weight anyway), but these diets are so low in calories and so out of whack nutritionally that it’s impossible to stay on them for more than a few days.

Most of the nutritional experts I’ve talked to agree that there are two keys to permanent weight loss. First you need to change the way you look at food. Second, find a diet you can live with for the rest of your life. It sounds simple enough, but there’s a major difference of opinion among “lifestyle” diet gurus on just how you should do this.

By far, the most popular lifestyle diet is the Atkins diet. Based on the principal that if you remove carbohydrates the body will burn fat, this high protein/low carb diet has become the trendiest – and most controversial – weight loss plan on the planet.

One of the main draws is that the Atkins diet takes off weight quickly. The other perk is that, during the first two weeks (typically the toughest phase for dieters), you’re told to eat foods most diets consider “forbidden” – steak, cheese, butter and bacon. The catch is that you aren’t allowed to eat bread, potatoes, rice or pasta. Fruit, juice, milk or beverages containing sugar, all of which are high in carbohydrates, are also strictly forbidden.

After this two-week "induction" phase, dieters gradually begin adding carbohydrates in 5-gram increments until they reach a point where they stop losing weight; by identifying that carbohydrate level and staying below it, they’ll eventually reach their weight goal.

Fat Chance

But is the road to healthy weight loss really paved with filet mignon and butter-drenched lobster? Over the years, critics have charged that the Atkins diet carries the risk of dehydration, electrolyte loss, calcium depletion, nausea and possibly kidney problems. Other critics worry that reducing carbohydrates so dramatically may cause a deficit in essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And, they say, the lack of fiber can result in constipation.

Yet the biggest bone of contention has always been the belief that a high protein/low carb diet increased the risk of heart disease. But recent research backs up what Dr. Atkins maintained until his death a few months ago: that a high protein/low carb diet actually lowers cholesterol. In one study by Duke University, researchers assigned 120 obese volunteers to either the Atkins plan or a high carb diet that restricted fat to less than 30 percent of the total calories consumed. After six months, the researchers were surprised to find that the Atkins diet group lost about 14 percent of their starting weight or an average of 30 pounds – considerably more than the 20-pound loss experienced by the low-fat dieters.

What was even more surprising, the Atkins group posted an impressive 11 percent increase in HDL "good" cholesterol compared to just a one percent improvement for people on the low-fat diet. At the same time triglycerides - another blood fat and suspected risk factor for heart disease - decreased a whopping 49 percent on the Atkins diet.

But nutritionist Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, senior scientist and director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Research Program at Tufts University, points out that this study only lasted six months. She still has some real doubts about the long-term safety of the diet. She also wonders how successful Atkins’ dieters will be at permanently keeping the weight off. "If this really worked, we would have at least a dent in the obesity epidemic. Everyone would be on it," says Dr. Lichtenstein.

Rabbits R Us

On the other end of the weight loss pendulum are high carbohydrate/low-fat diets. Primarily plant-based, these diets were originally designed to reduce the risk of heart disease. The most well-known proponent of the high carb habit is Dean Ornish, M.D., author of Eat More, Weigh Less (Harper, 1997). Dr. Ornish puts dieters on a very low-fat lacto-ovo vegetarian diet chocked full of complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, oats, legumes, fruits and vegetables.

Although the American Heart Association and the USDA Food Pyramid recommend a limit of 30 percent dietary fat, Ornish confines followers to a daily fat intake of 10 percent or a mere 22 grams of fat per day. And it must come from the food itself — the diet doesn’t allow any added fats or oils. Besides foregoing meat and oils, other foods dieters must avoid include avocados, olives, nuts and seeds, sugar and alcohol. Soy products get the green light. So does dairy, but only if it’s fat-free. With all these restrictions, eating out can be difficult. But the upside is that the diet lives up to many of its health claims. A study by the University of California, Los Angeles, found that this type of diet may help prevent breast cancer. And researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, confirmed that a low-fat diet rich in soy, vegetable protein and soluble fiber reduces serum lipids, a risk factor for heart disease.

Since I have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), I can’t eat a lot of meat or fatty foods. So the Atkins plan wasn’t going to work for me. Instead, I tried Dr. Ornish’s diet and lost 25 pounds. Although I’ve modified it a bit to include fish twice a week, I’ve kept the weight off for more than four years.

But everyone is different – and what worked for me may not work for you. The bottom line is that we have to shrink our bottoms – and our tummies, hips and thighs. And the best way to do that is by restricting calories – which is the basis of both the Atkins and Ornish diet. For long-term success, most dieticians suggest a diet based on a daily minimum of 1,200 to 1,500 calories combined with exercise. And whether you’re a carb critic or a carb fan, they point out that dieters have to make smart choices. If you are a carnivore that swears by a high protein diet, opt for lean beef, chicken or fish. If you think carbs are the path to weight loss nirvana, ditch the white bread and Twinkies in favor of complex carbohydrates such as fiber-rich legumes and whole grains.

One Last Thing ...

The supplement industry took a big hit recently when the FDA moved to put warning labels on weight loss products containing ephedra. To make matters worse, Illinois recently banned the herb entirely and other states may soon follow. While I think this kind of legislation is simply based on hysteria instead of science, the truth is that ephedra was never a really safe choice for long-term weight loss anyway.

That’s not to say that all supplements used for weight loss are unsafe. In fact, many are extremely safe and effective. Last year, a study came my way about L-Carnitine. Now, weight loss proponents have said for years that this amino acid could speed weight loss, but the scientific evidence was scant. Finally, here was a clinical study by the University of Leipzig, Germany, that showed how L-Carnitine helps send the pounds packing. According to the researchers, L-Carnitine significantly increases fatty acid oxidation, increasing your metabolism. In other words, it helps your body burn fat.

Green tea and chromium picolinate can also accelerate weight loss. A double-blind study of green tea found that it contains thermogenic properties and, like L-Carnitine, promotes fat oxidation. And, according to research conducted in China, chromium reduces insulin and leptin – two hormones involved in triggering hunger – making it easier to resist overeating.

Believe me, I know just how tough it can be to lose weight and keep it off. But it’s the absolute best thing you can do for your health. And as the pounds come off, you’ll find that you not only look and feel better, you have increased energy. You might even start looking forward to swimsuit season!

This Just In ...

If you suffer from diabetes, two new studies by the University of Toronto may offer a natural way to help control blood sugar. In the first, the researchers found that people with Type II diabetes who took ginseng and a fiber supplement similar to pectin had a notable reduction in blood sugar levels. Blood samples taken before and after the study showed that hemoglobin A1C – a standard measure of blood sugar levels – dropped into the normal range in the participants taking the ginseng capsules, but not in those taking a placebo.

In the second study, Korean red ginseng improved both insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity when compared with placebo. I hope these two studies are a sign that mainstream medicine is beginning to recognize herbs for what they really are – potent medicine.

***

References:

Bell SJ. “A functional food product for the management of weight.” Critical Review of Food Science and Nutrition. 2002; 42:163-178.

Laino C. “Ginseng may help treat diabetes.” WebMD. 16 June 2003.

Muller DM, et al. “Effects of oral L-carnitine supplementation on in vivo long-chain fatty acid oxidation in healthy adults.” Metabolism. 2002; 51:1389-1391.

Sun C, et al. “Effect of chromium gluconate on body weight, serum leptin and insulin in rats.” Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2000; 29:370-371.