Category: Weight Loss

Lose weight with no effort using the ripple effect.

People whose partners are trying to lose weight also lose weight themselves — without trying, research demonstrates.

The non-dieting member of a couple lost an average of 4 lbs of their body weight, even though they made no effort to diet or increase their exercise.

Dubbed ‘the ripple effect’, weight loss spreads out from the person who is dieting to close others.

Professor Amy Gorin, the study’s first author, said:

“When one person changes their behavior, the people around them change.

Whether the patient works with their healthcare provider, joins a community-based, lifestyle approach like Weight Watchers, or tries to lose weight on their own, their new healthy behaviors can benefit others in their lives.”

For the study, one half of 130 couples either joined a diet programme or were put in a self-guided control group.

After six months, the untreated spouses of people in both groups had lost an average of over 4 lbs.

In other words, whether their spouse was following a specific diet programme or in the control group, their partner often lost weight.

In fact, around one-third of ‘untreated’ partners lost at least 3 percent of their body weight in six months.

Professor Gorin said:

“How we change our eating and exercise habits can affect others in both positive and negative ways.

On the positive side, spouses might emulate their partner’s behaviors and join them in counting calories, weighing themselves more often, and eating lower-fat foods.”

It is not yet known if the weight loss ripple effect includes other members of a household and not just couples.

The study was published in the journal Obesity (Gorin et al., 2018).

Belly fat is the fat that surrounds the vital organs, deep in the belly.

Foods containing fibre, like fruit and vegetables, can help to reduce weight and belly fat, research finds.

Supplementation with psyllium, which is full of fibre and available as a supplement, can also reduce belly fat.

Adding as little as 10 grams of soluble fibre per day has been shown to reduce belly fat by 4 percent.

Exercise on top increases this figure to 7 percent.

Belly fat is the fat that surrounds the vital organs, deep in the belly.

Unfortunately, there is no miracle food that can reduce belly fat on its own.

However, eating a heart-healthy diet high in fibre can help to reduce abdominal fat.

Fibre helps to reduce belly fat by turning to a gel during digestion.

As a result people feel more full, among other benefits, stopping from eating more.

One type of food that contains high amounts of fibre is psyllium, a plant sometimes used as a food ingredient.

A study has tested the effects of psyllium supplementation on visceral or belly fat.

The research included 45 health adolescents who were given 6g per day of psyllium or a placebo.

The adolescents made no other changes to their diet or lifestyle.

After six weeks, the results showed that supplementation with psyllium had reduced belly fat and decreased levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol.

The study’s authors describe the results:

“Our data show that even in the context of a relatively short intervention, psyllium supplementation improves LDL cholesterol and android fat to gynoid fat ratio [in other words, it reduced belly fat].

Our study corroborates previous data showing that psyllium has lipid lowering properties in children and adolescents.

The 6% improvement in LDL cholesterol concentrations we observed is comparable to other studies that have shown improvements of 0–23% using psyllium doses ranging from 5–25 g/day.”

The study was published in the journal PLoS One (de Bock et al., 2012).

People in the study lost 14 pounds, on average, while eating as many calories as they liked.

A diet high in healthy carbohydrates and low in fat can lead to weight loss, recent research finds.

People in the study lost 14 pounds, on average, following a vegan diet in which they could eat as many calories as they liked.

They only had to avoid consuming more than 20-30 mg of fat each day and, naturally, avoid all meat products.

Another study has shown that going on a plant-based vegetarian diet can double weight loss (Kahleova et al., 2017).

Vegetarian diets can add up to 10 pounds of weight loss compared to traditional diets, research has found.

Not only can a high-carb diet lead to weight loss, it also leads to improved insulin function.

The study may surprise some as carbohydrates are often seen as ‘the enemy’ by people who are trying to lose weight.

Dr Hana Kahleova, the study’s first author, said:

“Fad diets often lead people to fear carbohydrates.

But the research continues to show that healthy carbohydrates — from fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains — are the healthiest fuel for our bodies.”

The study included 75 people who were split into two groups.

Around half went on a vegan diet while the remainder continued with their current diet.

Those going vegan concentrated on whole, complex carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains.

The results showed that people on the vegan diet lost an average of 14 pounds compared to no change in the control group.

The diet works partly because complex carbohydrates like those in healthy fruits and vegetables are high in fibre.

This gives a feeling of fullness without the added calories.

High fibre diet are often shown to be effective for weight loss.

They also reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer and heart disease.

The study was published in the journal Nutrients (Kahleova et al., 2020).

This highly effective weight loss technique is done in under 15 minutes per day.

Spending just 15 minutes per day keeping a food diary predicts the most weight loss, research finds.

People who simply noted down what they ate while dieting lost an average of 10 percent of their body weight.

Other studies have shown that food diaries can double weight loss.

The key to more weight loss — on any diet — is monitoring food intake quickly and consistently, day after day.

While people think a food diary will be time-consuming, this study shows it is not.

Professor Jean Harvey study co-author, said:

“People hate it; they think it’s onerous and awful, but the question we had was: How much time does dietary self-monitoring really take?

The answer is, not very much.”

The study included 142 people who were followed over 24 weeks.

They took part in an online weight management program led by a dietician.

Participants logged their food intake online and how much activity they did.

They noted down all the calories and fat for the food they at, as well as the portion size and preparation method.

The results showed that those who logged in more often to record their food intake lost the most weight.

Professor Harvey said:

“Those who self-monitored three or more time per day, and were consistent day after day, were the most successful.

It seems to be the act of self-monitoring itself that makes the difference — not the time spent or the details included.”

Having the right expectations helps people stick to their task, said Professor Harvey:

“We know people do better when they have the right expectations.

We’ve been able to tell them that they should exercise 200 minutes per week.

But when we asked them to write down all their foods, we could never say how long it would take.

Now we can.

It’s highly effective, and it’s not as hard as people think.”

The study was published in the journal Obesity (Harvey et al., 2019).

Lose weight and burn belly fat without dieting.

Replacing some fatty foods with alternatives that are lower in fat reduces belly fat and weight, studies find.

People in many studies lost weight without reducing their food intake, only by making relatively small changes to what they eat.

One example is to swap to low fat yoghurt and milk and remove the fat from meat.

Another suggestion would be to change snacks that are high in fat, like cake and biscuits, to lower fat alternatives, such as fruit.

The more fat people cut from their diet, the greater their weight loss, studies show.

These change do not just cause weight loss, they also help reduce levels of bad cholesterol and lower blood pressure.

The conclusions come from 33 different randomised controlled trials, the gold standard of scientific experimentation.

Dr Lee Hooper, the study’s first author, explained:

“The weight reduction that we found when people ate less fat was remarkably consistent – we saw it in almost every trial.

Those who cut down more on fat, lost more weight.

The effect isn’t dramatic, like going on a diet.

The research specifically looked at people who were cutting down on fat, but didn’t aim to lose weight – so they were continuing to consume a normal amount of food.

What surprised us was that they did lose weight, their BMI decreased and their waists became slimmer.”

There were 73,589 people in total involved in the studies, which were carried out around the world.

The results showed that people lost an average of 3.5 pounds and reduced their waist circumference by 0.5cm after reducing fat from their diet.

Dr Hooper continued:

“And remember, this isn’t a diet, so don’t take it to extremes, but work out a way of eating that you can stick to permanently.

Keeping healthy is not just about fat and weight – but cutting down on fat, especially saturated fat, is a great start.

Being physically active, not smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, and drinking plenty of fluid also help to keep us healthy.

We just need to get in the habit of doing these things.”

The study was published in the British Medical Journal (Hooper et al., 2012).

How to double the chance of losing 5 pounds in weight.

“Substituting non-caloric beverages – whether it’s water, diet soft drinks or something else – can be a clear and simple change for people who want to lose or maintain weight.If this were done on a large scale, it could significantly reduce the increasing public health problem of obesity.”

“We learned that both water and diet sodas have some benefits, but they may be different.People who really like the sweet flavor or carbonation or caffeine of sodas may be more likely to stick with the change if they are drinking diet sodas as opposed to water only, but drinking water was associated with some other important health improvements like reduced blood sugar.”

“Substituting specific foods or beverages that provide a substantial portion of daily calories may be a useful strategy for modest weight loss or weight gain prevention.Beverages may be ideal targets, but keep in mind, the strategy will only work if the person doesn’t make up for the lost calories some other way.”

Weight loss is not just about what you eat, but also about when you eat.

Avoiding consuming too many calories in the evening is the key to weight loss, research finds.

Snacking late at night, especially, stops the body from burning fat.

That is because the body is still using the accessible carbohydrates that have just been eaten.

However, people who eat less in the evening bring forward the point where the body starts burning fat.

At the same time, breakfast can help to sustain weight loss.

One recent study found that a high-protein breakfast can even double weight loss.

Professor Carl Johnson, study co-author:

“There are a lot of studies on both animals and humans that suggest it’s not only about how much you eat, but rather when you eat.

Our research looked to test the findings of existing fasting studies by asking real humans to participate in a multi-day test for two different meal time routines.

What we found is that the body’s circadian rhythms regulate nighttime fat burning.”

The body’s circadian rhythms are mental, physical and behavioural changes that follow a daily cycle.

The study included six people who came into the lab to be monitored closely in a whole-room respiratory chamber.

The chamber measures exactly how much energy people expend over a period and their metabolism.

The results showed that when people people ate a meal in the evening, the body stopped burning fat.

Dr Kevin Kelly, the study’s first author, explained the results:

“The late-evening snack session resulted in less lipids oxidized than in the breakfast session.

This confirms that the timing of meals during the daytime and nighttime cycle affects how ingested food is used versus stored, and that any food ingested prior to bedtime will delay the burning of fat during sleep.”

The study was published in the journal PLOS Biology (Kelly et al., 2020).

Drinking this will result in greater fat-burning and weight loss.

Those who want to increase fat burning and weight loss might find drinking a strong cup of coffee 30 minutes before exercise very effective.

Consuming a strong coffee containing 3 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight half-an-hour before a moderate intensity activity greatly enhances burning fat, a study shows.

For instance, a 70 kg or 154 pound person, to ingest 3 mg per kg of body weight requires 210 mg of caffeine in a drink.

A 250 ml cup of coffee typically contains 100 mg of caffeine and a single shot of espresso contains 64 mg caffeine.

Caffeine is a psychoactive substance and a natural stimulant found in coffee beans, cocoa beans, tea leaves, guarana, and kola nuts.

The research team also found that caffeine’s effects are more noticeable if the exercise is done in the afternoon instead of in the morning.

Caffeine, due to its ergogenic [performance enhancing] potential, has been widely sold in the form of supplements to increase sports performance or endurance activities, and aid fat loss.

However, the scientific evidence behind beneficial claims of these supplements is insufficient.

Dr Francisco Amaro-Gahete, the study’s lead author, said:

“The recommendation to exercise on an empty stomach in the morning to increase fat oxidation is commonplace.

However, this recommendation may be lacking a scientific basis, as it is unknown whether this increase is due to exercising in the morning or due to going without food for a longer period of time.”

The aim of this study was to find out if caffeine really enhances fat oxidation or fat burning during exercise.

A group of adults were asked to complete an exercise test four times a week.

They had to take 3 mg/kg of caffeine at 8am or 5pm (half an hour before aerobic exercise) randomly.

Dr Amaro-Gahete said:

“The results of our study showed that acute caffeine ingestion 30 minutes before performing an aerobic exercise test increased maximum fat oxidation during exercise regardless of the time of day.”

The results showed that acute caffeine ingestion followed by moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in the afternoon was more effective in fat burning compared to the morning.

A study on trained athletes found that ergogenic effects from caffeine were more pronounced during cycling performance in the morning than the evening (Boyett et al., 2016).

The study was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (Ramírez-Maldonado et al., 2021).

People with higher levels of this vitamin in their body tend to lose more weight when dieting.

A variety of common vitamins and minerals have been linked to weight loss.

High levels of vitamin D, though, have repeatedly been linked to weight loss and a reduction in belly fat.

People with higher levels of vitamin D in their body tend to lose more weight when dieting.

One study has shown that drinking milk, which contains calcium and vitamin D, can double weight loss.

The study included 218 overweight women who were tracked as they took part in an exercise and diet programme that lasted for one year.

Half of the group took a vitamin D supplement of 2,000 IU per day.

Dr Duggan explained the results:

“We were quite surprised to see that vitamin D had an effect on an inflammation biomarker only among women who lost at least 5 percent of their baseline weight.

That suggests vitamin D can augment the effect of weight loss on inflammation.”

Up to 50 percent of people may have a vitamin D deficiency.

A deficiency in this vitamin has been linked to increased inflammation the body.

Foods rich in vitamin D include eggs, oily fish like salmon, mushrooms, dairy and foods that are fortified with it, including cereals and juices.

Dr Catherine Duggan, the study’s first author, said:

“We know from our previous studies that by losing weight, people can reduce their overall levels of inflammation, and there is some evidence suggesting that taking vitamin D supplements can have a similar effect if one has insufficient levels of the nutrient.”

Along with its involvement in weight loss, vitamin D may also have a beneficial effect on cancer risk.

Dr Duggan:

“It is thought that this state of chronic inflammation is pro-tumorigenic, that is, it encourages the growth of cancer cells.

Weight loss reduces inflammation, and thus represents another mechanism for reducing cancer risk.

If ensuring that vitamin D levels are replete, or at an optimum level, can decrease inflammation over and above that of weight loss alone, that can be an important addition to the tools people can use to reduce their cancer risk.”

The study was published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research (Duggan et al., 2015).