Science-backed ways to lose weight
1. Trying intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a pattern of eating that involves regular short-term fasts and consuming meals within a shorter time period during the day. The most common intermittent fasting methods include the following:
*Alternate day fasting (ADF): Fast every other day and eat a typical diet on non-fasting days. The modified version involves eating just 25–30% of the body’s energy needs on fasting days.
*The 5:2 Diet: Fast on 2 out of every 7 days. On fasting days eat 500–600 calories.
*The 16/8 method: Fast for 16 hours and eat only during an 8-hour window. For most people, the 8-hour window would be around noon to 8 p.m.
2. Tracking your diet and exercise
One way to track what you eat and drink, is to log these items in either a journal or an online food tracker.
Research suggests that tracking diet and exercise may be helpful for weight loss because it promotes behavior changes and increases motivation.
3. Eating mindfully
Mindful eating is a practice where people pay attention to how and where they eat food. This practice can enable people to enjoy the food they eat and may help to promote weight loss.
Techniques for mindful eating include:
Sitting down to eat, preferably at a table: Pay attention to the food and enjoy the experience.
Avoiding distractions while eating: Do not turn on the TV, or a laptop or phone.
Eating slowly: Take time to chew and savor the food. This technique helps with weight loss, as it gives a person’s brain enough time to recognize the signals that they are full, which can help to prevent over-eating.
Making considered food choices: Choose foods that are full of nourishing nutrients and those that will satisfy for hours rather than minutes.
4. Eating protein with meals
Protein can regulate appetite hormones to help people feel full. This is mostly due to a decrease in the hunger hormone ghrelin and a rise in the satiety hormones peptide YY, GLP-1, and cholecystokinin
Good choices for a high protein breakfast include eggs, oats, nut and seed butters, quinoa porridge, sardines, and chia seed pudding.
5. Cutting back on sugar and refined carbohydrates
The Western diet is increasingly high in added sugars, which has definite links to obesity, even when the sugar occurs in beverages rather than food.
Refined grains undergo processing to remove the bran and the germ, which contain most of the grain’s fiber and nutrients. These include white rice, white bread, and regular pasta.
These foods are quick to digest, and they convert to glucose rapidly. Excess glucose enters the blood and provokes the hormone insulin, which promotes fat storage in the adipose tissue. Studies show that whole grains are more likely to reduce hunger and increase fullness, which could lead to decreases in calorie intake.
Good food swaps include:
whole-grain rice, bread, and pasta instead of the white versions fruit, nuts, and seeds, herb teas and fruit-infused water as well as smoothies with water or milk.
6. Eating plenty of fiber
Including plenty of fiber in the diet can increase the feeling of fullness, potentially leading to weight loss.
Fiber-rich foods include:
whole-grain breakfast cereals, whole-wheat pasta, whole-grain bread, oats, barley, and rye, fruit and vegetables, peas, beans, and pulses
7. Balancing gut bacteria
The human gut hosts a vast number and variety of microorganisms, including around 39 trillion bacteria.
Every individual has different types and amounts of bacteria in their gut.
Some foods can increase the number of good bacteria in the gut, including:
A wide variety of plants: Increasing the number of fruits, vegetables, and grains in the diet will result in an increased fiber uptake and a more diverse set of gut bacteria. People should try to ensure that vegetables and other plant-based foods comprise 75 percent of their meal.
Fermented foods: Fermented foods including sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, tempeh, and miso contain potentially probiotic microorganisms. Researchers have studied kimchi widely, and limited evidence suggests it may have anti-obesity effects. Similarly, studies have shown that kefir may help to promote weight loss in overweight women.
Prebiotic foods: These stimulate the growth and activity of some of the good bacteria that aid weight control.
Prebiotic fiber occurs in many fruits and vegetables, especially chicory root, artichoke, onion, garlic, asparagus, leeks, banana, and avocado. It is also in grains, such as oats and barley, nuts and seeds.
8. Getting a good night’s sleep
Research suggests that insufficient or poor-quality sleep slows down the process in which the body converts calories to energy, called metabolism. When metabolism is less effective, the body may store unused energy as fat. In addition, poor sleep can promote insulin resistance and increase levels of cortisol, which also promote fat storage. How long someone sleeps also affects the regulation of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals of fullness to the brain.
9. Managing your stress levels
Stress triggers the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which initially decrease the appetite as part of the body’s fight or flight response. However, when people are under constant stress, cortisol can remain in the bloodstream for longer and signals the need to replenish the body’s nutritional stores from the preferred source of fuel, carbohydrate. Insulin then transports the sugar from carbohydrates from the blood to the muscles and brain. If the individual does not use this sugar in fight or flight, the body will store it as fat. Insulin allows sugar from the blood to enter the body’s cells, where it can provide energy. If an individual does not immediately use this sugar, the body will either store it is glycogen, the storage form of glucose, or fat.
Some methods of managing stress include:
yoga, meditation, or tai chi
breathing and relaxation techniques
spending some time outdoors. - Source: MedicalNewsToday
Did you know?
Too fast
Losing weight too quickly may also increase the risk of certain health complications, such as gallstones, or complications associated with unhealthy dieting behaviors.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a pattern of eating that involves regular short-term fasts and consuming meals within a shorter time period during the day. The most common intermittent fasting methods include the following:
*Alternate day fasting (ADF): Fast every other day and eat a typical diet on non-fasting days. The modified version involves eating just 25–30% of the body’s energy needs on fasting days.
*The 5:2 Diet: Fast on 2 out of every 7 days. On fasting days eat 500–600 calories.
*The 16/8 method: Fast for 16 hours and eat only during an 8-hour window. For most people, the 8-hour window would be around noon to 8 p.m.
2. Tracking your diet and exercise
One way to track what you eat and drink, is to log these items in either a journal or an online food tracker.
Research suggests that tracking diet and exercise may be helpful for weight loss because it promotes behavior changes and increases motivation.
3. Eating mindfully
Mindful eating is a practice where people pay attention to how and where they eat food. This practice can enable people to enjoy the food they eat and may help to promote weight loss.
Techniques for mindful eating include:
Sitting down to eat, preferably at a table: Pay attention to the food and enjoy the experience.
Avoiding distractions while eating: Do not turn on the TV, or a laptop or phone.
Eating slowly: Take time to chew and savor the food. This technique helps with weight loss, as it gives a person’s brain enough time to recognize the signals that they are full, which can help to prevent over-eating.
Making considered food choices: Choose foods that are full of nourishing nutrients and those that will satisfy for hours rather than minutes.
4. Eating protein with meals
Protein can regulate appetite hormones to help people feel full. This is mostly due to a decrease in the hunger hormone ghrelin and a rise in the satiety hormones peptide YY, GLP-1, and cholecystokinin
Good choices for a high protein breakfast include eggs, oats, nut and seed butters, quinoa porridge, sardines, and chia seed pudding.
5. Cutting back on sugar and refined carbohydrates
The Western diet is increasingly high in added sugars, which has definite links to obesity, even when the sugar occurs in beverages rather than food.
Refined grains undergo processing to remove the bran and the germ, which contain most of the grain’s fiber and nutrients. These include white rice, white bread, and regular pasta.
These foods are quick to digest, and they convert to glucose rapidly. Excess glucose enters the blood and provokes the hormone insulin, which promotes fat storage in the adipose tissue. Studies show that whole grains are more likely to reduce hunger and increase fullness, which could lead to decreases in calorie intake.
Good food swaps include:
whole-grain rice, bread, and pasta instead of the white versions fruit, nuts, and seeds, herb teas and fruit-infused water as well as smoothies with water or milk.
6. Eating plenty of fiber
Including plenty of fiber in the diet can increase the feeling of fullness, potentially leading to weight loss.
Fiber-rich foods include:
whole-grain breakfast cereals, whole-wheat pasta, whole-grain bread, oats, barley, and rye, fruit and vegetables, peas, beans, and pulses
7. Balancing gut bacteria
The human gut hosts a vast number and variety of microorganisms, including around 39 trillion bacteria.
Every individual has different types and amounts of bacteria in their gut.
Some foods can increase the number of good bacteria in the gut, including:
A wide variety of plants: Increasing the number of fruits, vegetables, and grains in the diet will result in an increased fiber uptake and a more diverse set of gut bacteria. People should try to ensure that vegetables and other plant-based foods comprise 75 percent of their meal.
Fermented foods: Fermented foods including sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, tempeh, and miso contain potentially probiotic microorganisms. Researchers have studied kimchi widely, and limited evidence suggests it may have anti-obesity effects. Similarly, studies have shown that kefir may help to promote weight loss in overweight women.
Prebiotic foods: These stimulate the growth and activity of some of the good bacteria that aid weight control.
Prebiotic fiber occurs in many fruits and vegetables, especially chicory root, artichoke, onion, garlic, asparagus, leeks, banana, and avocado. It is also in grains, such as oats and barley, nuts and seeds.
8. Getting a good night’s sleep
Research suggests that insufficient or poor-quality sleep slows down the process in which the body converts calories to energy, called metabolism. When metabolism is less effective, the body may store unused energy as fat. In addition, poor sleep can promote insulin resistance and increase levels of cortisol, which also promote fat storage. How long someone sleeps also affects the regulation of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals of fullness to the brain.
9. Managing your stress levels
Stress triggers the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which initially decrease the appetite as part of the body’s fight or flight response. However, when people are under constant stress, cortisol can remain in the bloodstream for longer and signals the need to replenish the body’s nutritional stores from the preferred source of fuel, carbohydrate. Insulin then transports the sugar from carbohydrates from the blood to the muscles and brain. If the individual does not use this sugar in fight or flight, the body will store it as fat. Insulin allows sugar from the blood to enter the body’s cells, where it can provide energy. If an individual does not immediately use this sugar, the body will either store it is glycogen, the storage form of glucose, or fat.
Some methods of managing stress include:
yoga, meditation, or tai chi
breathing and relaxation techniques
spending some time outdoors. - Source: MedicalNewsToday
Did you know?
Too fast
Losing weight too quickly may also increase the risk of certain health complications, such as gallstones, or complications associated with unhealthy dieting behaviors.
