Weight Loss

Normally, everyone is more concerned about losing weight, so more attention is given to them than those that wants to gain weight. And it also seems like those who wants to gain weight has been neglected by all.

So lets see some reasons why you might not be adding weight adequately and lets also see if there are implications with low weight.

1. WRONG CHOICE OF FOODS: for some people, high fatty foods would help them gain weight, so they jump on deep fried foods, ice creams, junks, chocolates etc. These foods might contain trans fats which might even be very detrimental to you health. So instead of making you add weight adequately, they might just get your stomach bulged.

Foods to include in your diet to help gain weight: nuts, milk, fatty fruits like avocado, energy dense fruits like banana, apples, coconut etc.

2. HYPERTHYROIDISM: this happens when your thyroids become so overactive. The thyroid glands are responsible for controlling metabolism (especially for weight gain and loss) in the body. When they are overactive, it means that energy from food is broken so fast, thereby making it hard for the body to utilize energy. You will need extra hands to achieve weight gain if you are on this table. A dietitians place cannot be overemphasized

3. TYPE 1 DIABETES: In type 1 diabetes, the cells that produce insulin are totally destroyed leading to a spike in blood glucose. Wen type 1 diabetes is left unmanaged for a long while, it could lead to excess glucose flowing in the blood; the body has to excrete this excess glucose through the urine. When this happens constantly, unintentional weight loss sets in

4. INFLAMMATORY DISEASES: This is the umbrella term for anything disorder that affects the small intestine especially. These disorders most times comes with diarrhea, and this automatically leads to unintentional weight loss

In all of this, it is important to work with a dietitian so they can address whatever underlying issue is the reason for your unintentional weight loss. Addressing them with drugs alone or just eating anything that comes your way wont give a reasonable result.

SOURCES:

– https://www.healthline.com/health/why-cant-i-gain-weight

https://www.healthline.com/health/hyperthyroidism

– https://thegeriatricdietitian.com/why-am-i-not-gaining-weight/

It’s no news that the amount of calories people eat and drink has a direct effect on their weight: Calories in = Calories out, and weight stays stable. Calories in > Calories out , weight goes up. Less calories in, and well, weight goes down.

 But what about the type of calories: Does it matter if they come from specific nutrients-fat, protein, or carbohydrate? Specific foods-whole grains or pop-corn? Specific diets-the Mediterranean diet or the “Keto” diet? And what about when or where people consume their calories: Does eating breakfast make it easier to control weight? Does eating at fast-food restaurants make it harder?

There’s ample research on foods and diet patterns that protect against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. The good news is that many of the foods that help prevent disease also seem to help with weight control-foods like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. And many of the foods that increase disease risk-chief among them, refined grains and sugary drinks-are also factors in weight gain. Conventional wisdom says that since a calorie is a calorie, regardless of its source, the best advice for weight control is simply to eat less and exercise more. Yet emerging research suggests that some foods and eating patterns may make it easier to keep calories in check, while others may make people more likely to overeat.

Let’s briefly review the research on dietary intake and weight control, highlighting diet strategies that also help prevent chronic disease.

• Macronutrients and Weight: Do Carbs, Protein, or Fat Matter?

It really looks like the percentage of calories from carbs, fats or proteins do not really contribute to weight gain. So, the quantity of macronutrients you consume per day might not be directly proportional to the weight you add-on. In saner climes, there may be some benefits to a higher protein, lower carbohydrate approach, or even a high fat, low carb approach. For chronic disease prevention, though, the quality and food sources of these nutrients matters more than their relative quantity in the diet. And the latest research suggests that the same diet quality message applies for weight control.

• Dietary Fat and Weight

Low-fat diets have long been touted as the key to a healthy weight and to good health. But the evidence just isn’t there: Over the past  years globally and especially in western countries, the percentage of calories from fat in people’s diets has gone down, but obesity rates have skyrocketed.  “Carefully conducted clinical trials have found that following a low-fat diet does not make it any easier to lose weight than following a moderate- or high-fat diet”. In fact, study volunteers who follow moderate- or high-fat diets lose just as much weight, and in some studies a bit more, as those who follow low-fat diets. And when it comes to disease prevention, low-fat diets don’t really appear to offer any special benefits except in very strict conditions. 

“Part of the problem with low-fat diets is that they are often high in carbohydrates, especially from rapidly digested sources, such as white bread and white rice. And diets high in such foods might further increase the risk of weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease”.

For good health, the type (in terms of quality) of fat people eat is far more important than the amount , and there’s some evidence that the same may be true for weight control. Studies have shown clearly that over consumption of trans fat and saturated fats would lead to heart and possibly other non-communicable diseases, but not the same with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids which offer health benefits.

• Protein and Weight

Although  high-protein diets seem to perform equally well as other types of diets, they still tend to be low in carbohydrate and high in fat or sometimes vice versa as the case may be, so it is difficult to tease apart the benefits of eating lots of protein from those of eating more fat or less carbohydrate. But there are a few reasons why eating a higher percentage of calories from protein may help with weight control:

• More satiety: People tend to feel fuller, on fewer calories, after eating protein than they do after eating carbohydrate or fat.
• Greater thermic effect: It takes more energy to metabolize and store protein than other macronutrients, and this may help people increase the energy they burn each day. About 30-35% is metabolised almost immediately.
• Improved body composition: Protein seems to help people hang on to lean muscle during weight loss, and this, too, can help boost the energy-burned side of the energy balance equation. 

“Higher protein, lower carbohydrate diets improve blood lipid profiles and other metabolic markers, so they may help prevent heart disease and diabetes”. But some high-protein foods are healthier than others: High and uncontrolled intakes of red meat and processed meat are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer.

Replacing red processed meat with nuts, beans, fish, or poultry seems to lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes.  And this diet strategy may help with weight control, too, according to a recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health.

• Carbohydrates and Weight

Lower carbohydrate, higher protein or even lower carbs, moderate protein and high fat diets may have some weight loss advantages in the short term.  Yet when it comes to preventing weight gain and chronic disease, carbohydrate quality is much more important than carbohydrate quantity.

‘Milled, refined grains and the foods made with them-white rice, white bread, white pasta, processed breakfast cereals, and the like-are rich in rapidly digested carbohydrates. So are potatoes and sugary drinks. The scientific term for this is that they have a high glycemic index and glycemic load. “Such foods cause fast and furious increases in blood sugar and insulin that, in the short term, can cause hunger to spike and can lead to overeating-and over the long term, increase the risk of weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease”. 

Are there Specific Foods that Make It Easier or Harder to Control Weight?

There’s growing evidence that specific food choices may help with weight control, but does not suggest that one food will help in weight loss or gain (super food). The good news is that many of the foods that are beneficial for weight control also help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. There are a number of foods and drinks that contribute to weight gain—chief among them, refined grains and sugary drinks—also contribute to chronic disease.

• Whole Grains, Fruits and Vegetables, and Weight

Whole grains-whole wheat, brown rice, barley, and the like, especially in their less-processed forms-are digested more slowly than refined grains. So they have a gentler effect on blood sugar and insulin, which MAYhelp keep hunger at bay. The same is true for most vegetables and fruits. These “slow carb” foods have bountiful benefits for disease prevention, and there’s also evidence that they can help prevent weight gain.

Don’t narrow your mind down to the fact that the calories from whole grains, whole fruits, and vegetables disappear. What’s likely happening is that when people increase their intake of these foods, they cut back on calories from other foods. Fiber may be responsible for these foods’ weight control benefits, since fiber slows digestion, helping to curb hunger. Fruits and vegetables are also high in water, which may help people feel fuller on fewer calories.

• Nuts and Weight

“Nuts pack a lot of calories into a small package and are high in fat, so they were once considered taboo for dieters or even anyone who wants to stay healthy. But as we may have it, studies find that eating nuts does not lead to weight gain and may instead help with weight control, perhaps because nuts are rich in protein and fiber, both of which may help people feel fuller and less hungry. People who regularly eat nuts are less likely to have heart attacks or die from heart disease than those who rarely eat them, which is another reason to include nuts in a healthy diet. 

• Dairy and Weight

“The U.S. dairy industry has aggressively promoted the weight-loss benefits of milk and other dairy products, based largely on findings from short-term studies it has funded. But a recent review of nearly 50 randomized trials finds little evidence that high dairy or calcium intakes help with weight loss. Similarly, most long-term follow-up studies have not found that dairy or calcium protect against weight gain, and one study in adolescents found high milk intakes to be associated with increased body mass index. 

One exception is the recent dietary and lifestyle change study from the Harvard School of Public Health, which found that people who increased their yogurt intake gained less weight; increases in milk and cheese intake, however, did not appear to promote weight loss or gain. It’s possible that the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may influence weight control, but more research is needed.

Yoghurt tends to keep the gut health at check and easily filling with less calorie, it could proffer solutions to the weight loss saga.

• Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Weight

There’s convincing evidence that sugary drinks increase the risk of weight gain, obesity, and diabetes:  A systematic review and meta-analysis of 88 studies found “clear associations of soft drink intake with increased caloric intake and body weight.”  In children and adolescents, a more recent meta analysis estimates that for every additional 12-ounce serving of sugary beverage consumed each day, body mass index increases by 0.08 units.  Another meta analysis finds that adults who regularly drink sugary beverages have a 26 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who rarely drink sugary beverages.  Emerging evidence also suggests that high sugary beverage intake increases the risk of heart disease. 

Like refined grains and potatoes, sugary beverages are high in rapidly-digested carbohydrates. Research suggests that when that carbohydrate is delivered in liquid form, rather than solid form, it is not as satiating, and people don’t eat less to compensate for the extra calories. Liquid calories might tend to increase weight more than solid due to its low levels of satiety after consumption.

It really even seems that the number of overweight people had their fair share from sugary drinks than solid foods. A research conducted a while ago noticed that most overweight people really didn’t eat much solid foods but rather drank sugary drinks in their bottles.

• Fruit Juice and Weight

It’s important to note that fruit juices are not a better option for weight control than sugar-sweetened beverages ( who even suggested that?). Ounce for ounce, fruit juices-even those that are 100 percent fruit juice, with no added sugar- are as high in sugar and calories as sugary sodas. So it’s no surprise that a recent Harvard School of Public Health study, which tracked the diet and lifestyle habits of 120,000 men and women for up to 20 years, found that people who increased their intake of fruit juice gained more weight over time than people who did not. Pediatricians and public health advocates recommend that children and adults limit fruit juice to just a small glass a day, if they consume it at all.

It’s better to take fruits in their fresh form than their processed and packaged form.

• Alcohol and Weight

Even though most alcoholic beverages have more calories per ounce than sugar-sweetened beverages, there’s no clear-cut evidence that moderate drinking contributes to weight gain. It probably would lead to a protruded tummy because of the fact that the liver metabolizes it first after a meal and stores visceral fat during the process. While the recent diet and lifestyle change study found that people who increased their alcohol intake gained more weight over time, the findings varied by type of alcohol.  In most previous prospective studies, there was no difference in weight gain over time between light-to-moderate drinkers and nondrinkers, or the light-to-moderate drinkers gained less weight than nondrinkers. If you’ve seen heavy alcoholics in Nigeria, they’re actually lanky and look like a bag of bones. 

Breakfast, Meal Frequency, Snacking, and Weight

There is some evidence that skipping breakfast increases the risk of weight gain and obesity, though the evidence is stronger in children, especially teens, than it is in adults. Meal frequency and snacking have increased over the past years globally. -on average, children and most teen-adults get 27 percent of their daily calories from snacks, primarily from desserts and sugary drinks, and increasingly from salty snacks and candy. But there have been conflicting findings on the relationship between meal frequency, snacking, and weight control, and more research is needed.

Portion Sizes and Weight

“Since the 1970s, portion sizes have increased both for food eaten at home and for food eaten away from home, in adults and children. Short-term studies clearly demonstrate that when people are served larger portions, they eat more. There is an intuitive appeal to the idea that portion sizes increase obesity, but long-term prospective studies would help to strengthen this hypothesis.

Fast Food and Weight

Fast food is known for its large portions, low prices, high palatability, high sugar content, high fat content, reheating oil and high monosodium glutamate content; and there’s evidence from studies in teens and adults that frequent fast-food consumption contributes to overeating and weight gain. 

It’s really important to focus on home cooked meals than the ones from fast foods

The Bottom Line: Healthy Diet and Lifestyle Can Prevent Weight Gain and Chronic Disease

Weight gain in adulthood is often gradual, about a pound a year -too slow of a gain for most people to notice, but one that can add up, over time, to a weighty personal and public health problem. There’s increasing evidence that the same healthful food choices and diet patterns that help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions may also help to prevent weight gain:

Choose minimally processed, whole foods-whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, healthful sources of protein (fish, poultry, beans), and plant oils.

Limit sugar beverages, refined grains, potatoes, red and processed meats, and other highly processed foods, such as fast food.

Though the contribution of any one diet change to weight control may be small, together, the changes could add up to a considerable effect, over time and across the whole society. Since people’s food choices are shaped by their surroundings, it’s imperative for governments to promote policy and environmental changes that make healthy foods more accessible and decrease the availability and marketing of unhealthful foods.

Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/diet-and-weight/#:~:text=Choose%20minimally%20processed%2C%20whole%20foods,foods%2C%20such%20as%20fast%20food.

OVERVIEW

It’s really saddening to hear what extreme measures people take just to lose weight. You would be shocked to hear that some people would stop taking their insulin shots so they could shed some weight. Let’s talk about diabulimia today shall we?

Diabulimia (a portmanteau of diabetes and bulimia) is an eating disorder in which people with type 1 diabetes deliberately give themselves less insulin than they need or stop taking it altogether for the purpose of weight loss (occurs especially among teenage girls). Although no official diagnosis by the medical or psychiatric communities but the phrases “disturbed eating behavior” or “disordered eating behavior” (DEB in both cases) and disordered eating (DE) are quite common in medical and psychiatric literature addressing patients who have type 1 diabetes and manipulate insulin doses to control weight along with exhibiting bulimic behavior. 

Starting insulin could mean weight gain for some people,  but omitting insulin shots to help reduce this weight would just put you in more dangers of glucose spiking and symptoms of diabetes (frequent urination, increased thirst and hunger etc). 

But really, every growing child should gain weight, and remember that type 1 DM affects majorly children. 

Without insulin, the body technically has 14 days to live, during this period, one might go into diabetic ketoacidosis, degeneration of nerves and break down of organs also occurs during this period of dangerous eating disorder.

RISKS INVOLVED 

Diabulimia complications are a mix of those that come with diabetes and eating disorders:

• High blood sugar levels
• Sugar in your urine
• Confusion
• Dehydration
• Muscle loss
• Diabetic ketoacidosis
• High cholesterol
• Bacterial skin infections
• Yeast infections
• Skipped or abnormal periods
• Staph infections
• Damage to the blood vessels in your eyes (retinopathy)
• Numbness in your hands and feet from nerve damage
• Peripheral arterial disease
• Thicker arterial walls (atherosclerosis)
• Liver disease
• Low sodium and potassium levels
• Stroke
• Coma
• Death

SIGNS 

The first and most obvious sign of diabulimia is losing weight without trying. Other signs include:

• Feeling tired all the time
• Feeling thirsty a lot
• Thinking or talking a lot about body image
• Blood sugar records that don’t match up with hemoglobin A1c readings
• Depression or mood swings
• Secrecy about blood sugar, insulin, food, or eating habits
• Canceling doctors’ appointments
• Eating more often, especially sugary foods
• Delayed puberty
• Stress within the family
• Hair loss
• Dry skin
• Sweet-smelling breath (a sign of ketoacidosis)
• Exercising a lot

WHAT TO DO?

Every eating disorder is a mental illness and so is diabulimia,   It’s advisable to seek nutritional, medical and psychological help from professionals.

Lemon water might not be the magical drink that some make it out to be.

Even though the duo could be a  pretty great alternative to sugary sodas, juices, and energy drinks, many high claims about its accelerated weight loss or boosting liver function are exaggerated at best and inaccurate at worst.

Lets see these six myths about the benefits of lemon water that just aren’t true.

Shall we?

MYTH 1: Lemon water will help speed up your weight loss efforts.

Some funny roadside nutritionist and social media influencers claim water with lemon is the secret to speeding up your weight loss process, but these claims are often inflated.

The bitter truth is that; the duo of lemon and water wont help speed up weight loss.

Lemons contain a fibre called pectin; this fibre  can help you feel full and satisfied without additional calories. By squeezing a medium sized lemon into your water,  only trace amounts of this fiber – (which mostly exists in the rind and  not the juice) remains – thus doing little to nothing for your satiety levels.

MYTH 2: It helps “wake up” your digestive system.

Staying hydrated with  3-3.5 litres of water daily is what your digestive system needs;  adding lemon won’t make a huge difference. I’m sorry to burst your bubbles.

Water helps break down food particles in our system making it easy for digestion and action of enzymes.

Although the lemon could add some flavor or zest to your drink, plain water could essentially provide the same digestive benefits.

Adding lemon to your water should be because you find plain water boring.

MYTH 3: It cleanses or “detoxifies” your body.

If you’re hoping that lemon would help detoxify your system when you add them to your diet, maybe you should rethink because, there’s really no need for that.

“This claim really does not have any scientific back up so i wonder why people really embark on it at all. According to a research, lemon water might even deprive you of some nutrients.

In most cases, your body handles its detoxification process so far as your internal organs are in right working conditions.

You got to be kidding me now.

Well, the pH level of your body determines the proper functioning of your liver and kidneys; but adding lemon water to your diet has no significant role in balancing the pH of your body really.

According to Web MD, “Nothing you eat is going to substantially change the pH of your blood. Your body works to keep that level constant”

Lemon water doesn’t actually have much of an impact on your metabolism.

Your body’s metabolism rate wont be doubled or tripled simply because you added lemon to your diet.

Theories that back up metabolism boosting effects are really exaggerated because its a very temporary one.

Lemon water contains vitamin C, which can serve as a natural skin brightener and can help to rid skin of antioxidants and damage.

But you’d likely have to drink a lot of lemon water to reap these benefits in any measurable way. Lemons contain the most vitamin C in their peel, which typically isn’t what you drink. You’d actually get more vitamin C from freshly squeezed orange juice.

Myth 7: lemon water would help against skin acne

According to an interview by insider with board-certified dermatologist Dhaval G. Bhanusali, MD,  you can develop a rash called phytophotodermatitis when lemon water is applied to the skin and it is then exposed to direct sunlight.

I hope this changes your perspective.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.insider.com/does-drinking-lemon-water-really-work-2018-11

Beauty they say is in the eye of the beholder. The main crux will be what will be the yard stick to define something as beautiful and as the entire opposite. A big question I must say and it becomes me to answer. Kindly hit the brakes and allow me a soft landing by enjoying this piece. It is always an uphill task writing about sizes of humans because no one takes it likely when you touch their self esteem at wrong spots which may deflate their ego. We are all beautiful in our ways. The world is blessed with the short, tall, skinny, or plus size. No matter what dice life throws at you or what ever faculty you find yourself, remember you are your beautiful. As long as it does not in any way affect your health status then rock your style with a bounce under your feet. The BMI is (Dietitian define)… Talk about the balance of how your size must align with your height. If you fall into the class of unhealthy BMI ( >27kgm sq.), then it is advised you shed some weight. If you must do so, do it beautiful… Misconceptions about weight loss

1. DETOX TEA HELPS TO LOSE WEIGHT The whole idea of DETOX is actually very funny. The body has a well developed system that has its own built-in mechanism to detoxify and remove waste and toxins. The body’s main organs of detoxification are the kidney, skin, lungs and gut. Our body constantly filters out, breaks down and excretes toxins and wasted products like alcohol, medications, products of digestion, dead cells, chemicals from pollution and bacteria.

2. YOU CAN LOSE 5KG IN ONE WEEK: You didn’t gain that fat in one day, so it’s not healthy if you go so drastic in losing it. Ideally, you should lose 0.5kg -1kg per week. You can achieve this by a deficit of 3,500 kilocalories per week from your diet.

3. INTERMITTENT FASTING: When you fast, you tend to reduce rapidly due to the heavy restriction on intake of energy (calories). But this weight loss is largely water and glycogen (body’s carbohydrate stores), rather than fat. You tend to feel dizzy and fatigue during this fast, thereby leaving no energy for physical exercise.

4. KETOGENIC DIET: By doing this, you by pass the normal metabolic pathway thereby neglecting the body’s normal sources of energy (carbohydrates) and breaking down fats which leads to build up ketones (ketosis). Prolonged build up of this ketones leads to ketoacidosis which causes serious havoc for your internal organs. Ketogenesis is use on epileptic patients because they have more synaptic responses in their brains than normal humans. These responses are triggered by glucose, which is removed totally from the diet. The patient is closely monitored by a medical team.

5. Green tea would help you lose weight: 🤣😅. The major ingredients in most slimming tea is ‘senna’;a very strong laxative. Senna contains glycosides that stimulates digestive system. So how would you be stooling frequently and not lose weight? Healthy choice?🙄🙄.

There are lots more, but these aforementioned are more common in our society today.

*Your weight loss journey is not a death sentence, it rather should be enjoyed and should become a lifestyle.

*Weight loss regimes should not be rigid or full of restrictions.

*Take a new habit slowly, set goals for yourself.

* Get yourself a food diary and record your consumption and level of satiety per portion.

* Exercise is very important in weight loss regimens.

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