Uppermill pharmacist IAN STRACHAN examines: loosing weight the healthy way
If 2014 signifies a new year and a new you, let’s cut to the chase. We put on weight when the amount of calories consumed exceeds the amount we burn through everyday activity and exercise.
Most adults, including myself, need to eat less while becoming more active. With this in mind, the answer is surely simple: just go away and do it – but of course it’s how we do it that matters.
There’s no shortage of novelty weight loss programmes promising to help us lose weight but do they work?
My experience as a pharmacist has been that many diets do indeed lead to dramatic weight loss but the pounds have a habit of dramatically creeping back.
More worryingly is the so called ‘fad diets’ often encourage unhealthy eating practices which may lead to ill health.
Here are a few considerations and pointers to think about for anyone pursuing the latest fad diet.
Some diets, particularly crash diets, may be nutritionally unbalanced, leading to long term ill health.
Exclusion diets may involve the avoidance of certain food types like meat, fish, wheat and dairy products. This can be a dangerous approach for some people – We should not ignore our bodies’ demand for essential nutrients and vitamins.
Low Carb diets can be high in fat. For example, the Atkins diet is typically low in carbohydrates like pasta rice and bread, which are an essential source of energy but relatively high in protein and fat. Some low carb diets can also lead to bad breath, headaches and constipation.
Detox diets: These are based on the idea toxins build up in our bodies that can be eliminated through eating or indeed not eating certain things. Evidence to support their effectiveness is unclear so my advice would be to avoid this type of fasting diet.
Fad Diets: These appear to spring up by the week and include the cabbage soup diet and the popular fasting diet (five days eating normally and two days severe calorie reduction). Fans of the 5:2 say it helps you live longer and protects against disease. My view would be such diets may be effective but for many difficult to sustain in the long term.
The best advice I could give is to endeavour to lose weight gradually by being healthy. The following pointers are my New Year recommendations to anyone wishing to lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way.
1. Don’t skip breakfast. Research has shown eating a breakfast helps us to control our weight. Skipping breakfast encourages snacking and may deprive us of essential nutrients.
2. Eating regular meals throughout the day can actually help us to burn calories at a faster rate.
3. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables which are low in calories and fat but high in fibre, vitamins, and minerals.
4. Get more active. Regular activity helps us to lose weight by burning off calories. What is more, exercise helps us to keep it off.
5. Drink plenty of fluids, aiming for around six to eight glasses or 1.2 litres, preferably water, each day.
6. Eating high fibre foods helps us to feel full for longer. Fibre is found in fruit, veg, brown rice, pasta, peas and lentils.
7. Start reading food labels – healthy, informed choices educate us to control our calorie intake more effectively.
8. Use a smaller plate size. This equates to smaller meal sizes which will eventually satisfy. It takes about 20mins for our stomachs to inform the brain when it’s full, so we should all eat more slowly and stop eating before we feel full.
9. Avoid banning certain foods as this tends to make us crave them more, but don’t deprive yourself of the occasional treat.
10. Don’t stock up with junk food but go for healthy snacks like fruit, rice cakes, unsweetened or unsugared popcorn and fruit juice.
11. Cut down on alcohol as over time excessive alcohol consumption may lead to weight gain
12. Plan your meals. Make a list for the week of meals you are going to prepare but avoid food shopping while hungry as this may lead to high calorie impulse buys.
Good luck and a happy, slimmer 2014 to all of you.
Next month: ear wax and what the pharmacy has to offer.
