Artificial Sweeteners: Pros and Cons

Artificial sweeteners (sugar substitutes) are used in an enormous variety of different products such as sodas, yogurts, bread and processed foods. Despite their popularity, these sugar alternatives have been under scrutiny in recent years, with supporting and opposing groups expressing their take on the benefits and draw backs of using them. So are artificial sweeteners a good alternative to sugar, especially to help with weight loss?

The smart use of artificial sweeteners could help you reduce added sugars in your diet, thereby lowering the number of empty calories that you eat. Reducing calories could help you attain and maintain a healthy body weight. In fact, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and American Heart Association (AHA) have given a cautious nod to the use of artificial sweeteners in place of sugar to combat obesity and diabetes.

The FDA has approved six artificial sweeteners: saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, neotame, sucralose and advantame. It has also approved one natural low-calorie sweetener, stevia. Research into the potential health effects of artificial sweeteners has produced mixed results. Some studies have actually linked these products to higher rates of weight gain and diabetes. But others have found an association with weight loss and lower body mass index, and no adverse health effects.

Artificial sweeteners are extremely sweet – hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than table sugar. So people who habitually consume them may end up desensitized to sweetness. Healthful, satiating foods that are less sweet, such as fruits and vegetables, may become unappetizing by comparison. As a result, the overall quality of your diet may decline. The calories removed from the diet by the sugar-for-sweetener swap may sneak back in, in the form of refined carbohydrates and low-quality fats. In other words, use of artificial sweeteners can make you shun healthy, filling, and highly nutritious foods while consuming more artificially flavored foods with less nutritional value.

On the plus side, they can be helpful in losing weight when used judiciously, they are better than sugar for diabetics and they may help promote better oral health. Here is a good summary of the pros and cons of using artificial sweeteners. 

In the meantime, if you choose to incorporate sugar substitutes into your diet, why not stick with natural ones? Stevia (PureVia) is a good choice and comes in liquid, granulated and powdered form.

Five Painless Ways to Cut Calories

 

Eventually everyone wants to cut some calories out of their diet, either because they want to shed a few pounds or try a calorie restricted diet, which recent research suggests can slow aging and add years to your life. Some people manage this without too much drama while for others it becomes a real struggle.

If you prefer to take a structured approach to it, there are now many free and easy to use apps that will make tracking your calorie consumption quick and simple. I use Cronometer (cronometer.com) but Noom, LoseIt, MyFitnessPal and FatSecret all offer good tools. 

Tracking your calories in and out is a sure way to lose weight but if you prefer to just cut back a bit without the accounting here are five ways to cut out calories (mostly empty ones) that won't cramp your lifestyle.

Cut out the sugary drinks. This is probably the single best step you can take to reduce calories. And it is not just regular sodas. Energy drinks, bottled tea and fruit juices are all loaded with added sugar. Switching to diet drinks? Studies show that they do not help you reduce total calories and may even increase sugar cravings in some people. Stick to coffee, tea and water (still or carbonated).

Limit the processed food. Processed foods - especially fast food - are loaded with calories from fat and added sugar (not to mention all that sodium). This includes most canned and many frozen foods at your grocery store. It doesn't mean you can never eat them. Just cut back where you can.

Eat more vegetables. Ok, you knew that was coming. But fresh or frozen, fruits and vegetables are fiber rich and nutrient dense to they help you feel fuller sooner and longer.

Use spices rather than sauces. Spices add flavor without the sugar and fat.

Cook lighter. It is not only what you cook but how you cook it. Instead of frying in oils try air frying, steaming, grilling or broiling instead.

Finally, don't let yourself fall into the trap of thinking that if you can't do it all there is no sense in doing anything. Cutting back a little is better than not at all. Losing a little weight - or even just gaining less - is good.

Reducing Your Colon Cancer Risk

 

We talked yesterday about the importance of regular screening for correctional cancer. Early detection is the best way to a good outcome. If you are over 50 years old (40 years if you have personal risk factors) you need to talk with your primary healthcare provider about it.

That being said, there lifestyle adjustments that you can make that are well proven to lower your risk. Here are five.

Diet. Diets rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains are strongly linked with a lower risk of colorectal cancer. Eating less red meat and avoiding processed meats also helps. Make sure you have adequate vitamin D levels, as low levels are linked to a higher risk. Bonus: This is the same diet advice given for lowering the risk of other cancers, coronary disease and diabetes.

Exercise. Cancer doesn't care if you feel like exercising. In fact it would prefer that you didn't. "Exercise may decrease gut inflammation and improve immune surveillance to prevent cancer," says Dr Vi Chiu, director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Cedars Sinai Clinic and Research Institute in Los Angeles. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise like brisk walking every week. In fact, don't aim for it. Do it.

Manage your weight.  Being overweight increases your risk of developing colorectal cancers because it interferes with the function of various hormones like insulin and leptin. For example, obese people have much higher levels of insulin which can cause abnormal cell growth in the colon. Stop making excuses and get down to your healthy weight.

Drink less alcohol. "Alcohol is a toxin whose byproducts can damage DNA and cause intestinal damage," Dr Chiu tells us. Limit your consumption to no more than one serving of alcohol per day. Less is better. How much is a serving? Google knows.

Stop smoking. Seriously? You need to be told this in 2022? A study of almost 5,000 people published in the British Journal of Cancer found that smokers had an almost 60% higher risk of developing colorectal cancers than non-smokers. Quitting reduces the increased risk to 20%. Staying clean for 20+ years eliminated the added risk entirely. Like you needed yet another reason to stop.

Colorectal cancer is a nasty, painful, terrible way to die. It not only affects you but your family and loved ones. There is a lot you can do to greatly reduce your risk. Just freaking do it for christ's sake.

Walking It Off

 

It is not breaking news that regular exercise has serious health benefits for anyone, anywhere, at any age. Over the past few years, walking and staying active have started to become trendy. Hitting a certain number of steps for the day and corporate walking challenges have helped to improve daily physical activity for lots of people who were previously sedentary. 

A large body of research continues to confirm that regular exercise is beneficial for your overall health, but also that walking regularly itself has several benefits which include improving and maintaining hearth health, helping control weight and combat obesity, supporting joint health, managing blood sugar levels and promoting better mental health. You don't need any special skills or expensive equipment (except perhaps a dog), you can do it alone or with friends and and you can do it when and where it is convenient for you.

To get started walking, all you need is a pair of sturdy walking shoes. Choose a walking route near your home. Or look for a scenic place to walk in your area, such as a trail or on the beach. You can also recruit a friend or family member to walk with you and hold you accountable. And it is easy to add walking into your daily routine. Here are some ideas:

• If you commute, get off your bus or train one stop early and walk the rest of the way to work.
• Park farther away from your office than usual and walk to and from your car.
• Consider walking instead of driving when you run errands. You can complete your tasks and fit in exercise at the same time

Here are some tips for staying safe and comfortable while walking from healthline.com:

• Walk in areas designated for pedestrians. Look for well-lit areas if possible.
• If you walk in the evening or early morning hours, wear a reflective vest or light so cars can see you.
• Wear sturdy shoes with good heel and arch support.
• Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
• Drink plenty of water before and after your walk to stay hydrated.
• Wear sunscreen to prevent sunburn, even on cloudy days.

And if you are here in Colorado like I am, stay aware of the weather. It can change drastically over the course of a 30 minute walk.

Carbs and Weight Loss

 

Do low or ultra-low carbohydrate diets give you an edge losing weight? 

Not according to an extensive review of over 60 clinical trials including amost 7,000 individuals. People lost no more weight on low-carb diets than those on diets including higher levels of carbohydrates. While only 14 of the trials included ultra-low carb diets, they fared no better.

This is not to suggest that low-carb diets do not have high value for some people, especially Type 2 diabetics or prediabetics. But if you are not struggling with controlling your blood sugar levels a low-carb approach give you no particular advantage when trying to lose some weight.

What does work? Consistently consuming fewer calories than you burn. Its not a magic bullet, but it works.

Experts vs Expertise

 

The other day I saw a post on Tic Tok by someone I follow and respect. In this particular post she was on a rant about people who had successfully lost a significant amount of weight, made a video about their experience and were then garnering lots of followers from among other people who were hoping to lose weight. Her objection, it seems, was that these people did not have "credentials" (she does). In other words they had not been certified as weight loss experts by virtue of their education.

Now to be clear, I have nothing against experts. For the many years I was working my consulting business, I was one. But as I re-watched her video I had several problems with her whole premise.

First of all, education and credentials may make you an expert in the sense that they certify that you have taken classes and passed tests. They are a pretty good (but not infallible) indication that you posses some specialized knowledge about something. But that really says very little about your expertise or your practical, hands on experience. Being an expert means you are knowledgeable. Having expertise means you are skilled. Clearly they are closely related but they are not the same thing. Someone can have both, or can have either one without the other.

Second, while experts do indeed posses specialized knowledge, they may or may not be capable of using that knowledge in a practical way, or even communicating it to non-experts. Someone with expertise may not have a deep understanding of the theory underpinning what they do, but they can never-the-less do it well. I doubt that the mechanics who worked on the engine of my airplane were especially well versed in fluid dynamics or thermodynamics. But they sure could keep airplane engines running. It has been shown that actual penal system inmates are more effective at making a positive impression on troubled teens than are licensed physiologists. Knowledge vs skill.

Now I am not suggesting that you steer clear of experts. Experts create new knowledge and advance our understanding. But if you want to lose weight and have a choice between a college educated nutritionist or a certified nutrition counselor who knows how to do it but has never actually had to do it themselves, or someone who has personally lost say 45 pounds and kept it off for a few years, who do you want to talk with?

 

Lose Weight, Lower Cancer Risk

 

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men and women and is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be over 150,000 new cases of colorectal cancer in the United States in 2022. Over 52,000 Americans will die from it this year.

There is no sure way to prevent colorectal cancer. But there are things you can do that can help lower your risk of developing it, such as changing the risk factors that you can control. These include smoking, excessive alcohol use, a diet that is high in red and processed meat, a sedentary lifestyle and being overweight. Each of these factors is a lifestyle choice that you make.

A study completed earlier this year and published in JNCI Cancer Spectrum concluded that losing as little as 1.1 pounds every five years from age 50 through the mid-70s reduces your risk of developing colorectal cancer by 15%. Gaining more than 6.6 pounds increases your risk by 18%.

Weight loss in adulthood was associated with reduced cancer risk, particularly for those who were overweight or obese, whereas weight gain increased risk. These findings underscore the importance of healthy weight maintenance throughout adulthood in preventing colorectal cancers.

Are there seriously people who can not lose a little more than 1 pound every 5 years?

Scaling Up Portion Size

 

On April 15, 1955, McDonald's opened its very first franchised restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. The hamburgers it sold were 1.6 ounces of ground beef. You could add a 2.4 ounce serving of fries and a "large" 7 ounce Coke if you liked. Today that would net you a half pound of beef, 6 ounces of fries and a 30 ounce soda. This sort of serving size creep is by no stretch limited to McDonalds, or to fast food restaurants generally. A plate of Mexican food is 27% larger. Snacks, whether they be potato chips, pretzels or crackers, are 60 percent larger. In 1970, Americans took in an average of 2,160 calories per day. Today, it has skyrocketed to 2,673 daily calories per person. We are now eating 20-25 percent more calories than we did in 1970.

Both plate sizes and portion sizes have expanded before our very eyes. With the introduction of processed, shelf-ready food in combination with new agriculture policies, food became cheaper and easier to get our hands on than it was in the 1970s. And today food is everywhere. If you combine this with a society that is always looking to get more bang for their buck, you end up with price wars over who can give you the most food for the least amount of money.

The results are predictable. In 2018, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity in American adults was 42.4%, and there were no significant differences between men and women among all adults or by age group. The age-adjusted prevalence of severe obesity in adults was 9.2% and was higher in women than in men.

So we are getting bigger (you can't say fatter anymore I guess) right along with the amount of food we are consuming. Unsurprisingly, the more food we are served at one time, the more food we eat. This fact is not lost on the marketing departments of food providers either. If ordering a Medium is your habit, it is probably yesterdays Large and tomorrow's Small.

And it is not only a problem when eating out either. Portions of home made meals are swelling too.

So what can you do to defend yourself? Here are a few tips from Dr. Wendy Scinta, MD, a nationally recognized expert on adult and childhood obesity treatment, and the current president-elect of the Obesity Medicine Association.

- Try to serve or order protein, such as meat or fish, or plant-based food such as tofu, over carbohydrates such as pasta, rice and potatoes.

- When serving food at home, use smaller plates for the main course, and larger ones for the salad. It is well proven that the size of your plate influences the amount of food you end up eating.

- Limit eating out to no more than once per week, and try to cook more healthy meals at home. This may be one of the few silver linings of the Covid pandemic. You may even discover you enjoy it.

- When eating out, do not hesitate to ask for a to-go box and take half of your meal home.

Most of all, increase your awareness. Be aware of portion sizes. Be aware of how hungry you are or aren't. Be aware of what it is you are eating. Being overweight, let alone obese, leads to a long menu of health problems. How do we afford a society where 2/3 of us are?

What Is A Portion Anyway?

 

It may seem like an obvious question, but according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) only 45% of Americans were able to correctly define portion size. About a third of those surveyed confused portion size with serving size. This confusion serves only those selling you your food. So here is the difference. Portion Size is the amount of food you choose or are given to eat at one time. Serving Size is a standardized measure of food quantity established by the Food and Drug Administration for use on food nutrition labels.

While serving sizes have changed little over time, food portions in America's restaurants have increased by 100% to 200% over the last 20 years, a key factor that is contributing to a potentially devastating increase in obesity among children and adults. "Super-sized portions at restaurants have distorted what Americans consider a normal portion size, and that affects how much we eat at home as well," said Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Larger portions mean more calories, which can quickly add up to extra weight.

Food producers take advantage of something researchers call "unit bias" to encourage you to overconsume their product. When your brain sees a unit of food that could reasonably be consumed at one time, say a large plateful of food or a bag of chips, it assumed this is the right amount for a portion - regardless of how much food it may be. Combined with frequent exposure to too-large portion sizes in stores and restaurants, unit bias causes us to consume more food than we need, or even want.

For free guidance on portion sizes that are right for you, check out myplate.gov. Become aware of the serving sizes listed on all food products. Start there and adjust them to your needs. Instead of eating more than a serving, try combining foods: topping your ice cream with berries or nuts, say, or crumbling up some cookies on low fat yogurt. Remember, no one is looking out for your health but you.

Why Not Walk There?

 

When people think of exercise they often think of going to a gym or having some sort of expensive exercise equipment at home that ends up being a clothes hanger. Even walking can conjure up images of special footwear and exercise clothes and forcing yourself out the door on a cold, blustery day. Certainly that is one possibility. But it need not be that way to do you a whole lotta good.

Even just walking for 15 minutes a day can provide you with a surprising list of health benefits. And according to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, as little as 5 hours of walking a week can significantly reduce your risk for breast, kidney and stomach cancers. Any amount of walking (or other exercise for that matter) helps prevent weight gain and reduce cellular inflammation (the culprit behind many chronic health conditions).

But wait! There's more!

Walking is cumulative. You don't have to do it all at once to gain some benefit. Park the car at the edge of the lot and walk to the store. Take the dog out. Take a 5 minute stroll on your lunch break. There are all sorts of ways to build more walking into your day and they all count. What's your excuse for not walking there?

Can You "Target" Where You Lose Weight?

 

I participate in many Groups on Facebook related to weight loss and one of the most common questions I see is something like "How do I lose weight off my butt/gut/thighs/etc?" Is it possible to target certain parts of your body for weight loss? Are there diets or exercises or supplements that will help?

The short answer is "no". This is not what people want to hear of course, and that gives rise to screen after screen of scammers promising that it is possible. Its not. Often called "spot reduction", it is heavily promoted because the demand is so strong. But there is not much evidence to support the idea that it works.

To understand why spot reduction may not be effective, it is important to understand how the body burns fat. The fat in your cells is found in the form of triglycerides, which are stored fats that the body can use for energy. Before they can be burned for energy, triglycerides must be broken down into smaller sections called free fatty acids and glycerol, which are able to enter the bloodstream. During exercise, the free fatty acids and glycerol used as fuel can come from anywhere in the body, not specifically from the area that is being exercised.

A large number of studies have shown spot reduction to be ineffective. For example, one study in which 24 people who only completed exercises targeting the abdominals for six weeks found no reduction in belly fat. Another study that followed 40 overweight and obese women for 12 weeks found that resistance training of the abdominals had no effect on belly fat loss compared to dietary intervention alone. A study focusing on the effectiveness of upper body resistance training had similar results. This 12-week study included 104 participants who completed a training program that exercised only their non-dominant arms. 

Scientific evidence shows that spot reduction is not effective and that fat loss tends to be generalized to the entire body, not the body part being exercised.

What does work? Consuming fewer calories than you burn each day will eventually result in weight loss. Couple this with a program of healthy protein and strength exercises and you will see results. As one example, here is what John's Hopkins Medical School suggests for losing belly fat. And remember, you didn't gain the extra weight over a weekend. Don't expect to lose it that way either.

As for all the incredible products and programs that people are willing to sell you, don't expect them to slim down anything except your wallet.

The Power of Habits

 

About 95% of people who "go on a diet" and successfully lose weight gain all of it back within 3 years, and sometimes more than all of it. The problem is that, as the saying goes, old habits die hard. If they die at all. Most people, as soon as they have reached their goal and their diet is "over", resume their old habits and patterns again - with predictable results.

It is estimated that 40% - 45% of everything we do each day we do out of habit, with little or no conscious thought or intent. This isn't necessarily a bad thing at all. Habits allow us to complete routine, repetitive tasks without having to devote a lot of mental energy to them. Whether it is brushing your teeth, making your morning coffee or driving to work, the odds are that habit plays a big role in getting these things done.

But not all habits are good habits. At one time they may have served us well but no longer do. How and what we eat, whether we have a drink every day when we get home from work or spend two hours on the couch watching TV before bed are all habits. And because they are, we often just do them without choosing to, or even realizing we are. When a habit no longer serves us well, we would do well to be rid of it. Unfortunately, that is much easier said than done.

In his book The Power of Habit, New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg takes us on a deep dive into the world of habits. After exploring the brain biochemistry of habits, Duhigg offers a prescription for getting rid of habits that impact our lives in negative ways: Replace old habits with new habits. Here is a summary of his approach to building new, positive habits. Suffice it to say that intention, effort and time will be required.

Circling back to the 95% of dieters who regained all their lost weight, a better solution for them than a diet would be to examine their habits regarding eating and exercise, and replace those empowering them to mindlessly gain weight with new and better ones. Yes, its harder than going on a temporary diet for a while. But it might also work.

If Not Metabolism, Then What??

 

 

So yesterday I talked about how blaming your metabolism for being overweight is a fools errand. The culprit is your brain, and the way you have let it train you to live. You can't take a magic pill that resets your metabolism and allows you to lose weight while sitting on the couch watching Lipozene commercials. The standard advice to burn more calories than you consume through diet and exercise is still right on target. But for most people it isn't really very helpful (if it was no one would be overweight).

So here are some lifestyle tips from Herman Pontzer, a professor of anthropology at Duke University and author of several books on healthy, sustainable weight loss.

Pick a Diet. Any Diet. The bottom line is that any diet will cause you to lose weight so long as it reduces the number of calories you consume to below the number that you burn each day. Even the high-sugar, high fat Twinkie Diet (done to prove that ANY diet in a calorie deficit will cause weight loss, 27 pounds in 10 weeks, in this case). So what is the best diet for you? The one you can stick with forever. That being said, it is healthiest to eat foods that are filling and nutritious - vegetables, fruit, meat and fish. Any calories that are not burned, no matter what type of food they come from, end up being stored as fat.

Reduce Temptations. If you are craving half a bag of Doritos but there are none in your house, you have a pretty good chance of not eating them. (Yes, you can run to the grocery store, but will you really do that?) On the other hand, if there is a bag in the pantry, odds are it will be half gone in an hour. Don't stock foods you want to avoid.

Alter Your Rituals. A lot of the eating we do is simply habit and ritual and we do it without even really thinking about it. A doughnut or fast food McBlubber Sandwich for breakfast. A sugary desert after dinner. A salty, fat laden snack while watching TV. These are habits, and your brain loves habits. Change the food or change the habit. (Easier said than done yes, but I never said it was easy. Just possible.)

Your Scale is Your Friend. Despite what you may have heard, weighing yourself every day, or at least on a regular schedule, will make your weight loss efforts more likely to pay off. This simple, 10 second action makes you much, much more aware of where you stand (no pun intended) and what you are eating.

Exercise. Ok, you knew this one was coming. But there is a reason it is always on these lists. Beside helping you fend off heart disease, diabetes, cancers, dementia and a long list of other diseases and conditions, it burns calories. That means you can eat more than you could without exercising and still be in deficit and lose weight!

Have a Plan. Most people who try to lose weight succeed. That's right, they do. For a while. But over 90% of them end up regaining the weight they lost, and often more. To avoid regaining those pounds you worked so hard to lose requires a lifelong change of habits. Figure that part out at the start. Or save yourself the effort.

For most of my adult life (am am 70 years old) I was 20# to 50# overweight. Two years ago I adopted this approach, lost the extra weight and have kept it off ever since. Seriously, I am not special. If I can, you can. 

Drop a comment if you want the details of how I did it.

Don't Blame Metabolism

 

People have been blaming metabolism for their difficulty in losing weight for as long as people have been having difficulty loosing weight. As Eric Cartman would always say on South Park, "I'm not fat I'm just big boned." In fact, metabolism is not really to blame.

What is metabolism anyway?

Metabolism is blanket term that describes all the work that your cells do and the energy (in calories) that your body expends doing it. Most of this work involves moving molecules through the cell walls and converting one type of molecule into another through processes like digestion and respiration. The total calories your body burns each day is the sum of two things: the energy you expend at rest simply maintaining your bodily functions (your basal metabolic rate), and the calories your muscles burn when you are engaged in some activity (walking, exercise, looking for the remote). 

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) can vary by 200 calories or so between similar people because of your individual body composition. Tall people burn a little more than short people, lean people burn a bit less than heavier ones. And some people just burn a little more energy than others. But in the scheme of things, that 200 calories is not the challenge when it comes to losing weight.

Blaming a "low metabolism" for difficulty losing weight is a fundamental misunderstanding of how metabolism works. In fact, the culprit is your brain. The hypothalamus specifically. Our bodies have evolved to store excess calories (those consumed above what your BRM and activity burn) as fat. In the past, this was a backup for when food might be scarce. And the hypothalamus worries a lot about that. It doesn't want to let go of the "rainy day" fat supply. It is very good at making you compensate for any increase in energy use (calories burned) by increasing your sense of hunger.

It is fairly well established that people around the world have roughly the same BMR, give or take a little. And yet some societies are lean while others are... well, fat. But to understand why, you don't need to evoke metabolism at all.

The typical processed, packaged foods at our supermarkets have eliminated fiber, protein and just about anything that will make you feel full and satisfied. Sugar, fat, salt and artificial everything are added to light up your brain's reward system (dopamine receptors) when you eat it. And in the USA, food is everywhere.

Despite what promoters of foods and diet plans might say, it is simply not possible to "supercharge", "boost", "ramp up" or "reset" your metabolism. If you want to lose weight, you are going to have to do it the old fashioned way - consume fewer calories than you burn. Fortunately, there are ways to do this that can thwart your hypothalamus. I'll talk about them tomorrow.

Losing Weight is the Easy Part

 

On any given day about 45 million Americans are "on a diet", mostly in order to lose weight. And each year they spend almost $80 Billion on diets, diet plans, programs and memberships. And most of them end up either being diet nomads - wandering from one diet to the next - or just giving up. Do diets really work? Yes. And no.

“People can lose weight on a diet, but usually that weight loss is not sustained,” says Megan Baumler, director of the didactic program in dietetics at St. Catherine University. On average, people regain more than half their lost weight within two years. Within 5 years almost 95% of dieters regain all their lost weight and often more.

But when people say "Diets don't work" they are not technically correct. A more accurate judgement would be to say that 95% of "diets" are ones that people can't or won't stick with. There are hundreds of diet plans –- ketogenic, Atkins, Whole 30, Weight Watchers, low-carb, just to name a few –- and studies have shown they can help people lose weight and lower blood pressure in the short-term. It’s the long-term where people have a hard time keeping the weight off. Keeping the lost weight off requires long term changes to a persons lifestyle and eating behavior and most diets do not succeed in the long term.

Dr. Iesha Galloway-Gilliam, co-director of Hennepin Healthcare’s Comprehensive Weight Management Center says that managing weight is a lifelong process. She points to four categories to think about when it comes to sustainable weight loss:

Nutrition. People should minimize eating ultra-refined processed foods and reduce sugar their intake.

Exercise. While exercise is helpful, it’s not the most potent factor. She says people should exercise because of the health benefits, but have an expectation that is appropriate for their age, health and life situation..

Sleep. Adults need seven to eight hours of restorative sleep. Getting less will make overeating easier.

Stress. Managing stress can better help people change their behaviors like emotional eating.

What this means is that you should think of a "diet" as a noun, not a verb. Your diet is simply the way you eat. Permanently. So the first step towards permanent healthy weight loss is to lose the diet and the diet mindset. Instead think about a Healthy Eating Plan that you can live with and enjoy for the rest of your life. The best answer to permanent weight loss is a lifelong program of everyday healthy, pleasurable eating coupled with regular exercise. To lose weight, eat less and exercise more. How boring. How annoying. How true.

 

The Basic Weight Loss Basics

 

Americans alone spent over $78 Billion in 2019 on diets, supplements, programs and plans claiming to help them lose weight. And yet the average weight of Americans keeps going up. In fact there is no magical, one-size-fits-all solution to the problem of getting rid of excess weight. Losing weight can be challenging for many people, but there is nothing complicated about it.

There are three basic biological realities we must consider if we wish to lose weight.

1. You have to consume fewer calories than you burn through metabolism and activity. That is, you need to eat less, move more or, ideally, both.

2. Foods that take a longer time and consume more energy to digest will make you feel fuller after eating them, hopefully making the "eating less" part easier.

3. Caloric availability refers to the percentage of usable calories that our body obtains by digesting a food.

Foods that take longer to digest and have a lower caloric availability are therefor your allies in the weight loss war. The two types of food that take the longest to digest and have the lowest caloric availability? Fiber and protein.

Fiber is a type of plant-based carbohydrate that is difficult or even impossible for humans to digest. Consuming fiber slows down the rate of digestion and reduces the number of calories actually absorbed.

Protein is, chemically, the most complex of all macronutrients. It requires a lot of time to break down and digest and has a caloric availability of around 70% - meaning that for every 100 calories of protein you consume, you have only 70 for energy. By way of comparison, the caloric availability of fats and carbohydrates is 98% and 90% - 95%, respectively.

So keep it simple. When trying to lose weight make protein about 20% of your total daily calories and try to include as much fiber as possible from fruits, vegetables and whole grains. That is the simple foundation for effective weight loss. If the structure and support that a particular diet or program provides is helpful to you fine, go for it. Just make sure it is something you can sustain over the long term. Otherwise any weight you do lose will surely find you again.

No, Avocados Don't "Scorch" Belly Fat

 

Avocados are good food. One-half of an avocado provides 160 calories, 2g of protein, 8.5g of carbohydrates, and 15g of fat. Avocados are an excellent source of magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K. While most of the calories in an avocado come from fat, they are mostly in the form of healthier monounsaturated fat. Monounsaturated fatty acids or come from plant sources and may be helpful in lowering your LDL or "bad" cholesterol. For this reason, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that you choose foods with monounsaturated fats instead of saturated fat.

But will avocados "scorch belly fat", as a 12-week study funded by the Haas Avocado Board and reported on the "Eat This, Not That" website claimed?

The two main types of fat stores in our bodies are subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is the body fat which is found directly under your skin and is normally pinchable and can be measured with fat/skin fold callipers. Visceral fat (also known as abdominal or belly fat) is found within the abdominal cavity, between the stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys etc., making it much trickier to measure.

The 12-week study on which the "scorching" claim based included 105 adults who were either overweight or obese. One group was provided a daily meal that included an avocado and the other group an equivalent meal that did not. The results? There was no difference in visceral fat between the study and control groups. Ooops! Not what the Avocado Board wanted to hear!

No worries though. Just dice and slice the data in different ways until you find something that you are looking for. In this case, that the women participants who were consuming a daily avocado showed a slight reduction in visceral fat. It was not statistically significant but that did not prevent a press release from claiming that "Women who consumed avocado as part of their daily meal had a reduction in deeper visceral abdominal fat." Nor did it stop the media from publishing breathless headlines about "scorching belly fat".

This is a classic example of a study that starts out with the results it wants, mines the data till it finds it - however meaningless the result may be - and than feeds it to an uncritical and headline hungry media. Always at least glance at the underlying study behind some new amazing claim. Who funded it? How was it conducted? For some unbiased advice on how to interpret nutrition studies, here is a quick read.

Go ahead and eat avocados, they really are good for you. Just don't expect them to "scorch" any belly fat. No matter what the Avocado Board tells you.

If I Can Do It So Can You

I talk a lot on here about weight. Where it comes from, why too much is bad and how to lose it. I base what I say on what I read (I'm a pretty critical reader) but more importantly I base it on my own real life experience. At the start of 2020 I was heavier than I had ever been in my life. So much so that I felt crappy, my joints hurt, I had no energy, was sleeping poorly and could not fit into my pants.

I'd been there before. I knew I could drop some weight just by eating less for a while because I had done it many times before. But this time I wanted to do it sustainably. I didn't want to gain it all back again. The graph above shows my progress from February 2020 to today.

No special diets. No weight loss programs. No gym membership. Just eating a better diet, exercising and burning more calories than I consumed. No tricks, no magic and if I could do it, anyone can.

If you would like more detail on exactly what I did, drop a comment and I am happy to send it your way.

Pros and Cons of BMI

 

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a popular measure of a healthy body weight. It is simple to calculate using any online BMI Calculator and is a useful tool for monitoring your body weight. It isn't perfect, however, and you should understand its strengths and weaknesses.

BMI delineates where normal weight crosses the line to overweight or obesity. An ideal BMI is between 18.5 and 25 (mine is 24). Over 25 is considered to be  overweight and a BMI over 30 is classified as obese. People with a high BMI have been shown to be greater risk of a list of health issues, including metabolic syndrome and diabetes, arthritis, fatty liver disease, high cholesterol and some cancers. But as a single indicator its accuracy and validity can vary a lot.

At BMIs over 30 the risk measure is reasonably accurate but it becomes less reliable below that. That is because BMI only considers height and weight and it can not distinguish between fat and lean muscle weight. So for example, a weightlifter with an unusually high lean muscle mass might show a high BMI.

BMI does not consider the location of fat deposits either. Belly fat tends to be more closely associated with health risks than fat in other parts of the body.

Even ethnicity can affect the interpretation of BMI. Asians tend to have higher health risks at significantly lower BMIs and Caucasians have higher levels of body fat at a given BMI than African Americans.

So is BMI a useful indicator? Yes. Its is easy to calculate and gives you a quick assessment of your weight. Just don't rely on it to the exclusion of other measures and factors.

Sugar. Again.

 

I know everyone is sick of hearing me go on about sugar, but as the evidence of its terrible effects on our health continue to mount what else is there to to but warn you?

Currently, an estimated 1 of 6 deaths in the United States is attributed to coronary heart disease. A study published in JAMA Network Open concluded that adults who got 10% or more of their daily calories from sugar sweetened drinks like soda and fruit juices increased their risk of heart-related death by 44% and the risk of death from any cause by 14%.

Researchers looked at over 13,000 people who were participants in the REGARDS Study (an ongoing, long term study of geographic and racial differences in the incidence of stroke).

As a secondary observational study, the results do not prove that sugary drink consumption caused the increased risk. Only that those consuming the drinks suffered that fate. Other studies associate sugar consumption with increased risk for obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 25g (6 teaspoons) of sugar a day and, for men, 36g (9 teaspoons). A single can of sugar-sweetened cola contains about 39g. 

But, hey, y'all do what you think best.