Category: Weight Loss

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).

The drink can also reduce blood pressure and lead to better cholesterol levels.

Replacing just one sugary soda with water can lead to weight loss and improve health, research suggests.

One study has linked drinking a pint of water before every meal to losing five times as much weight.

Another has found that switching to water can lead to a loss of 5 percent of body weight.

Changing to water also decreases fasting glucose levels, which is better for weight loss and general health.

Drinking water is one of the most popular weight loss techniques used by people.

Drinking water works by making people feel more full before a meal, so that they eat less.

Water works as a natural appetite suppressant and may aid in the burning of calories and fat.

The current study looked specifically at additional calories consumed in sugar-sweetened sodas, energy drinks and sweetened coffee.

Switching these to water is not only linked to weight loss, but also to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Dr Kiyah J. Duffey, the study’s first author, said:

“Regardless of how many servings of sugar-sweetened beverages you consume, replacing even just one serving can be of benefit.”

For the study, researchers modelled the effect of replacing an 8-ounce sugar-sweetened drink with water.

They found that this one substitution could decrease daily calorie intake and reduce obesity.

Dr Duffey explained:

“We found that among U.S. adults who consume one serving of sugar-sweetened beverages per day, replacing that drink with water lowered the percent of calories coming from drinks from 17 to 11 percent.

Even those who consumed more sugary drinks per day could still benefit from water replacement, dropping the amount of calories coming from beverages to less than 25 percent of their daily caloric intake.”

Switching a sugary drink to a non-sugary alternative will also reduce blood pressure and lead to better cholesterol levels.

The study was published in the journal Nutrients (Duffey & Poti, 2016).

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).

The easy technique can help to double weight loss.

The more a person weighs themselves, the more weight they lose, research finds.

Similarly, keeping a note of what is eaten is consistently linked to weight loss by studies.

Taking a quick note of daily diet and exercise habits has been shown to double weight loss by one study.

The process of making notes does not have to be complicated — in fact, most people find it easy.

Simply sending a text message or email is enough.

Noting down details of diet and exercise probably works by making people more aware of their own habits.

Habits tend to work automatically and outside our conscious awareness.

Note-taking and weighing draw attention to those habits so they can be consciously addressed.

The current study involved 975 people who were tracked over twelve months.

People in the study were using internet-enabled scales.

The results showed that people who stepped on their scales more often lost an average of an extra 2 pounds.

Dr Matthew Sperrin, the study’s first author, said:

“In this study we wanted to know more about the ways that engagement with weighing scales indicates the users’ behaviour, something that is only possible with recent advances in technology.”

Dr Sperrin explained the results:

“…we were able to spot a strong correlation between self-weighing and weight-loss, particularly that the more a patient weighed themselves, the more weight they were shown to lose.

Is it the weight change that encourages people to more closely monitor their weight or is it the monitoring that encourages the weight change?

This is something we would be keen to investigate further now that we know that the information gathered by connected health devices can be re-purposed and meaningfully used for the purpose of research.”

The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (Sperrin et al., 2016).

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).