April 28, 2024
Struggling to lose weight? This one’s for you.
Categories:
Lifestyle, Women's Health
This is one of those topics that hit very close to home and personal health journey- how can we lose that stubborn weight? And are there any natural supplements that aid in weight loss? As an adult that struggled with childhood, adolescent and adult obesity, I hear you loudly and clearly. In this post, focus a gut health and feeding your gut microorganisms through things like apple cider vinegar, prebiotics and fermented foods to lose weight and discuss a recently published question, is a calorie a calorie? I am super excited about this topic as I believe it can add immense value to your life so without delay, let’s jump right into it!
The weight loss industry is worth 260 billion USD and is estimated to be at 532 billion USD by 2032. Each shareholder always postulates that their product is the best and that a silver bullet- usually their product- can solve all our problems. Now before we get into the juice of this I need to make one thing clear- there is no silver bullet, no one solution that causes permanent and significant weight loss.
Even bariatric surgery has a long term failure rate of 10%. In other words, even the surgery where a portion of the stomach is cut away forever is not a silver bullet. But with the emerging evidence surrounding gut health, there are a lot of promising solutions. Before we get there, let us discuss two macronutrients we know and desperately try to avoid (wrongly so) on our weight loss journeys: Fats & Carbohydrates.
So calories in versus calories out? YES. BUT, a calorie is not a calorie. Dr Robert Lustig a neuroendocrinologist professor in the USA and he has published research that shows the calories you consume are not all absorbed. A fat is not a fat.
A good example he has made famous is regarding 9 calories of Fats. 9 calories of omega 3 is cardiopreotective, neuroprotective and is directly absorbed into the blood stream. Versus 9 calories of trans fats which is a highly processed form of fat commonly found in easily accessible foods which our bodies CANNOT process because we do not have the enzyme required to break down the molecule and turn it into energy. This then accumulates in our arteries, brains and hearts and is directly linked to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
With regards to CARBOHYDRATES- a sugar is not a sugar.
Glucose is the energy of life. Every single one of our ten trillion cells burns glucose for energy. Our brains are solely reliant on glucose to perform its functions @ 5grams per hour. Our bodies desperately need glucose so if we don’t consume enough, our bodies will make it from the foods we consume, particularly free fatty acids. We also need glucose for hormonal balance and the formation of hormones. Glucose causes increase potency of hormones, including thyroid hormones, oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
Fructose, on the other hand- also a carbohydrate- is the enemy of life. This extremely sweet molecule is found in 73% of all foods in the food industry. It is an addictive sugar, and activates the nucleus accumbens or reward centre for the brain, in the same way that cocaine, heroine, nicotine do. We do not need it. What is an astonishing fact is that since the beginning of the last century, our consumption of fructose has increased by 25 fold.
Not only is it addictive, but ironically, it inhibits energy production. Fructose inhibits 3 enzymes that enable normal mitochondrial function. For those that did not have biology in high school, mitochondria is the energy producing organelle of a cell. So in other words, what was previously thought to provide energy to cells, especially because it is a carbohydrate, actually inhibits energy production. Worse of all, fructose has a cumulative effect. So one packet of a highly processed food isn’t going to kill you. But a decade worth of consistently consuming these foods will increase your co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol etcetera.
Just to touch on the macronutrients protein- why were a fan in term so of weight loss efforts is…
10% of everything we eat goes to maintaining normothermic temperatures.
When we consume protein dense foods, more energy is required to convert it into ATP and maintain normothermic temperatures. So when we eat high protein dense foods, we burn more energy turning it into usable energy than carbohydrates.
Also protein in terms of muscle in the body is more metabolically active, so it burns more energy than fat. If you are actively building muscle and struggling to lose weight, please keep going. Muscle weighs more than fat and is more metabolically active so energy burning than fat. Exercising to build muscle has incredible long term benefit. This is sort of the thought behind muscle centric medicine which has incredible long term anti-aging and pro health benefits.
One of the hot topics in medicine and the media at the moment is this thing called gut health.
As we pivot from the calories we consume onto our gut health, I really do want to address and answer the question- what supplements can we take to aid in weight loss?! Not just any, only those that are actually effective and have evidence to back their use. Most of the emergening research is focusing on gut health. So say we’ve been on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet and it worked well at first, then we plateau. Why?
Well, it mostly has to do with the change in our gut microbiota. If you are not actively using that protein as in weight lifting and strength improving exercises, that protein remains unabsorbed in your gut where it disturbs and disrupts trillions of microorganisms that are collectively known as microbiota.
These microorganisms need to be fed and kept alive, almost like a tamagotchi (for any of my millennial friends listening). These little organisms are responsible for absorbing nutrients, creating immune function and even creating hormones that influence our mood such as serotonin and dopamine. Around 70% of our mood hormones are formed in the gut. They are also responsible for our metabolism, along with various other controls. So if we aren’t feeding them and keeping them healthy, we’ll end up with things like leaky gut syndrome, depression, weight gain and fluid retention, amongst other things.
The bad news is most of the food we consume, even when low calorie, do not feed these organisms, and they get upset and will either cause us to maintain our weight OR gain weight. So in order to lose weight, we need to nurture and take care of these organisms.
How do we support these organisms for weight loss?
Increase fibre intake- if we had to bring a favourite meal to your tamagotchi microorganisms, it would contain just fibre.
Diversify the diet
Implement probiotics
Add fermented foods
Limit alcohol, sugar and processed foods- the natural killers for good gut health
Prioritize sleep and stress management (more on sleep coming soon…)
What about supplements we can take with proven weight loss benefits?
The first one is commonly found in most of our kitchen cupboards- apple cider vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar
Causes delayed gastric emptying, increased utilization of glucose, and increased lipolysis- which is the breakdown of fat. It has no side effects, and effective weight loss and fat loss results are seen with as little as 5mL per day.
Fulvic acid
Fulvic acid is a compound that forms when foods break down. It might block reactions in the body that cause allergy symptoms with its interaction with histamine release and prevents water retention ands swelling. It has natural antiviral, antibacterial and anti fungal effects, is a major anti-oxidants that scavenges free radicals, so can effectively treat fatigue, and most importantly ito our talk today, it supports gut health. Depending on which brand and where you are getting it, 15mL: or two capsules are the recommended daily dose.
Prebiotics
Is often a specialized fibre that promotes the activity, growth and health of gut microbiota. E.g. inulin, pectin, beta-glucans.
Probiotic
These are the Friendly, good and healthy bacteria that are killed when taking antibiotics. So if you have a severe infection necessitating antibiotics that your Dr has prescribed, please always take a probiotic at the same time. Synbiotic is the combination of a pre and pro biotic.
Collagen
Is the most abundant protein found in the human body and production thereof, as we know, starts decreasing from age 25. Collagen is essential for skin structure, bone structure, joint health and cartilage. Our favourite supplement also helps the gut heal.
Collagen has essential amino acids acids that assist in repairing the gut lining damaged by the foods mentioned earlier. Best of all, it feeds the gut microbiome by providing essential nutrients. Thus our gut microbiota is able to effectively absorb nutrients, process foods, maintain glycemic control and helping us lose that weight we have been struggling with
There you have it. I wish I knew this twenty years ago, but that is the joy of medicine and how the research keeps evolving and enlightening us to natural solutions. It would mean the world to me if you could share this with people in your world that it might help. I love love love hearing from you! Please send me a comment and let me know what other topics you’d love to know more about. Till then, take care. 🙂
About Us
Medical Doctor Specialising in Medical Aesthetics