Category Archives: Weight Loss

Greek salad with canned salmon

The parts of your body that aren’t fat tissue are collectively called fat-free mass or lean mass. Fat-free mass includes muscle, organs, bones, water, connective tissue, etc. Reduced-calorie diets are often linked to reduction of body components—like muscle—other than the desired loss of excess fat.

One proven effective way to preserve muscle mass on a reduced-calorie diet is to consume adequate protein. Judicious exercise may also help.

I haven’t read the full article below, and probably won’t. For what it’s worth, they say fat-free mass can be preserved during a very low-carb ketogenic diet via adequate intake of vitamin D, leucine, and whey protein. D you think maybe they’re selling a particular supplement?

The abstract isn’t very well written. Or is it the title that’s misleading.

Abstract

The loss of fat free mass (FFM) that occurs during a weight loss secondary to low-calorie diet can lead to numerous and deleterious consequences. We performed a review in order to evaluate the till-now evidence regarding the optimum treatment for maintaining FFM during low-calorie diet. This review included eligible studies. In order to maintain FFM during a low-calorie diet, there are various diet strategies: adopt a very-low carbohydrates ketogenic diets (VLCKD) and take an adequate amount of specific nutrients (vitamin D, leucine, whey protein). As regard the numerous and various low-calorie diet proposals for achieving weight loss, the comparison of VLCKD with prudent low-calorie diet demonstrated that FFM was practically unaffected by VLCKD. This is possible for numerous mechanisms, involving insulin and insulin like grow factor-I – growth hormone (IGF-I-GH) axis, and which acts by stimulating protein synthesis. Considering protein and amino acids intake, an adequate daily intake of leucine (4 grams/day), and whey protein (20 grams/day) is recommended.

Regarding vitamin D, if the blood vitamin D has low values (<30 ng/ml), it is mandatory that an adequate supplementation is provided, specifically calcifediol because in the obese subject, this form is recommended to avoid seizure in the adipose tissue: 3–4 drops/day or 20–30 drops/week of calcifediol are generally adequate to restore normal 25(OH)D plasma levels in obese subjects.

Source: Current Opinion On Dietary Advice In Order To Preserve Fat Free Mass During A Low-Calorie Diet – ScienceDirect

I had never heard of that obesity-califidiol connection.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Almost no fiber in these cookies

ABSTRACT

Background

The effects of dietary composition on weight loss are incompletely understood. In addition to energy intake, fiber intake, energy density, macronutrient composition, and demographic characteristics have all been suggested to contribute to weight loss.

Objective

The primary aim of this analysis was to assess the role of dietary fiber as a predictor of weight loss in participants who consumed calorie-restricted diets (−750 kcal/d from estimated energy needs) for 6 mo, using data from the POUNDS Lost (Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies) Study—a randomized trial that examined the effects of calorie-restricted diets varying in macronutrient composition on weight loss in adults.

Methods

Data were randomly partitioned to a training data set (70%) in which the effects of fiber and other weight-loss predictors were identified using adjusted Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator and model averaging. The retained predictors were then fit on the testing data set to assess predictive performance.

Results

Three hundred and forty-five participants (53.9% female) provided dietary records at baseline and 6 mo. Mean ± SD age and BMI for the full sample was 52.5 ± 8.7 y and 32.6 ± 3.9 kg/m2, respectively. Mean ± SD (99% CI) weight change at 6 mo for the full sample was −7.27 ± 5.6 kg (−8.05, −6.48 kg). The final, best fit model (R2 = 0.41) included fiber, energy density, fat, age, adherence, baseline weight, race, and changes from baseline in carbohydrate, fiber, PUFA, and MUFA intake, but the most influential predictor was fiber intake (⁠β̂  = −0.37; P < 0.0001). In addition, fiber was strongly associated with adherence to the macronutrient prescriptions (P < 0.0001). Interactions between race and adherence, age, baseline weight, carbohydrate, energy density, and MUFAs were also retained in the final model.

Conclusion

Dietary fiber intake, independently of macronutrient and caloric intake, promotes weight loss and dietary adherence in adults with overweight or obesity consuming a calorie-restricted diet.

Source: Fiber Intake Predicts Weight Loss and Dietary Adherence in Adults Consuming Calorie-Restricted Diets: The POUNDS Lost (Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies) Study | The Journal of Nutrition | Oxford Academic

Steve Parker, M.D.

Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords. com.

P.D. Mangan posted a good article on the dangers of rapid weight loss. I agree with him that a max of 1–2 pounds a week is a reasonable weight-loss goal, and that a bit more than that is OK in the first week but highly inadvisable for the long run. Most folks do well if they settle into one pound a week.

From P.D.:

Slower Metabolism

A slower metabolism is another side effect of losing weight too quickly; since your body’s metabolism is essentially determining how much fuel you are needing to burn every day based on your activities and food intake, dropping calories out of your diet can considerably lower your metabolism. While this might not seem like a big deal, it is! A lower metabolism essentially causes your body to burn fewer calories each day than it typically would, and some research even shows up to a 23% decrease in calories that are burned each day. This doesn’t always go away when you stop losing weight quickly, either, your metabolism might take a while to get back on track and burning appropriately, which could affect your health and weight for a long time.

Muscle Loss

Lastly, your body could end up losing muscle as part of your quick weight loss routine. Granted, eliminating calories from your diet will have you lose weight, yes, but aside from a lot of that weight being water, some of it can also be muscle. A recent study done with people on a 500 calorie diet versus a 1250 calorie diet showed significant results; by the end of the trial, the participants on the 500 calorie diet lost six times more muscle than those on the 1250 calorie diet – an astounding loss in muscle in just a five-week span of time.

Source: Risks of Losing Weight Too Quickly – Rogue Health and Fitness

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Garlic Naan, a type of flat bread

All my life, I’ve loved bread.  As a kid I ate bread with every meal, mostly the commercial white- or brown loaves (called “government bread” in South Africa because the price was kept low by a combination of both subsidy and quota production).  The nearest equivalent today would be the Wonderbread/ Hostess/ generic breads found in supermarkets (U.K. equivalent:  Hovis/ Warburtons/ store brands).

Gradually as I got older and my taste buds matured, I discovered bakery breads, my taste for which became exacerbated by visits to Europe and exposure to wares of the boulangerie  and bäckerei… oy, my mouth waters just thinking  about the Viennese brötchen  I’d gobble down with my morning coffee.

All went well, until my doctor told me that I needed to change my diet (his exact words:  “If you don’t lose weight, you’re going to die, you fat bastard”).  There were other words related to my extreme paucity of exercise (“Get up off your fat ass and start exercising, too.”)

I know that diets don’t work;  only permanent changes in lifestyle and eating habits do.  And the only change that seems to work without being too much work is getting rid of the bad things which cause you to gain weight, chief offenders being starches (grains) and sugars.

Source: The Problem With Bread – Splendid Isolation

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