Weight loss: What science says really works

Carole has been trying to lose weight for the past two years. She has tried weight watchers,  all number of different supplements but without any significant success. She has a very stressful family and work life leaving little time for exercise and has problems sleeping.

In 2014, 20.2% of Canadians aged 18 and older, roughly 5.3 million adults, were classified obese. (1) In 2013, it was estimated that Canadians spend nearly 7 billion dollars on weight loss products and programs. (2) There is much hype what works for weight loss but what does the current scientific research say.

What is best Diet for weight loss?

In a scientific paper recently published in the Lancet looking at the effectiveness of different diets for long-term weight loss, the researchers concluded that when compared with diets, the evidence does not support low-fat diets over other diets for long-term weight loss. (3) Other findings included:

• Low-carbohydrate diets led to significantly greater weight loss than did low-fat interventions.
• Low-fat diets did not result in differences in weight change compared with other higher-fat diets.
• Higher-fat weight loss diets led to significantly greater weight loss than low-fat interventions.

These findings go some way to dispelling the idea that low-fat diets are an effective intervention for long-term weight loss. On the contrary, it appears that a high fat, low carb is a better approach based on current evidence. This conclusion is backed up by findings from a study looking at the effect of a Mediterranean, high-fat, low carbohydrate diet, which found it had a significant impact on weight loss. (4)

What about exercise?

There is a commonly held belief that you need to do exercise to lose weight but is this true. When looking at the scientific data increasing exercise without any other changes has a modest effect on weight. (5) However, moderate exercise combined with other lifestyle interventions clearly had a significant influence on weight. (6)

Does sleep affect weight?

There is robust scientific research to show that poor sleep has a negative effect on overall health as well as weight. (7) A review paper found that reduced sleep duration is a causal factor of weight gain. (8)

What about stress?

While stress has a negative impact on health, there is only weak evidence that it causes weight gain. (9)

In conclusion

Lifestyle factors such as poor diet, sleep and lack of exercise can cause weight gain. When considering a weight loss program, the evidence points to one that includes a Mediterranean high-fat, low carb style diet, moderate exercise, and adequate sleep. While there is only weak evidence that stress alone causes weight gain it would be foolish to ignore because of the negative effects stress has on health. (10)

Disclaimer

This article in not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

How stress can affect your digestion

Prolonged stress can be toxic to your digestive health, which is true for many of my clients that come to my functional medicine practice.

Meet Helen

Helen 40 is suffering from digestive issues that started six months previously. Her symptoms include abdominal cramps, alternating constipation and diarrhea, bloating, gas and heartburn. She has a full-time job working for the federal government and is a mother of two young children. She describes her diet as poor because she has to rely on many processed products and to eat out. Lack of time also means she infrequently exercises, socialises rarely and has not played her piano in a year. Her husband is often away on business leaving Helen to manage the home. She usually thrives on stress but since her last child was born she feels less able to cope with her busy home and work life. She suspects that the increased stress may have triggered her symptoms but is not sure how.

Scientists have identified some ways in which stress affects digestion.

Stress has been shown to cause:

• Increased Intestinal Permeability or Leaky Gut, which would predispose her to develop food sensitivities.
• Reduced gut immunity and reduced stomach acid production, predisposing her to the possibility of infections.
• Reduced gut motility, predisposing her to bacterial overgrowth in the small intestines.

Food sensitivities, gut infections and bacterial excess are potential causes of Helen's symptoms, but the root cause of these is her chronic stress. Without addressing the root, treating the other issues may prove a futile exercise.

Establishing that stress is the root of Helens digestive issues is easy, trying to untangle her from its grasp is the tricky part. Many people feel trapped in their lives and making any changes can seem monumental.

Change must happen however to begin the process of healing which means slowly unpicking stress making behaviours and replacing them with stress reducing or managing behaviors. For Helen, initial changes could be walking, catching up with her friends and sitting down at her piano.

Finally

I hope you found these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

9 steps to a healthier you!

Martine 44, works for Stats Canada. She is married with two children, Samantha 13 and Gordon 11. Both play high level soccer which means that both her husband Graham and her are kept extremely busy ferrying them both to practice sessions and games. This combined with a demanding job and shouldering much of the home work, as her husband works late, Martine has little time for exercise, socializing, or pursuing her hobby of painting. 

Her full life has also meant that her diet has suffered since she has little time in the mornings except to grap her cup of coffee from Tim Hortons and a bagel. Lunches are often a quick sandwich and  while suppers often consist of some form of processed protein and frozen vegetables. By the time supper is finished and cleared away, Martine is usually exhausted and usually collapses in front of the TV with a glass of wine, which can often turn into 2 or 3. She manages to get to bed by about 11.30 most nights but usually takes about an hour before she goes to sleep. She sleep well but getting up for a work day has become increasingly hard as does not feel rested. 

Her energy picks up after her coffee but after lunch she is usually tired. Over the last year she has put on nearly 20lbs, has started to suffer from seasonal allergies and has been catching colds on a regular basis. 

On a recent visit to her doctor, Martine was horrified to find out that she had high blood pressure and cholesterol were high, her fasting blood sugar indicated that she was pre diabetic, and she had blood markers for autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's)

Like thousands in Canadian today, the demands of career and family life has meant that Martine has taken her good health for granted and she has now become part of the alarmingly growing statistics of sick Canadians:

• In 2008/09, almost 2.8 million Canadians (6.8%) were living with diabetes.
• Almost 16,000 Canadians die each year as a result of a heart attack.
• 6 million Canadians (1 in 5) suffer from high blood pressure, representing 19% of the population.
• Obesity among Canadians tripled between 1985 and 2011 and it is estimated that about 21% will be clinically obese by 2019.
• Approximately, 2 million Canadians are affected by an autoimmune disease.

Up until she had started having children Martine had always been extremely fit, and full of energy and life. With this disturbing news she looked and felt 54, not 44, and was determined to get back her health but how?

To understand how Martine can take back her health we need to understand the fundamental reason why her health is failing -  mismatch!

Our bodies have not adapted to the diet and lifestyle we have in the modern world today. When animals are taken out of their natural habitat and caged into a zoo they become less healthy and they have a shorter life span. Zoologists have recognized this for sometime and as such have tried to recreate the animals diet and environment as much as possible. Our bodies are still much adapted to the diet and environment we lived in as hunter gatherers and like animals that are have been caged in a zoo, our bodies are caged by our modern diet and lifestyle.

To help Martine get back her health like in the zoos she needs to recreate, as much as possible, that ancient diet and lifestyle.

Here is a brief outline of the 9 steps Martine needs to take in order to get back her healthier self:

• Just eat real food and avoid food toxins.
• Nourish your body with the right foods.
• Think about the quality of the food and drink you consume.
• Get better sleep.
• Manage your stress.
• Get moving!
• Start enjoying yourself more!
• Get back into nature.
• Spend more time with the people you like and love!

If you can relate to Martine and some or all of her health issues then start to think about the above steps and about how you can begin to integrate them into your life. Over the next 9 weeks, I will write about each in more detail with details on why these steps are so important and practical tips on how to implement them.

Finally

I hope you found these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.