The Obesity Fix: How to Beat Food Cravings, Lose Weight and Gain Energy

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You'll need to eat a balanced, reduced-calorie diet and exercise regularly while taking liraglutide or semaglutide. Your GP or weight loss adviser will be able to advise you further about the type of exercise you should do and for how long taking into account your current fitness level and individual circumstances. Further information The former top aide to ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has painted a picture of widespread chaos and dysfunction in government during the coronavirus pandemic Orlistat works by preventing around a third of the fat from the food you eat being absorbed. The undigested fat is not absorbed into your body and is passed out with your poo. This will help you avoid gaining weight, and may help you to lose weight. Shortform note: One doctor advises against certain fruits and vegetables. In The Plant Paradox, Steven Gundry argues that lectins, compounds found in some fruits and vegetables as well as meat, dairy, and certain medications, are at the root of many modern health problems, including obesity. He asserts that lectins are toxic and lead to long-term health consequences such as joint pain and obesity. His “PPP” diet involves removing from your diet any foods that contain lectins—including potatoes, grains, beans, and seeds such as chia and quinoa.)

Constant insulin release occurs when we eat too frequently. Insulin levels increase in response to food, and they decrease between periods of eating. If you leave little or no time between periods of eating, you never allow your insulin to return to normal levels. The more frequently you eat, the faster you’ll create insulin resistance in your body.

You can only use orlistat if a doctor or pharmacist thinks it's the right medicine for you. Orlistat is available on prescription from your doctor, or you can buy it at a lower dose from a pharmacy. Products available directly from pharmacies are Alli and Orlos, which must be taken under the supervision of a pharmacist. Weight loss surgery, also called bariatric surgery, is sometimes used to treat people who are severely obese. In practice, this means eating a healthy diet composed of whole foods and engaging in regular, 24- to 36-hour fasts. Whole foods help you feel full and don’t spike your insulin, while regular fasting lowers your insulin levels long enough to reverse insulin resistance. When insulin resistance reverses, your set weight will drop and your body will adjust by burning off fat until you reach that weight. If you like what we do, and you care about our mission, we urgently need your help to enable us to do more work, that changes more lives, and reaches more people. Donations are our exclusive life blood so please donate whatever you can afford. Thank you.

Shortform note: In Fast. Feast. Repeat., Gin Stephens explains that long-term dieting causes “diet brain,” a mindset condition wherein you become disillusioned with dieting as a solution to weight loss. She agrees with Fung that intermittent fasting is the solution to obesity—specifically, she recommends Alternate-Day Fasting and suggests trying various lengths until it feels right for you. While Stephens is not a health professional, she’s run several online support groups that have helped thousands of people overcome obesity.)In addition to what and when you eat, Fung explains that chronic stress contributes to weight gain. When you’re under stress, your body releases cortisol. Cortisol temporarily raises blood glucose levels, which triggers the release of insulin. Chronic stress causes constant cortisol release, which causes constantly elevated blood glucose, which in turn causes increased insulin levels. And as we’ve explained, chronically high insulin drives obesity. It's important to remember that as you lose weight your body needs less food (calories), so after a few months, weight loss slows and levels off, even if you continue to follow a diet.

But the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which looked at the impact of salt reduction for the population in 2013, said the government’s strategy could lead to 20,000 fewer heart deaths each year. Shortform note: Two of the most important fats to consume are omega-3 and omega-6 fats. We need each in the right amount, though today we tend to eat far more omega-6s. Fatty fish, nuts, and eggs are a few of the best sources of omega-3s, while omega-6s are found in everything from soy and corn to red meat, poultry, eggs, and some seeds.) Meal Timing—When You Eat Shortform note: Fatty liver occurs in two varieties: alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The disease progresses through four stages, becoming increasingly severe until it culminates in cirrhosis, a serious condition of liver scarring and failure that can cause jaundice, brain fog, nausea, and weight fluctuations. Studies on rodents have shown that high fructose corn syrup causes fatty liver; however, a 2021 study on pigs, a larger mammal, found that a four-week diet of 60% fructose did not induce fatty liver.) Meat and Dairy Also Stimulate Insulin To emphasize that insulin causes obesity, Fung explains that you can make someone fat by regularly dosing them with insulin. As Fung witnessed, you can see this in diabetic patients who take insulin daily—weight gain is a ubiquitous side effect. Bariatric surgery is usually only available on the NHS to treat people with severe obesity who fulfil all of the following criteria:How to Make Intermittent Fasting a Lifestyle—and Reap the Benefits of Weight Loss and Better Health

Meat: According to Fung, meat is generally associated with weight gain. One study he cites found that for each additional daily serving of meat, subjects gained one additional pound. Fung speculates that this may be due to the industrial production of meats—that is, animals fed with corn and grains, rather than their natural diets, produce meats that are less healthy for consumption. (Shortform note: Grain-fed beef, for example, does have a higher proportion of saturated fat than grass-fed beef. Additionally, factory-farmed meats are often treated with antibiotics and drugs—in effect, eating grain-fed beef means eating the meat of an unnaturally obese cow. Some believe that this is intuitively unwise, though the science is still out.)The use of orlistat in children is only recommended in exceptional circumstances, such as if a child is severely obese and has an obesity-related complication. VLCDs are usually only recommended if you have an obesity-related complication that would benefit from rapid weight loss.