The Science of Weight Management
Weight Management
Overly demanding weight loss regimens, strict calorie restriction protocols or extreme cardiovascular exercise routines may well result in temporary weight loss, but often, eventual, re-weight gain, and thereto due loss of belief and motivation; the frustrating so-called yo-yo-effect.
In general, there seems to be an undue and indiscriminate fixation on calorie intake; observed in isolation, in relation to weight control. We shall do well to consider the sources of food from which we derive energy, since calories are embedded within foods of remarkably variable qualities: a calorie stemming from a colorful fruit; supplies our body with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances, whilst exhibiting minimal metabolic impact, however, a calorie derived from animal tissue; promotes putrefaction in the gastrointestinal tract, and inflammatory responses which may eventually exhaust our metabolism. The sources of our food are therefore far more important to appropriately select in order to to foster healthy weight loss and maintain weight control.
Macronutrients and Weight Loss
Biochemical studies have provided insight into the mechanisms by which the consumption of various macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates) differ in effect on the energy balance in our diet:
Firstly, energy consumed from fat is experienced as being less satiating in comparison with a thereto relative carbohydrate consumption; a high fat calorie ratio in our diet therefore promotes unassuming overconsumption; which, naturally, leads to long-term weight gain.
Secondly, fat is readily absorbed from the intestines; fecal energy loss is therefore much lower with a high fat dietary ratio.
Thirdly, in comparison with fat, carbohydrates produce higher levels of thermogenesis (7, 8, 9) or heat, which simply means a larger quantity of consumed, expendable, carbohydrates will be transformed into heat instead of fat tissue.
A Plant Based Diet
Many specific phytonutrients (plant compounds) beneficially modulate metabolic and endocrine processes, which are connected to weight control. Wherefore we must expand the parameters of our physiological understanding in considering suitable, sustainable, approaches to weight loss. Instead of simply focusing on calorie consumption, we might do well by inculcating pertinent physiological factors affecting and effecting fat accumulation.
Many studies have demonstrated the ability of a low-fat diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, to promote weight loss (1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11).
Interestingly, a high fruit based diet was recently shown to be a particularly powerful dietary approach, whereby weight loss may be induced (2); a weight loss program in which, remarkably, our natural desire for sweetness may thus be fully satisfied, whilst the diet is naturally low in fat wherefore encouraging weight loss, whilst perhaps most importantly; fruits contain an overabundance of protective anti-ageing, anti inflammatory, beautifying, phytonutrients.
In particular, high water content fruits such as oranges, kiwi fruits, melons, pomegranates and berries are particularly powerful weight loss agents (15, 16, 18). Since high water content, relatively low calorie per gram, fruit offers satiation after the consumption of comparatively fewer calories.
Many of the phytonutrients are known to effect weight loss by increasing the breakdown of fat and furthermore decreasing fat accumulation (3, 14).
The need for deliberate calorie restriction, if our fare consists primarily of fruits and vegetables and modest intakes of fat, becomes mostly unnecessary and even practically irrelevant; our blood and lymph flow effortlessly without undue fat in our system; encouraging efficient carbohydrate assimilation, waste elimination and energy-heat generation. Particularly hydrogenated plant based oils and animal fat are to be avoided.
What about protein on a high fruit based diet?
Fruits, particularly whence ripe, contain a significant ratio of readily available, easily extractable, free amino acids (46); the building blocks of protein, which, if employed by the body, eases the process of amino acid assimilation and essential protein construction; a mode of operation which can be argued to be preferable to the toilsome, time consuming, putrefaction promoting, process of digestion and assimilation of proteins derived from animal flesh; such facets of nutrition are unfortunately, rarely, if ever, discussed.
Extraordinary Cases
A small minority of people experience extraordinary difficulties in relation to weight management regardless of diet and lifestyle, such individuals will do well by including specific herbal remedies in conjunction with suitable dietary specifications. Herbal regimens may restore indispensable endocrine function, since, for example, significant thyroid gland weakness, or, in this instance, a condition called: hypothyroidism, is linked to instances of lowered basal metabolic rates; wherefore one may be more susceptible to weight gain (12), regenerating our thyroid gland might thus offer an indispensable key in cases of extreme weight control difficulty.
Symptoms of hypothyroidism include pronounced sensitivity to coldness (an effect of the bodies compromised ability to generate heat via expending excess energy)
Difficulties concerning weight control may also stem from a disadvantageous microbial disposition. Researchers have conclusively observed that the particular composition of bacterial species in the gut of a subject can predict whether that host is overweight; changes in the gut microbiota can, in other words, predict subsequent fluctuations in weight (19, 21).
The mechanisms by which the gut microbiome may influence metabolism and energy homeostasis include regulation of energy uptake from diet, interaction with signaling molecules involved in host metabolism, modification of gut permeability, release of gut hormones, and low-grade systemic inflammation.
The latter condition is associated with a high-fat diet; inducing increased LPS (pro-inflammatory) uptake from the gut (20), furthermore, the ingestion of meat inevitably supplies the body with LPS (28) due to the presence of the bacteria involved in the decay process, hence meat and high-fat diets are to be avoided in order to diminish low-grade systemic inflammation; a condition almost always accompanying people suffering from overweight (27).
Due to our lifelong adherence to the standard western diet, high in unhealthy fat, processed foods and animal products, re-establishing a beneficial, healthy, bacterial gut flora may, depending on our individual, particular, circumstances, require patience, before we may reap and enjoy the lasting, astonishing, benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
Our problems were not generated overnight, wherefore they may not be solved immediately.
Fruits and vegetables are particularly useful in relation to encouraging a gut microbiota promoting slimness (and avoiding illness;), whilst, simultaneously, bestowing upon the adherent numerous other health benefits. This usefulness is due to the fibers and phytonutrients (17, 31, 33) comprising fruits and vegetables, which feed beneficial bacteria; subsequently responsible for producing anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic effects, and immunological, neurological and gastrological rejuvenation in a butyrate-mediated manner (22, 23, 25, 26, 30). Butyrate production is particularly increased with a high-carbohydrate plant based diet and decreased with a generic high-fat diet (29, 30, 47), (another additional feature of butyrate is the potential to epigenetically optimize genetic expression (22, 24), and perhaps realize latent genetic potential).
References
1) Nutrition Research 28 (2008) 233–238. High intake of fruits and vegetables predicts weight loss in Brazilian overweight adults. Daniela Saes Sartorelli, Laércio Joel Franco, Marly Augusto Cardoso
2) Nutrition 26 (2010) 727–734. Effects of fruit consumption on body mass index and weight loss in a sample of overweight and obese dieters enrolled in a weight-loss intervention trial. Kerstin E.E. Schroder Ph.D.
3) J Nutr Biochem. 2012 Jul;23(7):768-76.
Tiliroside, a glycosidic flavonoid, ameliorates obesity-induced metabolic disorders via activation of adiponectin signaling followed by enhancement of fatty acid oxidation inliver and skeletal muscle in obese-diabetic mice. Goto T, Teraminami A, Lee JY, Ohyama K, Funakoshi K, Kim YI, Hirai S, Uemura T, Yu R, Takahashi N, Kawada T.
4) Gerhard GT, Ahmann A, Meeuws K, McMurry MP, Duell PB, Connor WE. Effects of a low-fat diet compared with those of a high–monounsaturated fat diet on body weight, plasma lipids , and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Sep;80(3):668-73.
5) Astrup A, Toubro S, Raben A, Skov AR. The role of low fats diets and fat substitutes in body weight management: what have we learned from clinical studies? J Am Dietetics Assoc 1997; 97(Suppl): 82S – 87S.
6) Bray GA, Popkin BM. Dietary fat intake does affect obesity. Am J Clin Nutr 1998; 68: 1157 – 1173.
7) Stubbs RJ, Harbron CG, Murgatroyd PR, Prentice AM. Covert manipulation of dietary fat and energy density: effect on substrate flux and food intake in men eating ad libitum. Am J Clin Nutr 1995; 62: 316 – 329.
8) Blundell JE, Stubbs RJ. High and low carbohydrate and fat intakes: limits imposed by appetite and palatability and their implications for energy balance. Eur J Clin Nutr 1999; 53(Suppl 1): S148 – 165.
9) Astrup A, Christensen NJ, Simonsen L, Bülow J. Thermogenic role of brown adipose tissue and skeletal muscle in man. In: Müller MJ, Danforth E, Burger AG, Siedentopp U (eds). Hormones and nutrition in obesity and cachexia. Spinger-Verlag: Berlin; 1990. pp 43 – 52.
10) Schaefer EJ, Lichtenstein AH, Lamon-Fava S, McNamara JR, Schaefer MM, Rasmussen H & Ordovas JM (1995) Body weight and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol changes after consumption of a low-fat ad libitum diet. Journal of the American Medical Association 274, 1450–1455.
11) The role of dietary fat in body fatness: evidence from a preliminary meta-analysis of ad libitum low-fat dietary intervention studies. Arne Astrup, Louise Ryan, Gary K. Grunwald, Mette Storgaard, Wim Saris, Ed Melanson and James O. Hill. British Journal of Nutrition (2000), 83, Suppl. 1, S25–S32.
12) The American Thyroid Association. Retrieved 2012-06-18. “Thyroid and weight.”
13) J Agric Food Chem. 2012 Sep 12;60(36):8776-82. Up-regulating the human intestinal microbiome using whole plant foods, polyphenols, and/or fiber.
Tuohy KM, Conterno L, Gasperotti M, Viola R.
14) Phytomedicine. 2008 Oct;15(10):783-92. Lipolytic effect of a polyphenolic citrus dry extract of red orange, grapefruit, orange (SINETROL) in human body fat adipocytes. Mechanism of action by inhibition of cAMP-phosphodiesterase (PDE).
Dallas C, Gerbi A, Tenca G, Juchaux F, Bernard FX.
15) Nutrition. 2012 Jun;28(6):595-604. Obesity: the preventive role of the pomegranate (Punica granatum). Al-Muammar MN, Khan F.
16) Blood orange juice inhibits fat accumulation in mice.
Titta L, Trinei M, Stendardo M, Berniakovich I, Petroni K, Tonelli C, Riso P, Porrini M, Minucci S, Pelicci PG, Rapisarda P, Reforgiato Recupero G, Giorgio M.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2010 Mar;34(3):578-88.
17) High polyphenol, low probiotic diet for weight loss because of intestinal microbiota interaction. Rastmanesh R. Chem Biol Interact. 2011 Jan 15;189(1-2):1-8. Review.
18) Berry Fruits: Compositional Elements, Biochemical Activities, and the Impact of Their Intake on Human Health, Performance, and Disease. NAVINDRA P. SEERAM. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2008, 56, 627–629
19) Obesity and the Microbiota. Gastroenterology, Volume 136, Issue 5, May 2009,Pages 1476–1483. Herbert Tilg , Alexander R. Moschen , Arthur Kaser.
20) Cani PD, Amar J, Iglesias MA, et al. Metabolic endotoxemia initiates obesity and insulin resistance. Diabetes 2007;56:1761–1772.
21) Backhed F, Ding H, Wang T, et al. The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004;101:15718–15723.
22) Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2012 Jun 15;302(12):G1405-15.
Butyrate suppresses colonic inflammation through HDAC1-dependent Fas upregulation and Fas-mediated apoptosis of T cells.
Zimmerman MA, Singh N, Martin PM, Thangaraju M, Ganapathy V, Waller JL, Shi H, Robertson KD, Munn DH, Liu K.
23) Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2012 Sep;15(5):474-9.
Butyrate: implications for intestinal function.
Leonel AJ, Alvarez-Leite JI.
24) Clin Epigenetics. 2012 Feb 27;4(1):4. The epigenetic effects of butyrate: potential therapeutic implications for clinical practice. Berni Canani R, Di Costanzo M, Leone L.
25) Memory impairment induced by brain iron overload is accompanied by reduced H3K9 acetylation and ameliorated by sodium butyrate.
Silva PF, Garcia VA, Dornelles Ada S, Silva VK, Maurmann N, Portal BC, Ferreira RD, Piazza FC, Roesler R, Schröder N. Neuroscience. 2012 Jan 3;200:42-9.
26) Proc Nutr Soc. 2003 Feb;62(1):107-15.
Anti-cancer effects of butyrate: use of micro-array technology to investigate mechanisms. Williams EA, Coxhead JM, Mathers JC.
27) Nestle Nutr Inst Workshop Ser. 2012;73:49-60.
Targeting adipose tissue inflammation to treat the underlying basis of the metabolic complications of obesity. Goran MI, Alderete TL.
28) The capacity of foodstuffs to induce innate immune activation of human
monocytes in vitro is dependent on food content of stimulants of Tolllike
receptors 2 and 4. Clett Erridge. British Journal of Nutrition 2011 105(1), pp 15 23
29) J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Aug 24;59(16):8968-75.
Metabolite production during in vitro colonic fermentation of dietary fiber: analysis and comparison of two European diets.
Tabernero M, Venema K, Maathuis AJ, Saura-Calixto FD.
30) J Clin Gastroenterol. 2006 Mar;40(3):235-43.
Colonic health: fermentation and short chain fatty acids.
Wong JM, de Souza R, Kendall CW, Emam A, Jenkins DJ.
31) PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e42529.
Structural changes of gut microbiota during berberine-mediated prevention of obesity and insulin resistance in high-fat diet-fed rats.
Zhang X, Zhao Y, Zhang M, Pang X, Xu J, Kang C, Li M, Zhang C, Zhang Z, Zhang Y, Li X, Ning G, Zhao L.
32) Int J Obes (Lond). 2012 Mar 13.
The type and quantity of dietary fat and carbohydrate alter faecal microbiome and short-chain fatty acid excretion in a metabolic syndrome 'at-risk' population.
Fava F, Gitau R, Griffin BA, Gibson GR, Tuohy KM, Lovegrove JA.
33) Proc Nutr Soc. 2011 Aug;70(3):389-96.
Plant secondary metabolites and gut health: the case for phenolic acids.
Russell W, Duthie G.
34) Mol Nutr Food Res. 2007 Sep;51(9):1152-62. Common tea formulations modulate in vitro digestive recovery of green tea catechins.
Green RJ, Murphy AS, Schulz B, Watkins BA, Ferruzzi MG.
35) Cytotechnology. 2007 Dec;55(2-3):135-42.
In vitro and in vivo anti-allergic effects of 'benifuuki' green tea containing O-methylated catechin and gingerextract enhancement.
Maeda-Yamamoto M, Ema K, Shibuichi I.
36) Effects of Green Tea and EGCG on Cardiovascular and
Metabolic Health. J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):373S-388S. Wolfram S.
37) Obesity and thermogenesis related to the consumption of caffeine, ephedrine, capsaicin, and green tea Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 292: R77–R85, 2007. Diepvens K. et al.
38) World J Gastroenterol. 2009 Jul 7;15(25):3073-85. A systematic review of the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines used in the treatment of obesity. Hasani-Ranjbar S, Nayebi N, Larijani B, Abdollahi M.
39) Phytother Res. 2009 Feb;23(2):220-5. Antiobesity effects of wild ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) mediated by PPAR-gamma, GLUT4 and LPL in ob/ob mice. Mollah ML, Kim GS, Moon HK, Chung SK, Cheon YP, Kim JK, Kim KS.
40) Neuroscience. 2012 Jan 27;202:342-51.
Suppression of local inflammation contributes to the neuroprotective effect of ginsenoside Rb1 in rats with cerebral ischemia.
Zhu J, Jiang Y, Wu L, Lu T, Xu G, Liu X.
41) Br J Pharmacol. 2012 Jul;166(6):1872-87. Antidepressant-like effects of ginsenoside Rg1 are due to activation of the BDNF signalling pathway and neurogenesis in the hippocampus.
Jiang B, Xiong Z, Yang J, Wang W, Wang Y, Hu ZL, Wang F, Chen JG.
42) Obes Rev. 2011 Jul;12(7):e573-81.
The effects of catechin rich teas and caffeine on energy expenditure and fat oxidation: a meta-analysis.
Hursel R, Viechtbauer W, Dulloo AG, Tremblay A, Tappy L, Rumpler W, Westerterp-Plantenga MS.
43) Hibiscus sabdariffa polyphenolic extract inhibits hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and glycation-oxidative stress while improving insulin resistance.
Peng CH, Chyau CC, Chan KC, Chan TH, Wang CJ, Huang CN.
J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Sep 28;59(18):9901-9.
44) Momordica charantia (bitter melon) inhibits primary human adipocyte differentiation by modulating adipogenic genes.
Nerurkar PV, Lee YK, Nerurkar VR.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010 Jun 29;10:34.
45) J Ethnopharmacol. 1998 Feb;60(1):43-51.
Effect of the Yang tonifying herbs on myocardial beta-adrenoceptors of hypothyroid rabbits.
Min X, Xiaohui Z, Zhaixiang D, Ming O.
46) Salunkhe, D.K., Bolin, H.R., Reddy, N.R. (eds) (1991). Storage, processing, and nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables. Volume I. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. CRC Press, Boston, MA, USA.
47) Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Feb;73(4):1073-8.
Reduced dietary intake of carbohydrates by obese subjects results in decreased concentrations of butyrate and butyrate-producing bacteria in feces.
Duncan SH, Belenguer A, Holtrop G, Johnstone AM, Flint HJ, Lobley GE.
48) Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Nov;16(11):2481-8.
Drinking water is associated with weight loss in overweight dieting women independent of diet and activity. Stookey JD, Constant F, Popkin BM, Gardner CD.
49) Prunet-Marcassus B et al. Melatonin reduces body weight gain in Sprague Dawley rats with diet-induced obesity. Endocrinology 144: 5347–5352, 2003.
50 Calif Med. 1971 Aug;115(2):38-46. Changing concepts on the control of growth hormone secretion in man. VanderLaan WP.
51) Sleep. 1984;7(4):339-46. Effect of physical fitness and body composition on sleep and sleep-related hormone concentrations.
Paxton SJ, Trinder J, Shapiro CM, Adam K, Oswald I, Gräf KJ.
