Shedding weight is one of, if not, the biggest health conundrums of the twenty first century that is plagued by worldwide epidemics of diabetes and obesity. Certain people take the unhealthy route and resort to quick-fix solutions such as liposuction and anti-obesity medication, which may not always be the safest alternative.
Consistent effort and commitment to weight-loss goals through natural and safe methods are important to practice in order to prevent any adverse reactions. A recent article by highlights several natural remedies backed by recent scientific research that helps people lose weight fast. Learn about them below.
Burn the Calories Consumed: Restricting calories is not always helpful for long-term weight maintenance if it is not accompanied by exercise. A new study by the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center (AHWC) revealed that people who exercised to maintain weight lost 300 more kcal per day.
Timing of the Exercise and Food Matters: A study published by the The International Journal of Obesity found that people who exercised earlier during the day, before 3 p.m., had more chances of losing weight. One of the reasons being that the group remained slightly more active post-exercise during the day. This reduced their appetite by 100 calories daily on average.
Another study analyzed the timing of meals in two groups of people. It found that people who had their last meal at 2 p.m. had improved metabolism. However, in terms of the calories burnt, the differences were very small in the group that had their last meal at 8 p.m., but they had lower levels of the hunger hormone, ghrelin. Following the body’s natural circadian rhythm in dieting helps
Bioactive Compounds: Studies have proven that bioactive compounds, namely flavonoids and phenols, could be used in the effective management of obesity. Similarly, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) compound present in green tea and anthocyanins from Hibiscus Sabdariffa have both shown potential to treat obesity in both in-vivo and in-vitro studies. Researchers noted that the dosages of the compounds have to be safe while more studies still need to be carried out for further verification.
Lemon, Black Seed and Nutgrass: Oral administration of the three plant extracts show some potential of having an anti-obesity effect on human beings as well. A study was conducted on mice induced with progesterone-related obesity. Citrus Limon (lemon) and Nigella Sativa (nutgrass)were fed in doses of 400 mg per kg of body weight. It reduced the lipid profile and food intake of the mice.
Keto Diet: A study conducted on the U.S. military soldiers found that if they followed the ketogenic diet for three months, it resulted in a 17 pound weight loss. The soldiers had also lost 44 percent of their belly fat and had a 48 percent improvement in their insulin sensitivity. Since the keto diet involves restriction of carbohydrates, it was compared to people whose diet was composed of 40 percent of carbs, in one study. Their health parameters had not improved by consuming so many carbs, hence proving the usefulness of the keto diet.
Black Pepper: Another surprising ingredient, black pepper, commonly used for seasoning. has the ability to keep obesity at bay, new research published this year revealed. A particular compound called piperonal, reduces the negative consequences of a high-fat diet in rats.
In a study based in India, animals given the black pepper extract as a supplement for six weeks showed significant improvement in terms of their sugar levels, bone density and body-fat percentage, in comparison to the animals who were not on the supplement.
Bitter Melon: Oil that is extracted from the seeds of bitter melon is rich in conjugated linoleic acid, which has shown to have some anti-obesity potential in animal studies. Complementing a fatty food diet with supplements of 10 grams per kg of the animal’s body weight led to the animals losing more weight than the group that was only consuming a regular high-fat diet.
Aloe Vera Gel or Supplements: A study published in Nutrition said that people suffering from obesity and on the borderline of diabetes improved their health after eight weeks of taking the aloe vera gel complex. However, more longitudinal studies are needed to verify this and investigate further.
