The Key to Losing Weight that Nobody Talks About

Now that Memorial Day has passed, officially kicking off the summer season, I'm getting more and more patients in my clinic asking how they can get bathing suit ready, and fast. I tell them that there is no quick fix for weight loss. They didn't pack on the pounds overnight, and it's not going to come off overnight. What worries me about the "quick fix" methods is that they don't teach someone how to change behavior. We've become all too familiar with the "yo-yo" effect -- rapid weight loss on a diet followed by rapid weight gain when someone inevitably goes off it. And obviously it isn't working, since 34% of Americans are obese. This is not just a crisis of individuals, it's a national crisis. Obesity is the major cause of the number one killers and most expensive diseases burdening our healthcare system, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Most weight-loss programs fail on several key points: they don't teach people how to eat to promote their health, they don't promote exercise and they don't correct the underlying biochemical abnormalities that trap people into cycles of sugar cravings, fatigue and depression. Instead, they teach people to be dependent on the diet program. People must eat healthy, nutrient dense foods and exercise. They also need to learn how to eat to promote overall health and not merely focus on short-term weight goals.

Eating healthy and exercising are talked about in the diet debate. What's completely ignored but essential to long-term success, is the need to realign the body's biochemistry in order to reach a healthy weight. Biochemistry is simply how the body uses vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins to do its job, and how things like infections, allergies and environmental toxins can interfere with proper biochemical function. The premise is very simple. Symptoms, like difficulty losing weight, are biochemical in nature. When the body has the raw materials to do its job, people feel good and are able to more easily maintain a healthy weight and energy.

There are four basic concepts that I think about when trying to help patients lose weight. First, do they have the raw materials required to burn fats and sugars for cellular energy? People must have the amino acid L-carnitine, B-complex vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5), alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and minerals such as iron and magnesium to be able to metabolize fats and sugar. If they don't have these nutrients in sufficient supply, then they can have a difficult time losing weight and regulating their blood sugar. People struggling with their weight also frequently experience depression, fatigue and sugar cravings, which can sabotage their weight-loss plans. Frequently they blame themselves and feel their inability to stay away from sugar or carbs is their fault. But there are real and correctable biochemical explanations for these symptoms.

Sugar causes a direct release of serotonin in the brain, providing a short-term elevation of mood. However, the sugar also stimulates a release of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps drive sugar out of the blood and into cells where it can be use to produce cellular energy The insulin then drives down the blood sugar and can produce low blood sugar, called "reactive hypoglycemia," which then can produce symptoms of fatigue, more sugar cravings, irritability and depression. The person then reaches for sugar again for a quick fix, and they are caught in a vicious cycle.

Second, are they under chronic stress? Stress releases cortisol from the adrenal glands, a hormone that raises blood sugar by stimulating the breakdown of stored sugars. The problem is that once the sugar is released, it can't be stored again as sugar. Instead, the body converts it to fat, which tends to be deposited around a person's middle and upper back. This also further exacerbates the poor blood sugar control issues mentioned above. Third, are they exercising? Our bodies are meant to move, and exercise is important for any healthy lifestyle. And fourth, are they eating healthfully? The topic healthy eating and how the Standard American Diet (SAD) is the major cause of all chronic degenerative diseases in this country is vast enough to for another post entirely devoted to my thoughts on this. Look for this in a future blog.

Most diets focus on what a person's eating and, perhaps, how much he or she is moving. Yet if people are deficient in the nutrients required to burn fat, simply improving diet and exercising is not enough. The most precise and fastest way to help people maintain a healthy weight and keep the weight off is to create customized programs based on each person's unique biochemical testing results. These comprehensive programs teach people how they can take better care of themselves while at the same time replenishing any nutritional deficiencies with dietary supplements. With this approach, you may not get in your bikini in two weeks, but you'll achieve good health, be more likely to reach and sustain your healthy weight and be liberated from the yo-yo effect. Now that's a beautiful thing.

John Neustadt, ND is medical director of Montana Integrative Medicine and the co-founder, with Steve Pieczenik, MD, PhD, of Nutritional Biochemistry, Incorporated (NBI) and NBI Testing and Consulting Corp (NBITC). The doctors created Osteo-K, a dietary osteoporosis supplement formulated by physicians from Harvard, Cornell, MIT and Bastyr. Read more on the Nutritional Biochemistry website about alternative osteoporosis treatments, bone health, calcium supplements, and decreasing risk for osteoporosis and fractures. Their latest books, A Revolution in Health through Nutritional Biochemistry and A Revolution in Health Part 2: How to Take Charge of Your Health, are available on Amazon.

Comments

[RadiantSparkles]

I'm so glad you brought this up - people need to know that they are not weak-willed.

I totally agree that our body's biochemistry is more important than trying to do a diet. Until recently I have been a compulsive eater and my weight has fluctuated hugely. I lost 80 pounds on one particular occasion. But the diet I was on didn't alter the biochemistry of my body in any way and so once I gave myself permission to eat again, the weight reappeared.

One book that i've found particularly useful is Your Last Diet by Dr Kathleen DesMaisons. It explains *why* I felt so bad - I just have a sugar sensitive body which means I have low Beta-Endorphins, low serotonin and fluctuating blood sugar levels. After working on the program I have healed my biochemsitry to such an extent that I no longer binge and I'm now working on losing the weight once and for all!

[GunneraGirl]

Six weeks ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.

People say there are no quick fixes to reducing one's weight. But I've been following the guidelines stated above - an informed selection of high quality vitamins, good fresh whole foods, lot of fresh water and 5,000 to 10,000 steps a day. In six weeks I've lost 9 lbs., completely broken my addiction to sugar, and brought my blood sugar levels down to almost normal levels. And I've never felt better, more clear-headed, in my life. The benefits have been boundless, including, oddly enough, more pronounced and symbolically significant dreams which I can easily recall. (!?!)

That's a quick enough fix for me.

Next I'm going for arms like Michellle's!

[DrCharlesMartin]

Thank you for a frank and straightforward assessment of obesity and the epidemic of type 2 diabetes that is raging across the U.S. and in many other developed nations. Only when we make this a national health priority will we begin to slow this alarming trend. We write extensively about related issues at http://dentistryfordiabetics.com/blog, especially the links between elevated blood sugar and gum disease that can interfere with diabetes control and significantly increase risk of serious health events such as heart attack, stroke and blindness.

- Charles Martin, DDS
Founder, Dentistry For Diabetics

[lwaxanatroi]

I'm reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and every page of that book is blowing my mind. Healthy eating means unplugging from the "food system" of so-called foods that have been robbed of all natural nutrients in the name of profit. We are swimming in a sea of corn, mainly in syrup form, and as long as we allow that poison into our bodies, we are subject to the craving for more of it. I am preparing to go on a fast-cleanse and then commit to an auyervedic way of life. It's the ultimate way for me to live my yoga.

[walks]

remember, if you choose to eat meat or farm raised fish, you are indirectly eating corn!

[Lynne2363]

I am an naturopathic doctor also and an Ayurvedic practitioner. I have found that the kitchari diet is a marvelous way to heal the digestive tract and also lose weight. There are many good recipes on the internet and adding different vegetables including sweet potatoes (one of my favorites) makes this diet not only nourishing but tasty. Ayurveda recommends cooked foods that are nutrient dense. I have found that this type of food not only nourishes the body but also the soul. Many individuals do not do well on a raw vegan diet.

[Lynn Baker]

I believe biochemistry is key. Often diets get hung up on calories and quantity and activity increase without addressing actual nutrition - what the body needs to thrive.
Sugar, salt, and preservatives are so rampant in food packaging and advertisin­g....three major worms in the apple of health.
BUT what is not readily available, even through many physicians and dieticians, is a precise evaluation of what each person's body needs, what it can do without, and how to incorporate it into a lifestyle and not a " diet". The average person doesn't know what tests to request or where to find the information on how it all works together.
Your bringing this to our attention is priceless. Thank you!

[mikeybeach143]

Thank you doc for the great post. Losing weight is a tough challenge indeed for most people. Will and determination plays a vital role. I started planning on my diet with the use of writing the things that I should do for each day - what to do and what to eat are part of it. It's like making a diary of your own diet. It kind of help me and makes me feel more motivated.

[singermuse]

Excellent post!
We need to stop blaming the victims and realize there are so many factors associated with obesity.
Hormonal imbalance, sleep deprivation, age, nutritional deficiencies, metabolism, and the garbage in so many processed foods all do their part in creating the ongoing battle with weight gain and poor health.
Most of the people I know who are struggling with their weight are NOT lazy or over eating; in fact, they might not be eating enough and starving themselves and still dealing with obesity. It was only when I started eating MORE healthy food, (I was always a vigorous exerciser), and getting adequate sleep, that I won the battle.

[benne]

The secret to dieting that no one talks about: diets don't work. Very few studies even follow people 5-years after their diets, but the ones that have show failure rates in the high 90 percent.

[CTModerate]

Of course diets don't work, they never do. If you're 60 pounds overweight because of what you currently eat, then even if you lose that 60 pounds "dieting" you'll eventually put it back on by returning to your pre-diet, diet.

You can never go back to old eating habits if you want to lose weight permanently. The only way to take weight off and keep it off is to make permanent changes to your eating and exercise regimes.

[CardioE2]

Dr. Neustadt,
Thank you! You are helping raise the bar in regard to intelligent (healthy) weight management.
Blood sugar control and stress management are essential to healthy weight. Blood sugar can moderate in a matter of days, low glycemic meal planning nurtures cardio-vascular health, keeps mood even and favorably impacts weight. (even mid-life weight)

For low glycemic/low sodium heart healthy cookie recipes such as Peanut Butter Oat Squares,
visit this non profit:
http://www.ForHerHeart.org/heartrecipes.aspx

I look forward to hearing more about your books, blogs, projects!
Well done!

[CTModerate]

There are absolutely no quck fixes to losing weight, if you really want to keep it off. The only way to do is to exercise a hell of a lot more, and change your diet so that you are consuming far fewer calories. I moved to a mostly raw vegan diet, and increased the amount and intensity of my exercise regime to lose 35 pounds two years ago. I've kept it off by sticking to a mostly raw vegan diet and keeping up the intensity and amount of my exercise.

I write about it on my blog: http://losingweightafter45isabitch.blogspot.com/