Checking Weight Through Diet

A high fibre, plant-based diet is ideal for weight-loss and ongoing weight maintenance.
Many diets will help you to lose weight fast, but they come unstuck when it comes to long-term success. Most of us are only satisfied once our tummy is full – literally – we have receptors in our stomach which tell us how much volume is in there and that is part of what gives us satiety or satisfaction with the food eaten.
Unfortunately, our energy dense foods, such as fats, soft drinks and alcohol don’t provide the ‘bulk’ to let us know we are full so we keep wanting more (that coupled with blood sugar fluctuations from processed sugary foods).
Eating whole foods such as vegetables and fibre-rich fruits like apples and pears will help us to feel satisfied so we don’t eat more calories than we need. We all know what the high calorie foods are – and if you don’t there’s loads of places to get the information, apps on your phone, websites and charts. Basically if it is processed, it is going to be higher in calories than its whole food counterpart. We need to keep commercially processed foods to a minimum.
The real key is planning. Stock up on organic vegetables, salads and make crudités for easy snacking and meal preparation. If you feel like eating some ‘treats’ have a bowl of green salad and some crudités first so you can stop at a few pieces of chocolate rather than eating the whole bar. If you are hungry, feed yourself. It’s impossible to keep up a diet that requires you to starve. If you’re eating whole foods and minimising processed foods the weight should start to drop off. For extra help and support a naturopathic nutritional therapist can be useful in helping you overcome any obstacles to your health goals.
It is increasingly accepted that a low-carbohydrate (‘low carb’) diet is the way to lose weight healthily, by minimising excess sugars and starches in diet that the body turns to fat.
Increasing nutrient-dense protein and fat sources satisfies hunger to reduce overall food intake, too. Essentially a healthy low-carb diet for weight loss consists of hearty amounts of vegetables (less starchy vegetables are preferred), seeds, nuts, eggs, fish, moderate meat and butter. Foods are best in whole organic form. People with blood sugar or insulin issues respond particularly well to this weight loss approach.
There are a number of foods and herbs that help the body excrete excess fluid, stimulate peristalsis (the movement of food through the digestive tract) and regulate appetite; these can help support weight loss alongside a mainstream low carb diet. The categories that these foods and herbs fit into are known as diuretics, bitters, aromatics and mild astringents. Here are some examples of these from Traditional Chinese Medicine, where a number of herbs are understood to work synergistically to aid weight reduction:
· Hawthorn fruit – regulates appetite and stimulates peristalsis, especially of the stomach
· Fresh Ginger – aromatically warms and settles the stomach
· Tangerine Peel – (just like the peel in old fashioned marmalade) moves the gut and helps regulate gut symbionts (friendly gut bacteria)
· Radish Seed – strongly aromatic to relieve food stagnation
· Lotus Leaf – helps the body move unnecessary fluid. In China a tea of lotus leaf and Job’s tears (Coix) is drunk daily to help counter obesity
· Plantain Leaf – a diuretic to help excrete extra fluid
· Kelp – a diuretic and metabolism boost
In a weight loss diet aromatic and bitter herbs, spices and foods have amplified benefits; they stimulate gut peristalsis to counter the stagnating effect of a richer, high protein and fat diet; they also make dishes tastier and more satisfying to the senses!
Turmeric
The ground into a deep orange powder and used in curries, has been used for centuries in India for medicinal purposes.
More recently, its active ingredient, curcumin, has been much in the news because scientists have confirmed its remarkable anti-cancer properties. There’s a wealth of exciting information coming through about curcumin’s role in warding off memory loss, depression, chronic disease, and more.
In particular, its potent anti-inflammatory properties can help to relieve the pain of arthritis, and to reduce allergies, psoriasis, eczema, gastric ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease, to name but some of the conditions for which curcumin can be helpful, and for which it has traditionally been used.
Using turmeric in your food a few times a week is a great way to get your dose of curcumin, in normal circumstances.
But don’t forget to add black pepper to your recipe, as the active ingredient in black pepper helps to increase the bioavailability of the curcumin, meaning that it’s more effective for you. For a general anti-oxidant health boost, take ½ teaspoon of powdered, organic turmeric, with a pinch of ground black pepper, in a glass of hot water, once a day. Add some Manuka honey or cinnamon powder for taste.
A naturopathic herbalist can combine therapeutic doses of turmeric into a tincture or powder containing other herbs and spices which are appropriate to your individual needs. Turmeric is generally very safe to use. However, if you are on medication or suffer from a specific medical problem and you are not sure about using it, please consult your herbalist.