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Losing Excess Weight, Naturally

I am a 40 year old woman and I would like to lose some weight. Is there a natural supplement that can help enhance my weight loss?

There is no magic supplement that will help trim inches. Although certain supplements have been shown to potentially increase success of a weight loss program, there are a few simple lifestyle changes that can be made to maximize your success. Below I have outlined several components of a comprehensive natural weight loss plan.  

Diet is most important during weight loss.

Focus on a low carbohydrate diet. Vegetables (except the high carb veggies such as carrots, beets, potato and artichoke) should be consumed freely. Take out the sugar, the white flours and keep grains and potatoes limited to 1-2 cups/day. Always eat breakfast! Start your day off with a protein rich diet that is low in carbohydrate. Examples include: egg omelet with veggies, a protein shake (see the blog post below for details), seed cereal with hemp seed, chia seed and ground flax seed.

I recommend the book The Metabolic Effect Diet: Eat More, Work Out Less, and Actually Lose Weight While You Rest by Jade Teta and Keoni Teta.  There is no calorie counting on this diet and it is designed to repair and accelerate your metabolism. It also includes an exercise portion that teaches you how to get the most benefit out of your exercise routine.  

Beginning your weight loss program with a 7-10 day cleanse can also help you lose more weight.  

When our body is holding on to toxins the metabolism can become sluggish. A cleanse can also help you get over some of those much dreaded sugar cravings. Be mindful though, it takes about 7-10 days for those sugar cravings to go away, so be patient, you can get through it!

Here are my basic supplement recommendations for weight loss programs:

 1 - Fiber

Women should aim for 25-35 grams per day, and men for 35-45 grams per day. Take a fiber supplement 15-30 minutes before meals to help increase a sense of fullness and slow down the absorption of sugar and cholesterol from your meal. Great fiber options include flax seeds, chia seeds, acacia or glucomannan. Acacia fiber is a nice source of soluble fiber and dissolves completely in water. Flax seed is especially great for women. It promotes healthy estrogen levels in the body, is protective against breast cancer and a new study shows it helps lower blood pressure! Glucomannan is a good choice for those with elevated blood sugar as it helps slow the absorption of glucose into the body. All fibers will help with this to some extent.

2 - Protein Shakes

Adding a protein shake can help give you the fuel you need during your day and ease your hunger pains. Drink in the morning for breakfast or as a snack during the day. Good protein shake options include whey, hemp, brown rice or pea. See the blog below for some recipe ideas. If you tolerate dairy, I think whey is the best option for weight loss as it also helps support liver detoxification.

3 - Green Tea

Drink three cups of green tea per day or take the extract in capsule form with breakfast and lunch. Compounds in Green tea appear to stimulate thermogenesis as a means of increasing fat burning and inhibiting fat absorption.

Will a natural supplement help me lose more weight?

While I do not think you need supplements to help you lose weight, in addition to diet and exercise they can provide benefit and help increase your success. I did some research on two of the store’s most commonly requested diet supplements. I was curious to know, do these really work or should customers be saving their money?? It turns out there is some reliable scientific evidence that the following supplements may in fact help you achieve your weight loss goals.

1 -  Garcinia Cambogia:

Garcinia Cambogia is a  purple fruit native to Indonesia. It contains the compound Hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a derivative of citric acid. HCA is the part of this fruit that is thought to have positive effect on metabolism based on test tube and animal studies. However, studies in humans have found mixed results. In an 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 60 overweight individuals, use of HCA at a dose of 440 mg 3 times daily produced significant weight loss as compared to placebo. Here is a link to the study.  Other studies have shown minimal or no reduction in weight loss. Another clinical study used 1.5 grams (60% HCA) three times per day.  That equals 900mg of HCA preparation three times per day,  taken 30 minutes before meals. Dose: 500-900 mg of HCA taken 30-60 minutes before meals.

2 - Green coffee bean extract:

Green coffee bean extract (GCBE) is a natural compound that is present in green or raw coffee bean. It contains large amounts of chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol that has antioxidant properties and influences glucose, fat, and brain energy metabolism. A meta-analysis reviewing 6 studies, revealed a significantly larger weight loss effect for GCBE compared to placebo control. This weight loss was most significant for overweight and obese participants. 

With both of these natural supplements, results of studies have been inconsistent. However, in addition to diet and the basic approach discussed above, these may help accelerate your weight loss!!

Resources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18084863

http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=21727/

http://naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2014-03/effects-green-coffee-bean-extract-weight-loss

"Garcina Cambogia: How to Optimize Effects” by Harry Preuss MD, MACN, CNS and Dallas Clouatre PhD.

Suzannne Poisl commented 2014-05-02 14:11:11

This was a great explanation, thanks so much for the detail.

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