Weight Loss

The term ‘weight loss’ generally refers to an attempt to improve one’s physical health by means of losing excess body weight, usually in the form of fat. In individuals who are substantially overweight, weight loss could dramatically reduce their chance of suffering certain serious illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes and even cancer

Osteoarthritis is also more common in overweight individuals, who will be at increased risk anyway of breaking bones due to their size.

Before embarking on a serious weight loss program, an individual should consult their physician, since losing too much weight too quickly can lead to its own problems. There may also be some medical reason why enthusiastic dieting is not an option.

Weight loss should occur when a person burns more calories than they consume. This is technically referred to as a ‘negative energy balance’, when the body requires more energy than is being supplied to it though the dietary intake, in which case it will draw on existing fat stores (or failing that muscle stores), catabolising them to supply the energy it needs.

People who are not technically overweight may also embark on weight loss programs, for example to improve sporting performance or simply as a matter of self-esteem (the desire to just lose a couple of lbs, fit into those old jeans again...) But it is important to maintain a healthy balance, since being underweight comes with its own associated health risks just as being overweight does.

Possible complications for underweight individuals include a compromised immune system (and corresponding vulnerability to infection), reduced muscle strength and increased risk of developing osteoporosis, as well as problems regulating their body temperature. In extreme cases, being very underweight may lead to death.

In most cases, a doctor will prescribe a healthy dose of diet and exercise to an overweight or obese individual planning on dropping a few lbs (or maybe more). Eating a sensible, balance, low-fat diet combined with regular moderate exercise is the most surefire way to lose weight, although obviously it requires a certain degree of willpower that not everybody possesses.

Fashionable diets or ‘fad’ diets are a multi-million dollar industry designed around selling an ‘easier way’ to lose weight. In most cases, the advice is simply some variation on, ‘eat less and exercise more’. Though in some cases, the extra psychological motivation of sticking to a certain plan or regime, especially when you know that it has worked for other people, can be the incentive a person needs to stick to a program of diet and exercise.

Low-fat diets used to be the diet of choice, but they tended to be packed with carbohydrates which can be just as fattening if consumed excessively and have an inherently low nutritional value other than the calorific one.

The Atkins diet is possibly the most famous fad diet of modern times, and advocates a reduction in carbohydrate consumption, particularly refined carbohydrates such as sugars, in favour of plenty of fat and protein. This form of diet was originally designed around the needs of diabetics who needed a convenient way to moderate their insulin levels.

The Atkins diet can indeed cause rapid weight loss, though there is much speculation as to how healthy it really is. Some people who tried the diet reported feeling fatigues and run-down, while others noted that much of their weight loss was negated when they switched back to a regular balanced diet.

For those who have trouble sticking to a good diet and exercise program, or who are unable to do so for whatever reason, some medical solutions are available. Anti-obesity drugs such as Orlistat (by the trade name Xenical) block the absorption of fat by the body, meaning that a person can theoretically lose weight without changing their diet at all.

Other drugs act as appetite suppressants to back up a person’s shaky willpower. Sibutramine in the form of for example Meridia or Reductil is such an appetite suppressant, and is effective, thought it may cause wide-efects in some patients such as increased blood pressure, headaches and insomnia.

Orlistat is worth dwelling on for a moment, since Xenical is the current sensation in weight loss drugs. Available over-the-counter in most countries, orlistat is a derivative form of lipstatin, which is a natural inhibitor of pancreatic lipases. However, lipstatin is an unstable substance, hence it was refined into orlistat, a much safer and more convenient form of fat absorption inhibitor.

The function of orlistat is basically to inhibit lipase, which is the enzyme that breaks down triglycerides (bad fats) as part of the digestive system. Without lipase to digest them, the fatty acids from whatever food you ate are left undigested and simply excreted in the usual manner. The side-effects of orlistat are currently thought to be negligible.

A regular dosage of orlistat will be around sixty milligrams, three times a day before mealtimes. At this level, the drug will prevent around a quarter of the fat from whatever you eat being absorbed by your body, effectively lowering the fat content of your meal by 25%.

Sibutramine is an alternative for people who would rather suppress their appetite for whatever reason. It works by inhibiting the reuptake of the hormone serotonin in the brain, as well as its fellow neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. The results of this process are several, and may include sedation and calmness. For the purposes of weight loss, the effect is that the appetite is suppressed, you are simply less hungry and therefore eat less, and hopefully lose weight.

For patients who are extremely obese, or those who have had no success with repeated attempts to lose weight either by means of diet and exercise, or combined with drug therapy, surgery may be an option. Stomach stapling is a relatively popular procedure that physically limits the amount of food a person can eat, and has proven effective for many patients where less drastic solutions have failed.

Some athletes and anorexics attempt to control their weight using laxatives and diuretics. This approach is strongly warned against by medical professionals, since it can lead to serious medical complications, even death in some cases. And even though temporary weight loss may be achieved, it is not in any way fat loss, and is an extremely unhealthy, dangerous state of affairs.