Lose weight without pills
Principles of non-drug correction of excess weightO. O. Anisimova, Ph.D., journal "Russian pharmacies" No. 9-2007.
The number of overweight people in today's world is steadily increasing. Unfortunately, once developed approaches to the correction of this violation often do not undergo significant changes, although from the standpoint of modern scientific ideas, many of them look inadequate. In this regard, the use of dietary supplements as a relatively new method of normalizing the processes leading to an increase in body weight is of particular importance.
Before proceeding to the consideration of non-drug methods of normalizing body weight, it is necessary to recall the physiological role of adipose tissue that has developed in the course of evolution. Adipose tissue is the main source of energy for the body, maintaining the energy balance for a long time in conditions of food shortage (the supply of carbohydrates in the body is not able to provide even the daily human energy needs). Therefore, the level of adipose tissue is a fairly strict constant that the body strives to maintain, preventing sharp fluctuations. Thus, according to evolution, the tendency to accumulate fat, i.e. delayed basal metabolism, is not a pathology, it is just an evolutionary survival mechanism.
Obesity therapy often conflicts with this mechanism. That is why the process of recycling excess fat can be so difficult and slow, and even if the patient complies with the strictest dietary restrictions. Moreover, as evidenced by biochemical studies, with a rigidly reduced diet, the body primarily sacrifices even its structural proteins and carbohydrates, but at the same time retains fat reserves.
Overeating and dietingThe development of obesity is impossible without overeating.
With chronic overeating, constantly high levels of insulin, stucco and other peripheral regulators of lipogenesis are maintained in the blood, which leads to resistance, "habituation" of the hypothalamic centers of fat metabolism regulation to a high level of these mediators. At a certain stage of the disease, it is high levels of insulin, stucco molding that are perceived by the hypothalamus as the norm and do not cause activation of fat utilization. But the decrease in their concentration, which inevitably occurs with a low-calorie diet, is perceived by the body as a deviation from the homeostatic constant, as a result of which the reaction of preserving fat resources is activated.
The situation is aggravated by a decrease in motor activity, which results in insulin resistance and impaired absorption of blood glucose, i.e. there is a situation of energy starvation, which is accompanied by the activation of hunger centers, despite the huge reserves of energy substrates.
Of course, strict restriction of caloric intake should remain an indispensable component of all therapeutic regimens without exception. However, until now, in most cases, this principle is reduced only to a sharp restriction of the amount of food consumed, i.e. proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This does not take into account the loss of micronutrients: vitamins, trace elements, dietary fiber, lipotropic substances, while many of them are involved in the regulation of fat metabolism. For example, a deficiency of B vitamins increases glucose metabolism with increased formation of fatty acids. The lack of a number of trace elements (primarily chromium and zinc) is fraught with hyperinsulinemia and activation of glucose deposition in the form of energy resources (i.e. fats). Lack of dietary fiber (microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) can result in insulin resistance and reactive hyperinsulinemia. Finally, insufficient intake of lipotropic factors (linoleic acid, phospholipids, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, amino acids L-carnitine, methionine, etc.) into the body is dangerous due to increased absorption of fats by body tissues.
In this regard, by the way, there is a reasonable assumption that people's tendency to overeat is a kind of compensatory reaction of the body to a lack of nutrition of a number of essential and vital micronutrients. Information about their deficiency in most cases is mediated through the "food centers" of the brain - and a person receives a "signal" about the need to consume more refined food. Therefore, when carrying out therapeutic and preventive measures in the fight against obesity, it is advisable to use dietary supplements containing the listed compounds.
Complex therapy taking into account the pathophysiological phases of lipolysisThe most effective result in most cases is possible only with an integrated approach to the treatment of obesity with mandatory consideration of the pathophysiological phases of lipolysis.
The first phase is characterized by increased production of insulin, leptin, excess adipose tissue. It proceeds quickly and is characterized by a noticeable decrease in body weight. However, this process occurs due to the breakdown of proteins and carbohydrates with an almost unchanged volume of adipose tissue. In this phase, detoxification measures to remove catabolism products from the body are important. In such cases, it is appropriate to take dietary supplements containing extracts of medicinal plants with mild diuretic (bearberry, knotweed, birch inflorescences, etc.) and laxative (holly senna, etc.) effects. It is not superfluous to use dietary supplements based on phytocomponents that generally normalize the functions of the gastrointestinal tract (oregano, dandelion, etc.).
The second phase is a turning point in the treatment process, lasts for several months and is characterized by a restructuring of the mechanisms of regulation of adipose tissue and energy metabolism. This stage is the most difficult, because during it there is an activation of hunger centers and a sharp restriction of lipolysis due to a rather significant slowdown in the basal metabolism. These processes represent a protective reaction of the body aimed at preserving adipose tissue. At this stage of correction of metabolic disorders, it is advisable to use dietary supplements that contain the following components:
- aimed at stimulating the basal metabolism (guarana Cambodian, guatsuma visco-leaved, green tea, L-carnitine, fucus, etc.);
- preventing the formation of fat (garcinia cambogia, chrome);
- appetite-reducing (hoodia gordonia, garcinia cambogia, dietary fiber, etc.).
Intensive physical activity also has a positive effect. They increase the utilization of adipose tissue, as a result of which the level of stucco, insulin and other peripheral mediators increases in the blood, which significantly reduces the feeling of hunger.
The third phase is the recovery stage. The sensitivity of the hypothalamic regulatory centers to stucco and insulin is normalized, the concentration of mediators in the blood is returned to normal, lipolysis is activated and fat deposits are reduced. At this stage, the following measures are the most important: selection of a rational balanced diet with mandatory enrichment of its dietary supplements containing micronutrients, lipotropic factors and dietary fiber, preservation of physical activity. Nutrition should be low-calorie, but frequent, because with rare but abundant nutrition, evolutionary mechanisms of energy conservation inevitably turn on.
Often in clinical practice, in the treatment of obesity, they try to distinguish between endocrine and metabolic-alimentary obesity. It is necessary to note the close pathogenetic relationship between these types of pathology. Thus, alimentary-metabolic obesity rarely develops in the absence of endocrine disorders, such as decreased thyroid function, imbalance of sex hormones, increased insulin production, etc.
Other aspects of the "dietary supplement therapy" of obesityAs we have already noted above, dietary supplements should contribute to the suppression of various physiological processes that lead to obesity.
"At the entrance" this suppression is manifested, first of all, by a decrease (normalization) of appetite. Conditionally, supplements with a similar type of action can be divided into two categories. In the first group of dietary supplements, the active components realize anorexigenic effect due to the central mechanism of action, which is manifested by mild suppression of the appetite center. Such an action is detected, for example, by the amino acid phenylalanine, which also improves mood, memory, improves performance, which is important for a person on a hypocaloric diet. The ability to interact with specific CNS receptors responsible for regulating appetite was also found in the extract of cactus stem pulp (hoodia gordonia), which reduces appetite and cravings for regular "snacks".
An alternative to the "central" anorexigenic drugs are herbal remedies, the suppression of appetite which is associated with a slowdown in gastric emptying, irritation of its receptors (for example, garcinia cambogia fruits, fennel seeds, bitter melon, glucomannan, etc.). It is important that in addition to anorexigenic action, these drugs have a whole range of clinical effects that normalize the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates.
A prominent place among dietary supplements regulating body weight in recent years has been occupied by preparations based on chitosan, which helps to reduce the absorption of fats due to their binding in the gastrointestinal tract. Dietary fibers have a similar effect, which, in addition, also slow down the absorption of carbohydrates. It is important to remember here that a decrease in fat absorption is accompanied by a decrease in the intake of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D3, E) into the blood. Therefore, in order to avoid negative effects associated with their deficiency, when using dietary supplements based on chitosan and its analogues, it is advisable to give preference to drugs that include, along with the main components, also these vitamins (or use other dietary supplements containing retinol, colecalciferol and tocopherol in parallel).
In general, therapeutic tactics should necessarily include the treatment of complications associated with obesity, including vascular atherosclerosis, fatty hepatosis, calculous cholecystitis (with preserved gallbladder function), diabetes mellitus, etc., since these disorders are a manifestation of the general metabolic syndrome of obesity.
Thus, despite the fact that a reduced diet is an indispensable condition for any therapeutic regimen of obesity therapy, the most effective result in most cases is possible only with an integrated approach to the treatment of obesity with mandatory consideration of the phases of pathophysiological rearrangements of fat metabolism.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru01.07.2008