WOW! Today, a Google search for “loosing weight” delivered 68,981,654 hits.
You have a lot to see, and to consider, if you’re trying to get information about losing weight from the web.
With all those options, it is no wonder people are confused.
Earlier this year, we went through an intensive analysis before we decided to re enter the weight loss supplement market. The analysis was insightful and, surprisingly similar to the analysis we concluded in 1990.
You may find the analysis interesting, and it may help you make sense out of all the “stuff”, on the web, about weight loss.
Here is an overview of our analysis of the weight loss options we investigated.
There are several options available to assist people during the weight loss process in the market today.
They are:
Eat less – Exercise More
Certainly, there is nothing new here. Logic dictates that this approach should work, but, in most cases, it doesn’t!
In fact, it may contribute to the difficulties for long-term weight management.
In the world of metabolism, the body views less food, with more exercise, as a famine. It responds by turning down Basal Metabolic Rate (the metabolism that is responsible for burning 70% of you calories, everyday) to conserve energy expenditure. When the famine continues, the body begins to use the protein, in tissue, as a source of BMR energy (ketosis) to conserve the ready source of energy in fat for emergencies.
Once the calorie restriction stops, BMR may, or may not, reset to its healthy “burn rate”. The individual, whose BMR fails to reset, soon gains the lost weight back – and often more! Thus begins the cycle that is the phenomenon referred to as the YO-YO effect.
Fat Blocker Dietary Supplements
This category of supplements for weight loss, espouse another concept that seems to make sense. The theory goes: if you stop fat from leaving your digestive system, you can stop the fat from accumulating around the body.
You need to know that calories are a measure of the energy value of food: Protein offers 4 calories/gram, Carbohydrates – 4 calories/gram, Fat – 9 calories/gram. (For most of us, a gram is approximately 3.5 ounces.)
Back to the world of metabolism, fat is a critical part of energy production. The engine that sparks metabolism (mitochondria) burns water, glucose (sugar) and fat to produce energy. Stored fat requires more internal activity than dietary fat, which slows down the production of energy at the cellular level.
The issue boils down to the good fat – bad fat dilemma. Indiscriminately blocking fat may not be such a good thing for supporting healthy metabolism.
Carbohydrate Blocker Dietary Supplements (Recently, this category has been recast as a sugar blocker)
To understand the theory of carb blocking, you need to know that all carbohydrates are rendered into glucose in your digestive system and that glucose is the primary energy-producing component of metabolism.
There are two types of dietary carbohydrates, categorized by how quickly the body converts them into glucose: Simple and Complex.
- Simple Carbohydrates are converted very quickly into glucose. They are generally white: flour, starchy grain (white rice), milk (and things made from milk), sugar, fruit juice and starchy tubers (things that grow underground).
- Complex Carbohydrates require more digestion, and, therefore, the glucose “trickles” into the metabolic process. They are typically whole foods: grains, fresh vegetables (that grow above the ground) and fresh fruit.
While both types of carbohydrates have the same caloric value, 4 calories/gram, the impact is vastly different. An easy way to understand the difference is: simple carbohydrates “explode” into the metabolic process while complex carbohydrates are “metered” in.
The best analogy is to view the process like the way gas is metered into a car’s engine. Too much fuel, too soon, the engine will flood. In the case of glucose, the body works hard to avoid “flooding out”.
The issue boils down to a good carb – bad carb dilemma. Like fat blockers, blocking the source of glucose, the primary source for energy, will affect healthy metabolism.
Stimulants
Natural stimulants, like caffeine, are common and widely used in weight loss supplements. Their theory is: stimulating the adrenal system, with a natural stimulant, will increase caloric demand thereby increasing the burning of stored fat to accommodate that demand.
The issue boils down to one question: “How much is too much.” A typical consumer ingests lots of caffeine: coffee, tea, soda, and now, energy drinks. Besides caffeine, sugar, contained in these various beverages, in processed and fast food and in juices, is stimulating the adrenal system.
Add stress, at work, home and the background stress created by worrying about economic issues, friends, etc, the adrenal system is at a tipping point as it is. Adding more pressure on the adrenal system, without supporting it, might carry the process too far.
In fact, one of the most likely new supplement categories will be adrenal dysfunction. Research is surfacing that suggests that modern lifestyle choices may already be taxing the adrenal system. As a result, NUPRO is evaluating historical uses of herbs, various current findings to access the possible application of a natural supplement, or system, to address the issue.
Other Approaches
As one would expect, from an issue that impacts so many people, there is a plethora of choices. Strenuous exercise tops the list, followed closely by weigh-in clubs, clubs with mail order “healthy food portions”, Clinics offering injections, hypnosis and bariatric surgery that seeks to restrict, or remodel the digestive tract to disrupt the absorption of nutrients.
On the main, the options in this category are expensive, and due to the radical life style changes they require, provide a possible short term benefit that diminishes once the participant can no longer afford the time or expense or lacks the discipline to proceed.
Judging by the almost epidemic state of being overweight or being obese, these approaches may not be working quite as well as one would expect. The weight management issue is big … and growing. There is ample opportunity if … .
Next week: What are the formulation objectives for NUPRO’s new weight loss products.
