Fighting Weight - Is It Possible Only With Diet Or Do You Need Medication?

Author: Nia Rouseberg Time for reading: ~3 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

Fighting Weight - Is It Possible Only With Diet Or Do You Need Medication?

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

When only with nutrition and sports and no results are achieved, you can try medication.

The number of overweight and obese people is growing. The reasons for this are also clear - stress; the hectic daily life, which allows us to eat only something quickly and on foot; the changed eating habits, adhering more and more to the so-called "Western eating style" and a sedentary lifestyle with low or zero physical activity.

In an effort to achieve the desired weight, people apply various techniques, which usually make major mistakes.

The first, most common mistake is starvation . It can be expressed in complete starvation, intake of only fruit and tea or simply limiting to one or two meals a day.

What happens in our body in these situations?

By limiting the number of daily kilocalories that our body is accustomed to deal with daily, it figuratively enters a "rescue mode" - reduces the rate of metabolic processes, which reduces the basic metabolism and expenditure of excess energy, and each taken with food calories accumulate in fat stores as a store. Abrupt weight loss in this type of diet is mainly at the expense of water.

Thousands of hormones and other factors are released in our body, which constantly send signals to the brain about our feeling of hunger and satiety. Two main hormones involved in controlling this balance are leptin and ghrelin . Elevated leptin levels signal satiety in the brain, while ghrelin released from the stomach after emptying signals the brain to feel hungry.

At the beginning of weight loss, leptin levels remain low, while ghrelin levels rise. This creates a prerequisite for rapid weight recovery after the return to old eating habits.

The solution

The solution is not just to start another diet, but to lay the foundations for a complete change in lifestyle and diet! The goals are: distribution of 3 main meals, if necessary with 1-2 snacks, which will reduce the volume of food intake and there will be no periods of peak rise in ghrelin levels with exacerbation of "wolf appetite" , which would was a prerequisite for ingesting more food.

The second major mistake we often make is the lack of sports. The main rule for achieving weight reduction is to achieve a negative energy balance! It is present when the energy from the calories consumed is less than the energy from the calories expended.

To achieve weight reduction it is necessary to conduct the so-called aerobic exercises , which are associated (if performed correctly) with the acceleration of the heart rate. Examples are running, cycling, doing more intense aerobics, dancing or just brisk walking.

Achieving a proper diet combined with moderate physical activity is the first and mandatory measure in the fight against weight gain. However, not all people can lose weight only with non-drug methods.

Drug treatment is indicated in individuals with a body mass index ≥ 30 kg / m 2 or in those with a body mass index ≥ 27 kg / m 2 and concomitant diseases - type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, sleep apnea , osteoarthritis, non-alcoholic steatosis liver disease or depressive disorder.

Today the market is full of weight loss products. However, there are several registered weight loss drugs worldwide, and with the exception of orlistat, all others affect certain receptors in the brain, affecting appetite and creating a feeling of satiety. Some medications increase serotonin , dopamine and norepinephrine levels.

GLP1 agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors also support weight loss, but they can only be prescribed for diabetics because they are registered as antidiabetic drugs in our country.

Orlistat blocks the absorption of 25-30% of dietary fat, which helps reduce weight. Until recently, it was the only drug registered in Bulgaria for weight loss. Recently, a combined product appeared on the Bulgarian market, containing naltrexone and bupropion, which help lose weight by suppressing appetite.

Fighting Weight - Is It Possible Only With Diet Or Do You Need Medication?

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

What happens in our body in these situations?

The solution

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