Most weight loss diets lack scientific evidence to back up their claims. However, there are some evidence-based strategies for managing weight.
Science-backed ways to lose weight
Research suggests that some methods of weight loss, such as the following, are supported by science: Methods of weight loss that scientific research supports include the following:
1. Trying intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating that involves regular, short-term fasts and consuming meals within a shorter time period during the day.
Intermediate fasting for a period up to 24 weeks has been shown in studies to lead to weight loss in overweight individuals.
The most common intermittent fasting methods include the following: The most common intermittent fasting methods include the following:
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- The 5:2 Diet: Fast on 2 out of every 7 days. On fasting days eat 500–600 calories.
- The 16/8 method: Fast for 16 hours and eat only during an 8-hour window. For most people, the 8-hour window would be around noon to 8 p.m. A study on this method found that eating during a restricted period resulted in the participants consuming fewer calories and losing weight.
It is best to eat healthy on days you are not fasting and to avoid overeating.
2. Tracking your diet and exercise
To lose weight effectively, it is important to be aware of everything eaten and drank throughout the day. The most successful way to do this is to keep a journal or online food tracker of everything consumed.
By the end of 2017, researchers estimated that there would be 3.7 billion health app downloads. The most popular types of health apps were for diet, physical activity, and weight loss. This makes sense because being able to track your physical activity and weight loss progress on your phone can be an effective way to manage your weight.
One study found that tracking your physical activity could help with weight loss. Another study found that there was a positive correlation between weight loss and how often you monitor your food intake and exercise. Even something as simple as a pedometer can be helpful for weight loss.
3. Eating mindfully
Mindful eating is a practice where people focus on the sensations and experience of eating. This can include savoring the flavor of food, chew slowly, and being aware of feelings of fullness. People who practice mindful eating may be more likely to enjoy their food and maintain a healthy weight.
Many people are so busy that they eat quickly while doing other things, such as driving, working, or watching TV. They are not paying attention to the food and may not even be aware of what they are eating.
Techniques for mindful eating include: Techniques for mindful eating include:
- Sitting down to eat, preferably at a table: Pay attention to the food and enjoy the experience.
- Avoiding distractions while eating: Do not turn on the TV, or a laptop or phone.
- Eating slowly: Take time to chew and savor the food. This technique helps with weight loss, as it gives a person’s brain enough time to recognize the signals that they are full, which can help to prevent over-eating.
- Making considered food choices: Choose foods that are full of nourishing nutrients and those that will satisfy for hours rather than minutes.
4. Eating protein for breakfast
High-protein diets have been shown to decrease levels of ghrelin Protein can help regulate appetite by impacting hormones that make people feel full. This is due primarily to a decrease in the hunger hormone ghrelin, and an increase in the satiety hormones peptide YY, GLP-1, and cholecystokinin. Diets high in protein have been shown to decrease levels of ghrelin.
Studies have shown that eating a high protein breakfast has lasting hormonal effects on young adults.
Some good options for a breakfast with lots of protein are eggs, oats, nut butter, quinoa porridge, sardines, and chia seed pudding.
5. Cutting back on sugar and refined carbohydrates
The Western diet contains more added sugars than ever before, which has a clear connection to obesity, even when the sugar is consumed in drinks instead of food.
Refined carbohydrates are foods that have been heavily processed, so they no longer contain fiber or other nutrients. Examples of refined carbs are white rice, bread, and pasta.
These foods are easy to digest and convert to glucose quickly.
Too much glucose in the blood causes the hormone insulin to be released, which makes the body store more fat. This leads to weight gain.
Whenever possible, people should substitute processed and sugary foods with healthier options. Some healthy food substitutes include: Good food swaps include:
- whole-grain rice, bread, and pasta instead of the white versions
- fruit, nuts, and seeds instead of high-sugar snacks
- herb teas and fruit-infused water instead of high-sugar sodas
- smoothies with water or milk instead of fruit juice
6. Eating plenty of fiber
The definition of dietary fiber is plant-based carbohydrates that cannot be digested in the small intestine. Having a lot of dietary fiber in your diet can make you feel fuller, which might lead to weight loss.
Fiber-rich foods include: Fiber-rich foods include:
- whole-grain breakfast cereals, whole-wheat pasta, whole-grain bread, oats, barley, and rye
- fruit and vegetables
- peas, beans, and pulses
- nuts and seeds
7. Balancing gut bacteria
One area of research that is emerging is focusing on the role of bacteria in the gut on weight management.
The human gut is home to trillions of bacteria, including around 37 trillion.
The type and amount of bacteria in an individual's gut can have an effect on how much energy that person gets from food, which can result in weight gain.
– Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, and yogurt – High-fiber foods like beans, oats, and lentils – Omega-3 rich foods like salmon and flaxseeds There are certain foods that can help to increase the number of good bacteria in the gut. These include fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, and yogurt, as well as high-fiber foods such as beans, oats, and lentils. In addition, omega-3 rich foods such as salmon and flaxseeds can also be beneficial. Some foods can increase the number of good bacteria in the gut, including:
- A wide variety of plants: Increasing the number of fruits, vegetables, and grains in the diet will result in an increased fiber uptake and a more diverse set of gut bacteria. People should try to ensure that vegetables and other plant-based foods comprise 75 percent of their meal.
- Fermented foods: These enhance the function of good bacteria while inhibiting the growth of bad bacteria. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, tempeh, and miso all contain good amounts of probiotics, which help to increase good bacteria. Researchers have studied kimchi widely, and study results suggest that it has anti-obesity effects. Similarly, studies have shown that kefir may help to promote weight loss in overweight women.
- Prebiotic foods: These stimulate the growth and activity of some of the good bacteria that aid weight control. Prebiotic fiber occurs in many fruits and vegetables, especially chicory root, artichoke, onion, garlic, asparagus, leeks, banana, and avocado. It is also in grains, such as oats and barley.
8. Getting a good night’s sleep
There have been many studies that show that people who sleep less than 5-6 hours a night are more likely to be obese. There are a few reasons why this may be.
Use of the passive voice Insufficient or poor-quality sleep slows down the process in which the body converts calories to energy, called metabolism, according to research. When metabolism is less effective, the body may store unused energy as fat. In addition, poor sleep can increase the production of insulin and cortisol, which also prompt fat storage.
Ghrelin signals hunger. The amount of time someone sleeps affects the regulation of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals of fullness to the brain, while ghrelin signals hunger.
9. Managing your stress levels
Stress leads to the release of hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which make you less hungry as part of the body's natural fight-or-flight response.
If someone is constantly stressed, they may have an increased appetite since cortisol stays in their bloodstream longer. This could lead to eating more.
Cortisol indicates that the body needs to get more nutrients, preferably from carbohydrates.
Insulin moves sugar from carbs in the blood to the muscles and brain. If the individual doesn't use this sugar right away, the body will store it as fat.
An 8-week stress-management intervention program resulted in a significant reduction in the body mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents who are overweight or have obesity, according to researchers.
Some methods of managing stress include: Some methods of managing stress include:
- yoga, meditation, or tai chi
- breathing and relaxation techniques
- spending some time outdoors, for example walking or gardening
How weight loss occurs
This creates a calorie deficit that forces your body to start breaking down stored fat to use for energy. The key to weight loss is consuming fewer calories than you burn each day, creating a calorie deficit. This forces your body to break down stored fat to use for energy.
Weight gain occurs when you eat more calories than you burn.
Any food or beverage you consume that has calorie.
Factors affecting weight loss
There are several factors that affect your weight loss rate, many of which are out of your control.
Gender
How much fat you have in comparison to muscle greatly affects your ability to lose weight.
This is because women typically have a higher fat-to-muscle ratio than men, resulting in a 5-10% lower RMR.
This text is discussing the difference in the way men and women burn calories. Men burn more calories than women, meaning they would lose weight quicker than women if following the same diet.
A study that lasted for 8 weeks and had over 2000 participants found that men lost more weight than women. The weight loss for men was 16% and for women it was 10.3%.
The study found that men tended to lose weight quicker than women, but it did not analyze gender-based differences in the ability to maintain weight loss.
Age
The body composition changes as we age, with an increase in fat mass and a decrease in muscle mass.
A lower RMR means you’ll need to eat fewer calories throughout the day to maintain your weight. RMR refers to the amount of energy your body burns at rest. This change, coupled with other factors such as the declining calorie needs of your major organs, leads to a lower RMR. A lower RMR means you will need to consume fewer calories throughout the day to maintain your weight.
RMRs tend to be lower in older adults.
This decrease in RMR means that it becomes more difficult to lose weight as you age.
Starting point
The amount of weight you lose may be affected by your initial body composition.
Different people will lose different amounts of weight when they are trying to lose weight, even if they are doing the same things. This is because weight loss is a complex process.
The NIH Body Weight Planner allows you to estimate how much weight you can lose based on your initial weight, age, lifestyle, and caloric intake and expenditure.
Although a person who weighs twice as much may lose twice the amount of weight, a person who weighs half as much may lose an equal percentage of their body weight.
A person who weighs 300 pounds may lose 10 pounds by reducing their calorie intake by 1,000 and increasing physical activity for 2 weeks.
Calorie deficit
In order to lose weight, you must create a negative calorie balance by consuming fewer calories than you burn. The greater the calorie deficit, the more quickly you will lose weight.
For instance, if you eat 200 less calories each day, you will probably __________.
Make sure you don't have too large of a calorie deficit.
If you only eat one type of food, it will not be sustainable and you will not get all the nutrients you need. You may also lose muscle mass instead of fat.
Sleep
Sleep is an important part of losing weight, but it is often overlooked.
If you want to lose weight, you need to get enough sleep. Chronically sleeping less than you should will reduce the rate at which you lose weight.
A single night of not getting enough sleep can make you crave foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients, such as cookies, cakes, sugary drinks, and chips.
A study that lasted for two weeks had participants who were on a diet that restricted how many calories they could have each day. Some participants slept for 5.5 hours each night while others slept for 8.5 hours.
Those who slept for 5.5 hours per night lost 55% less body fat and 60% more lean body mass than those who slept for 8.5 hours per night.
Chronic sleep deprivation can have many negative consequences, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and certain cancers.
How much energy we expend is determined by a number of things, including our basal metabolic rate, or the amount of energy we burn just by being alive and keeping our vital organs functioning; how active we are throughout the day; and, to a small extent, how efficient our bodies are at using the energy from the food we eat. The energy we expend throughout the day is known as our energy expenditure. This is determined by a number of things, including our basal metabolic rate, or the amount of energy we burn just by being alive and keeping our vital organs functioning. Additionally, how active we are throughout the day, as well as how efficient our bodies are at using the energy from the food we eat, play a role in our overall energy expenditure.
The three major components of calorie expenditure are: (1Source): Calorie expenditure is composed of the following three major components (1Trusted Source):
- Resting metabolic rate (RMR). This is the number of calories your body needs to maintain normal bodily functions, such as breathing and pumping blood.
- Thermic effect of food (TEF). This refers to the calories used to digest, absorb, and metabolize food.
- Thermic effect of activity (TEA). These are the calories you use during exercise. TEA can also include non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which accounts for the calories used for activities like yard work and fidgeting.
If you consume the same number of calories as you burn, you will maintain your body weight.
To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume.
Other factors
Some other factors that could affect how much weight you lose are: Several other factors can affect your weight loss rate, including:
- Medications. Many medications, such as antidepressants and other antipsychotics, can promote weight gain or hinder weight loss (
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- Medical conditions. Illnesses, including depression and hypothyroidism, a condition in which your thyroid gland produces too few metabolism-regulating hormones, can slow weight loss and encourage weight gain (
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- Family history and genes. There is a well-established genetic component associated with people who have overweight or obesity, and it may affect weight loss (
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- Yo-yo dieting. This pattern of losing and regaining weight can make weight loss increasingly difficult with each attempt, due to a decrease in RMR (
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Best diet for weight loss
It can be confusing to choose the best weight loss diet with all of the impressive and quick results that are promised by the innumerable options.
There is no single best weight loss diet, even though there are creators and proponents who think their programs are the best.
Studies find that there is no significant difference in weight loss between low-carb diets and other diets in the long term.
The most important thing is that you are able to maintain a healthy, low calorie diet.
However, it is difficult for many people to follow a very low calorie diet for long periods, which is the reason why most diets fail.
To improve your chances of success, only moderately reduce your calorie intake, choose a diet that suits your preferences and health or work with a registered dietitian.
To get the best results, pair a healthy diet with both aerobic and resistance exercises. This combination will help you burn fat and prevent or reduce muscle loss.
You can lose weight and improve your health by eating more whole foods like vegetables, fruits, and grains, and healthy fats and proteins.
The bottom line
When you consume fewer calories than your body uses, you will experience weight loss.
Many things can affect how quickly you lose weight, such as your gender, age, starting weight, how much sleep you get, and how big your calorie deficit is.
If you want to lose weight, a safe and sustainable goal is to lose 1-3 pounds per week.
