How to lose weight - advice from Dr. Ciszak

There are two fundamental and undeniable facts about weight loss:

FACT 1: To lose weight you must eat less.
This is dictated by the laws of physics and there is no way around this truth.

FACT 2: To lose weight successfully you must do it SLOWLY.
This means over 2 years, not 2 months. You should NOT plan to lose more than 2-3 pounds per month. To lose more quickly is unhealthy, unpleasant and ineffective in the long term.

These facts are very unpopular. People would much rather eat a lot and lose weight quickly. That's why there are so many diets being promoted that promise you to "eat as much as you want and lose 20lbs in the first month!". Of course, they always end with a disappointment. I have met many people who have used numerous crash diets over the years and still weigh more than they did at the beginning. If they had only stuck to a modest, realistic goal of 2-3 pounds per month for 2 years, they would be thin today!

How can I eat less and not feel hungry?
To answer this, it would be helpful for you to understand some basic physiology of eating. If you find my explanations too technical and tedious then just skip the box below and go straight to my practical advice.

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HUNGER AND SATIETY

There are three factors that cause the feeling of satiety (sensation of having eaten enough):

The nutrient factor
After you have eaten your food, the nutrients absorbed in the small bowel start circulating in the blood and are detected by the satiety center at the base of the brain. This creates a feeling of satisfaction. The problem with this mechanism is that it is delayed by at least 20 minutes, the time that it takes to break down and absorb some of the food. This mechanism worked very well with our prehistoric ancestors who ate very slowly because their food was tough. It does not work so well for us because our fast food is easy to eat quickly and that feeling of satisfaction arrives long after we have already eaten too much.

The stomach factor
When the stomach fills with food its walls stretch and this sends nerve signals to the brain informing us that we have eaten enough. Again, this was an accurate system for our prehistoric ancestors whose food was bulky and full of roughage. But it does not work with highly concentrated foods that we eat. By the time our stomach stretches we have already eaten too much, way too much!

The mouth factor
The very process of chewing, rolling the food in your mouth and tasting it sends signals to the satiety center in the brain, relieving the sensation of hunger. An easy experiment can show that this happens even if we never swallow the food! This worked well for our hungry ancestors who needed to do a lot of chewing to eat their tough roots, grains and uncooked meat. It does not work with our fast food that is easy to swallow as soon as you put it in your mouth.

Conclusion: our hunger-control system does not work with fast food. To allow it to work again, we have to switch to "slow food" that is bulky, slow to eat and requires a lot of chewing.

To be able to eat less and not feel hungry, we have to do 3 things:

Eat bulky foods
Bulky, fibre-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables (especially root vegetables), nuts, mushrooms and grains fill the stomach better and produce the satisfying feeling of fullness sooner.
Eat slowly and chew very thoroughly
Slow eating will give your body a chance to start digesting your food before you finish eating. This will allow the nutrients circulating in the blood to produce a feeling of satisfaction and make it easier to stop eating before you've had too much. A lot of chewing will also send hunger-soothing signals to your brain.
If you have no time to eat slowly, try hara hachi bu
The people of Okinawa, known for their lean physique and longevity use the principle of hara hachi bu which, in Japanese, loosely means "stop when 80% full". When you do that, you will still feel a little hungry at the end of your meal but you will not suffer for long. As soon as the nutrients in your blood reach your brain, about 10-20 minutes later, the feeling of satiety will arrive.

What about exercise?
Exercise is essential for physical and mental health but is NOT an effective weight loss method, for several physiological and practical reasons. Signing up for fitness classes will make you more fit but will not lose you any weight. You have to cut back on food.

Are there any good drugs for weight loss?
There have been several drugs around that attempted to cause weight loss by interfering with NORMAL metabolism. Because of that, they were inherently unhealthy and some have been taken off the market because of severe adverse effects. The drugs that are still on the market have had rather disappointing results. I currently do not prescribe any "diet drugs".

Are there any special foods or supplements that help?
Yes! One particular high-fibre food that has special benefits is FLAX SEED. This food is very bulky (because it swells in the stomach) and also suppresses appetite. As an added benefit, it also contains omega-3 fatty acids and cancer-preventing lignins. It is cheap and its nutty taste is easy to get used to.

How do I use flax seed?
Buy some fresh organic flax seed (most supermarkets carry it). Also buy a cheap coffee grinder. Grind up the seeds and eat them with a spoon or add them to cereal, soup or salad dressing. Once ground up, the seeds must be consumed immediately because the released oil gets oxidized. Use 1-2 tablespoons 3 times a day.

Dr. Wojtek Ciszak 2010