The real secret to maintaining a healthy body weight is leading an active lifestyle, as I pointed out in detail in an earlier post (Moving too little, or eating too much). Yet, there is an irrational fear of doing physical work in our society that makes many of us dangerously overweight.
People who want to lose weight without leading an active lifestyle are thus in much the same situation as the Monty Python character who wanted to go to the Edinburgh Festival without going to Edinburgh.
This provides fertile ground for helpful tips about how to lose weight without either doing exercise or reducing food intake. I decided to analyze some of these tips as to whether they seem like good science or wishful thinking.
Tip: Drink lots of ice water. Wishful thinking. The evidence is that drinking water has been shown to raise metabolism as the body generates heat to compensate for the chill and as the intestine absorbs the water. Unfortunately, the long-term effects of reducing one's core temperature are equivalent to living in a very cold climate. Mammals respond to chronic cold by increasing food intake, reducing activity, and storing plenty of fat. Moreover, having the intestine use energy in processing the water will likely increase food intake.
Tip: Fidget more. Good science. People who pace restlessly around their offices, or prefer to eat standing up, or who move restlessly throughout the day do not gain weight even if they overeat for an experiment. Problem is that following this tip may require a change of personality..
Tip: Eat plenty of fiber. Good science, The logic is complex. A person can lower their calorie intake without feeling food deprived. High-fiber foods also release their sugars more slowly during digestion helping to keep blood sugar steady and reduce fat storage.
Tip: Eat at regular intervals and never consume more than 400 calories in a meal. Wishful thinking. The rationale is that regular mealtimes prevent us from becoming ravenous and over-eating. In reality, what matters is the number of calories consumed each day, not the size of a particular meal or the spacing of meals.
Tip: Eat a low-fat diet. Good science. One can read a lot of nonsense about whether to eat protein or carbohydrates and manipulation of these nutrient types is the basis of many diets. Yet, the body generally cares no more about this distinction than your fireplace cares whether you add coal or wood. Fat is different. Experiments show that rats fed a high-fat diet quickly become obese and humans find it difficult to avoid gaining weight if they consume a lot of fat. From this perspective, snack foods such as potato chips, salami, cheese, and ice cream are quite lethal.
Tip: Put milk on your breakfast cereal. Good science. A high fiber breakfast containing bran and fruit produces rapid weight loss in overweight people, research shows. The effect is accelerated by adding skim milk to the cereal. The calcium in milk or yogurt promotes burning of fat and, mysteriously, is better than other sources of calcium in this respect.
The no-pain approach to weight loss is thus a mixed bag. The best way to control body weight is to do what our ancestors did - lead an active lifestyle and eat a sensible diet, beginning with a good breakfast. The high-fiber cereal with milk gets you to the Edinburgh Festival without going to Edinburgh.
