Facts have it that about 13% of adults globally are obese and 39% overweight.
Obesity refers to the condition of an adult having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 and above.
BMI is obtained by dividing someone’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters.
If your BMI is approaching 30 or is already beyond this point, it’s a matter of grave concern, given the several negative effects of being overweight, such as death, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, gallbladder disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, breathing problems, sleep apnea, low life quality, mental illness, body pain, and reduced physical functioning.
If you don’t want to experience any of these conditions, consider the following weight loss trends that have considerably gained popularity across the globe this year:
1. Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty
Several weight loss professionals share the opinion that a restrictive diet isn’t as effective as it may hinder any potential for weight loss.
This is primarily because of a person’s tendency to revisit their old habits after getting tired of limiting themselves in terms of their diet.
This is perhaps the reason why scientists came up with alternatives like Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG).
This involves the insertion of a long flexible tube containing a camera and medical tools through the mouth.
The tools basically reduce the size of the stomach by folding the excess stomach tissue from inside the stomach itself and sewing it shut.
The resulting stomach size can only hold little food, which helps you limit your food intake by a great margin.
With such a caloric deficit, your body is forced to burn excess fat for energy, making you lose weight.
2. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy
This is similar to the above-mentioned ESG, only that the camera and tools are inserted through incisions on the abdomen rather than through the mouth.
As such, it’s more invasive than ESG.
The laparoscopy is used to cut and remove about 80 to 85% of the total stomach volume and sew up the remaining portion, which takes the form of a banana-shaped gastric sleeve.
The weight loss effect is achieved in the same manner as ESG.
3. Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting refers to the practice of alternating between durations of unrestricted eating and durations of significant caloric reduction or fasting.
Here are several approaches to this weight loss trend:
- Alternate-day fasting: This involves setting aside some days of the week to eat without restriction and other days of the week to fast or eat very little food. For instance, you can normally eat on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then eat sparingly on all the four remaining alternate days.
- Whole-day fasting: In this method, you eat without restriction for several days of the week and then deny yourself the luxury of eating for the remaining days. A common approach is popularly referred to as the 5:2 diet, which means five days of unrestricted eating and two whole days of restricted eating.
- Time-restricted feeding: For this one, you seclude a particular time window for eating and then fast for the rest of the day. For example, in the 16:8 approach, you can eat whatever you want between 12.00 noon and 8.00 p.m. and stay without eating for the rest of the hours.
Research indicates that the stress induced by intermittent fasting triggers an immune response in the body, which leads to a positive metabolic change, inviting weight loss.
For even better results, you’d want to avoid snacking between meals during your eating period.
This is one of the most popular weight loss trends across the world.
Indeed, surveys reveal that intermittent fasting emerges as the most popular diet annually.
Celebrities, as well as other renowned people, attest to its effectiveness, which may motivate you to give it a try.
4. Keto diet
This is referred to as the ketogenic diet in full.
It focuses on low carb and high healthy fat consumption, with a moderate intake of proteins.
The general aim is to consume only 5-10% carbohydrates, usually less than 50 grams daily, with the greater portion of the remainder being fats.
As the body gets deprived of carbohydrates, it’s forced to burn fats for the production of energy. This state is scientifically referred to as ketosis, hence the name.
The body produces by-products called ketones, which supply energy to the muscles, tissues, and the brain.
The result is shedding off excess body weight.
Some of the foods you’d want to avoid so you can achieve ketosis are smoothies, cake, ice cream, rice, pasta, chickpeas, potatoes, salad dressings, beer, wine, cereal, and parsnips, among others.
Instead of these, eat foods like sausage, salmon, eggs, grass-fed butter, unprocessed cheese, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, avocados, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and herbs.
5. Mediterranean diet
A reliable panel of health experts ranked the Mediterranean diet as the best diet for several consecutive years.
The diet comprises foods available in those countries adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea.
These include:
- Locally grown plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes
- Olive oil as the main source of fat
- Poultry and fish
- Small amounts of red meat
- Little wine
It was observed that residents of the Mediterranean area have very few cases of lifestyle diseases, such as strokes, diabetes, and heart attack.
Thus, it’s believed that copying their diet may help one lead a healthier lifestyle, for which weight loss is one of the benefits.
So, you’d want to try it as a weight loss option in 2021 and beyond.
Bottomline
As weight loss becomes more and more challenging, professionals are coming up with more effective ways of losing weight.
Some of the latest trends include endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, intermittent fasting, ketogenic diet, and the Mediterranean diet.
The effectiveness of these methods is backed up by research, although more research is still ongoing.
Thus, you can try them and see whether or not they work for you.
All in all, it’s best to consult your personal physician on matters regarding weight loss as they’re best placed to help you choose an effective method for your body type and condition.