Lifelong slimming use! Three essentials for weight loss: probiotics, fish oil, and vitamins

It is easy to fail in weight loss, and the key is often eating the wrong food, especially the wrong proportion of nutrients in each meal. Song Yanren, the former director of the Department of Health and an obesity specialist, once had an eating disorder due to busy work and high pressure, and his weight once exceeded 90 kilograms. He then used Harvard University's "Healthy Eating Plate" as a benchmark to create the "Healthy Weight Loss Plate Food Proportions" 211 Weight Loss Plate, and successfully lost nearly 20 kilograms. He also recommended three essential things for weight loss.

In the "211 Balanced Plate" recommended by Dr. Song Yanren, emphasis is placed on eating good oils and burning bad oils, and on the need to replenish water. In addition, attention should be paid to the intake of rainbow fruits and vegetables. The concept of a fully balanced diet is true, as well as moderate supplementation of the three treasures that help with weight loss, including: probiotics, vitamins, and fish oil, and it is best to eat natural foods as much as possible. The following are the relevant research findings of Dr. Song Yanren in his new book "211 Fully Balanced Weight Loss Method for Lifelong Slimming" that help to lose weight:

Probiotics

According to an important discovery made by a team from the National Institutes of Health in 2016, a strain of intestinal bacteria was isolated from the intestines of special genetically modified mice (the "dual-specific dephosphatase dusp6" gene was deleted) that are said to "never gain weight" and can inhibit the inflammatory response caused by a high-fat diet, thereby achieving a weight-loss effect. The research results were published in the outstanding international journal Nature Microbiology, which confirmed that this specific intestinal bacteria can effectively increase calorie consumption, inhibit diet-induced obesity, and prevent people from gaining weight no matter how much they eat.

Probiotics also have many functions. For example, they can help break down the fiber in food through fermentation and produce short-chain fatty acids that are beneficial to the body. These short-chain fatty acids and the products of bacterial metabolism, in a sense, appear to be another neurohormone, which has the effect of regulating the function of the immune system.

Use natural food to supplement probiotics to adjust the intestines and help lose weight

So now some scientists call the "intestinal flora" a new organ (New Organ) or a hidden organ (Hidden Organ) of humans. More and more studies have confirmed that the intestinal system is the core of regulating the human immune, endocrine, nervous and emotional systems. It not only affects calorie metabolism and the imbalance of intestinal flora, but may also be the cause of allergies, insomnia, depression, dementia and Parkinson's disease.

Doctors recommend using natural foods to cultivate good bacteria in our bodies and adjust the intestinal "bacteria" to help lose weight.

Having said so much, you may wonder, do you need to supplement probiotics to lose weight? There are many probiotic preparations on the market now, which is dizzying. So far, no strain or group of probiotics can claim specific therapeutic effects, including weight loss. Therefore, obesity specialist Dr. Song Yanren does not advocate obtaining probiotics through supplements. Instead, we should find ways to use natural foods to cultivate good bacteria in our bodies and adjust the intestinal "bacteria" to help lose weight.

Although probiotics are important, they do not require additional supplementation. If you really consider taking additional probiotics, Dr. Song Yanren recommends not using only one brand, a single or a few strains of bacteria. Otherwise, in the long run, your intestinal bacteria will tend to favor certain strains, which is not healthy for your intestines.

Vitamins

Regarding the relationship between vitamins and weight loss, so far no large-scale studies have confirmed that any single vitamin has a weight loss effect (here single use means "only taking vitamins without dietary changes"), nor has any "combination" of vitamins been proven to be effective.

In fact, past studies on the relationship between vitamins and metabolism have shown that "supplementing" vitamins does have a very good effect on weight control; and people with extreme vitamin deficiencies in their bodies have also been found to find it very difficult to lose weight (please note that the word "supplement" is used, which does not mean that you should only take vitamins without making any changes to your diet. Vitamins alone will not help you lose weight!).

For example, obese people are often found to have lower levels of vitamin D and vitamin C. As we all know, vitamin D not only helps calcium absorption and affects bone health, but it is now also found that vitamin D plays a key role in muscle growth and maintenance. For example, "sarcopenia" in the elderly is often related to vitamin D deficiency.

Supplementing with adequate vitamins to enhance weight loss effects

In addition, studies have shown that supplementing with folic acid, B6 and B12 can help control weight, reduce the amount of homocysteine, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Judging from the literature, the effect of vitamins on weight control should still be related to regulating metabolic function. However, Dr. Song Yanren believes that in order to enhance the weight loss effect, sufficient vitamins should be supplemented. Since he started losing weight, he has been taking B vitamins every day, once in the morning and once in the evening (equivalent to twice the recommended daily amount), plus 1 gram of vitamin C and 800 international units of vitamin D3 per day, in addition to the "211 Weight Loss Plate Diet" and exercise.

We need to "eat good oils to burn bad oils", and fish oil is a good oil that can help burn bad oils.

Fish oil

Some people try to lose weight by not eating any fat at all, and they go extremely light on food. This approach is mainly based on the calorie point of view, believing that fats are relatively high in calories, so the intake of fats should be limited as much as possible. On the other hand, it is also believed that excessive intake of fat will cause an increase in cholesterol and triglycerides, leading to arteriosclerosis. These ideas have actually been abandoned by nutritional research in recent years. Nutrition experts from various countries have been suggesting that daily fat intake should account for about 30% of daily dietary calories. The most important point is: what kind of fat do you eat?

What is considered a good fat? Studies have found that fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids (mainly EPA and DHA), which can promote fat metabolism and muscle growth. It also has a very good anti-inflammatory effect and can improve chronic inflammation caused by obesity. It also has the effect of partially reducing appetite, which can reduce hunger during weight loss and even suppress our desire for sugar.

Eat good oils to burn bad oils and lower triglycerides in the body

A more important effect is that fish oil has been shown to enhance insulin sensitivity, improve our utilization of sugar and fat, reduce fat accumulation, and has the effect of lowering cholesterol, which can help prevent cardiovascular disease. We need to "eat good oils to burn bad oils", and fish oil is a good oil that can help burn bad oils. Studies have shown that consuming deep-sea fish rich in oil or supplementing with fish oil can significantly reduce triglycerides in the body.

Deep-sea fish such as salmon, cod, mackerel, etc. are all good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. You can also buy fish oil capsules sold on the market for supplementation (generally fish oil capsules contain about 700 to 750 mg of EPA and DHA. Dr. Song Yanren, who is losing weight, takes about 2 to 3 capsules a day as a supplement). Other plant-based foods or oils such as avocados and flaxseed oil are also rich in plant-based omega-3 fatty acids and are good choices for vegetarians.