Is starch the killer of obesity? Doctor: Controlling body fat can prevent weight gain

There are three main reasons why weight loss is not easy to succeed: it cannot be sustained, the stagnation period is long, and the rate of weight regain is high. Doctors point out that weight loss is mostly related to calorie control. According to clinical experience, if you deliberately change your eating habits during the weight loss period, 90% of patients will gain weight again after successfully losing weight, and 100% of them will gain weight again.

Liu Bowen, executive director of the Taiwan Obesity Prevention and Health Education Association and a weight loss specialist, said that during the weight loss process, people have many wrong myths, including: "Starch is the killer of obesity?" and "Weight loss requires strict dieting." In fact, consuming an appropriate amount of starch can more effectively control weight, and learning to match foods and control calories that suit you is the right way.

Intake of appropriate amount of starch can effectively control weight

This is because the more you diet, the more you want to eat, and the more you cannot eat, the more likely you are to cheat; and the burning of body fat requires the assistance of starch (sugar), which means that the right amount of starch intake can help burn body fat. Therefore, during the weight loss period, it is recommended to consume about 5 servings of staple foods a day, including various grains, but less refined starches and sugars.

In addition, since people who are losing weight usually eat less, especially avoid sweets, the calories absorbed by the body are also reduced, resulting in lower blood sugar, which will cause physiological reactions such as increased heartbeat, hot sensation, hot flashes, and restless mind. In this case, the doctor will first try to give tranquilizers, or reduce the dosage, and ask the patient to adjust his eating habits during the weight loss period.

Keeping a good food diary and controlling body fat are important keys to losing weight successfully without gaining it back.

Keep a detailed food diary to avoid gaining weight

Dr. Liu Bowen emphasized that losing weight is not about eating less or more, but about eating smartly. It is recommended that you keep a food diary to understand your daily nutritional and calorie intake, and then understand food through the correct diet plan of doctors and nutritionists to achieve your weight loss goals more smoothly.

However, it should be noted that in order to achieve the goal of "rapid weight loss", dieters consume a small amount of food, which can easily lead to insufficient basic calorie intake per day, causing the body's basal metabolic rate to decrease. Although the weight loss effect can be achieved in a short period of time, once a normal diet is resumed, it is easy to cause calorie hoarding due to the lower metabolic rate, resulting in a situation where the more you lose weight, the fatter you get.

Step-by-step healthy weight loss to control body fat

To lose weight successfully, you must not only lose weight, but also reduce body fat to a normal range. In terms of body fat standards, women under 30 years old should have body fat less than 24%; women over 30 years old should have body fat less than 27%; men under 30 years old should have body fat less than 20%; men over 30 years old should have body fat less than 23%.

Correct and healthy weight loss should be carried out in a "step-by-step" manner, that is, you first set a goal. For example, if you want to lose 1 kg in a week, you can set a goal of 4 kg in a month. Let your body adapt to the new weight first, and maintain it for a period of time before continuing to lose weight. This method of weight loss will not put any burden on the body and is not likely to cause weight regain.

At the same time, we need to "take a five-pronged approach", namely: balanced diet control, moderate exercise, adherence to correct health concepts, and a good lifestyle. The most important thing is to persevere in order to avoid the "weight loss yo-yo effect" and gain weight again.