Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

In traditional approaches to dieting, one of the tools that seems to improve weight loss is food journaling, writing down everything you eat. This method works because it helps control the mindless eating that people do — just popping something in your mouth even if you aren’t hungry. In fact, one study found that food journaling every day led to twice as much weight loss among dieters.¹

We have only six short weeks left until Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer — and bathing suit season for most people. If your New Year’s resolution to lose weight hasn’t worked as well as you had hoped, don’t despair. There’s still time to look better at the beach. And I can tell you how to do it.

Several studies comparing different methods of weight loss give the scientific evidence that supports what I’ve been telling you all along: low-carb eating plans are the best way to lose weight.

The first study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association,¹compared the weight-loss results for 311 overweight and obese women who were assigned to follow either the Atkins (very low-carb), Ornish (very low-fat vegetarian), Zone (40% carbs) or LEARN (calorie-controlled, low-fat) diets. Those on the Atkins diet lost 10.3 lb compared to an average of 4.6 lbs in the other groups, and interestingly, far fewer people dropped out on the low-carb diet compared to the other diets.

Study two, from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association² looked at how a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet compared with a high-carbohydrate/low-fat diet on ratings of hunger and eating restraint. Both groups ate less, but the low-carb group was significantly less hungry. Not surprisingly, they also lost more weight.

Study three is from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.³ This study of 53 obese women compared a very low-carbohydrate diet to a calorie-restricted diet with 30% of the calories as fat. The very low carbohydrate diet group lost almost 16 lb in 3 months, and more of the weight lost was actual body fat compared to a 9-lb weight loss in the calorie- and fat-restricted diet.

There you have it. In all three studies, low-carb diets led to the greatest weight loss. End of story, right?

Did it ever occur to you that the reason you can’t lose weight may be due to the fact that you are eating foods that you’re allergic to? This is a revelation to many people who have struggled unsuccessfully for years to get rid of unwanted pounds.

The prevalence of food allergies is on the rise in both children and adults.^1-2 Allergies can be responsible for a number of health issues including irritable bowel type symptoms³ and migraines.⁴ Very few people are aware however, that immune responses to foods can go on to create a number of metabolic disruptions that can contribute to weight gain.

At LMI where we counsel people to lose weight using our Metabolic Code Diet (MCD) eating program, we see this all the time. We had one patient in our diet group who had tried a very low carb diet in the past, and lost no weight. The reason? She was sensitive to dairy and didn’t know it. On her previous diet, she was eating a lot of cheese. On the MCD, which is a lower carb, low allergen eating plan, she cut out the cow’s milk cheeses and dairy products, ate according to our meal recommendations, and the weight started coming off.

Creamed vegetable recipes can be very good, but are usually made with regular flour and so are higher in starch. The almond flour used in this recipe provides a wheat-free, lower carb alternative. With the onions, garlic, and butter that flavor the vegetables, you can get even your “non-vegetable lovers” to enjoy them.

This is a lighter chili recipe that you don’t mind eating even in warmer weather.

A delicious marinade of lime juice and healing herbs makes this Mexican-inspired grilled chicken recipe a perfect choice for a weekend cookout with friends.

Asparagus grows very early in the spring, so the best asparagus is in stores now. Look for firm and plump spears, not wrinkled and dehydrated. This delicate and delicious vegetable is a storehouse of vital nutrients needed for healing and immune boosting.

This light refreshing salad featuring soy or goat’s milk yogurt is a healthy take on an Indian classic.

Forget grandma’s canned version and rediscover the goodness of fresh beets.