Have you ever thought about it? All of those companies that make low fat or fat free foods claim that their products help people lose weight. Here's the thing though: Americans eat the most low fat and fat free foods, but somehow we have the highest rate of obesity in the world! That just doesn't make sense!
Well, actually, it does make sense. Think about things in perspective in terms of time. People of all generations before us were not struggling as much as we are today with weight. What was it that was different? Well, they certainly didn't have low fat or fat free foods so if they didn't have those foods to "help" them, what was it? There's the key! They didn't have low fat or fat free foods! That's why they were not struggling with their weight!!
Low fat and fat free foods do NOT help you to lose weight! Plain and simple, that is the full truth and I know you can handle it! Okay, so here's how low fat and fat free foods make you fat...
First off, foods with fat tend to taste better than their low fat or fat free buddies. I know, it's not something that you're likely to admit since, I'm sure, you're trying to keep those types of foods out of your mind while you work hard to lose weight. But realize that usually it is the fat in foods that make things taste so great. So when companies reduce or take out the fat, the taste goes with it.
Just think about the difference between a yummy cracker topped with cheese and a low fat cracker all dry and bland. Which one would YOU choose? The tasty one of course! So basically, you're subjecting yourself to bland, tasteless, dry food that, get this, costs more! That just completely does not make sense! Anyways, the fact that companies take out the taste means that they need to make their products taste good some other way. You know what that means! Chemical galore!
Low fat and fat free foods contain so many extra fillers that it is honestly scary! You've got tons of salt and tons of sugar, way more than is healthy and you've also got odd bulking agents, flavor enhancers and even artificial flavoring. Clearly this can't be good. However, in a way, it does the trick to making low fat and fat free foods more tasty.
Secondly, now that companies have been successful in making low fat and fat free foods tasty, people tend to think that since they taste good AND are low fat, then it's okay to eat even more of these foods than regular full fat foods. This is actually very bad! It's bad because if you eat more, you end up eating tons more of the chemicals they pump into these foods! And those chemicals are bad for your body, hands down, without any questions.
Statistically speaking, when you eat low fat or fat free foods, typically everyone will end up eating 28% more calories than regular full fat foods! Can you believe that? So by eating more of these low fat or fat free foods that are artificially tasty, you're actually eating more calories than you should be, than you would be if you were eating full fat foods! Wow.
Now, that doesn't mean that if you just eat less of the low fat or fat free foods, then these will be healthy for you because they really aren't, period. That also doesn't mean that you're free to eat fatty, greasy foods either because fried foods are never good for you. What you should be eating though, in terms of fat, are foods that are high in good fats. These include olive oil, avocadoes, nuts, seeds and oily fish, like salmon and tuna.
Going the easy route with low fat or fat free foods, letting companies do the "extra legwork" for you, is just a bad idea. Success weight loss begins with making good health choices and sometimes it may mean making a healthy lifestyle change. But the key is to keep all of your health decisions in your hands. So keep learning about foods and make sure to keep your health in your focus and you'll quickly be able to lose weight successfully!
Foods That Make You Gain Weight
The last thing that a patient wants to hear is that one of the drugs they have been prescribed will make them gain weight. That is a fear that many have to face because when a medication is needed, that particular side effect cannot be removed from the drug. Some people do not even know that weight gain is a symptom when they are prescribed a drug, but they do realize when they notice they are gaining weight without any other explanation.
Some of the drugs that are responsible for weight gain are drugs for depression, anti-seizure medication, medications for diabetes, hypertension, and migraines. Birth control, hormones, and steroids are also well-known for causing weight gain in patients.
What drugs cause weight gain?
There is no exact list that names the drugs that cause weight gain. A drug may cause weight gain in one person but not cause it in the next. That means there may be certain physiological elements in play. However, there are approximately 50 medications that are suggested to cause weight gain in those who take them. Some of these drugs include:
- Steroids such as prednisone
- Antidepressants that include Lexapro, Zoloft, Tofranil, Paxil, and Elavil
- Antipsychotics that include such drugs as Zyprexa
- Diabetes drugs such as Diabeta and Diabinese
- Hypertension medications such as Cardura and Inderol
- Beta Blockers such as Zebeta
- Even heartburn treatments such as Prevacid have been suggested to promote weight gain.
Other factors
Sometimes the medicine doesnt act alone when it comes to weight gain. When a person is depressed and they begin to feel better, they may find that they eat more. To make things more confusing, heartburn treatments have been known to help people lose weight, but people have also been known to gain weight. This weight gain could be associated with eating more because of an improvement in the condition.
There could also be underlying health issues that, in addition to the drug, cause weight gain to occur. There have been plenty of people who have seen a pattern in beginning a drug and weight gain. They may not have changed their eating habits and all, but noticed some water retention. Steroids are certainly a culprit in this because the person appears to have swelled up.
There are also patients who were not taking a drug for a long period of time. The treatment was a short-term treatment that caused weight gain, but when the treatment was over they found themselves returning to their regular weight. These are instances in which it is quite obvious that a drug has caused weight gain.
What to do
Although nothing can be done about the effect that the drug has on the body to gain weight, the patient can take matters into their own hands to an extent. They can watch how they eat, exercise regularly if possible, and drink plenty of liquids. This can actually offset some of the effects of the drug on weight. It may seem like a battle that never ends, but when a drug is needed to control a particular health issue, there really isnt much that can be done about it. Sometimes there are alternatives to a drug that the doctor can prescribe, but that option is not always available. However, it doesnt hurt to ask.
But what one must remember is that gaining a little extra weight might be minimal compared to the benefits that the drug provides. So if a person can deal with a 10 to 15 pound weight gain, it may be worth staying on the drug.
Amy Nutt has sinced written about articles on various topics from Culture and Society, Recreation and Sports and Women. Understand if you maintain a healthy body weight by using a . Learn what your body shape can mean to your health by. Amy Nutt's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.
Bird Flu In China These are such substances as Thymic Protein A, ImmunoLin Immune Advantage and Beta 1,3-D Glucan