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Experts say these are the most effective ways to lose weight after 50

There's no reason you can't look as fit and fabulous at 50 as you did at 40.

But there is one hitch: Even stars with personal trainers and nutrition coaches have to work a little harder to lose the pounds once they hit this milestone age.

One of the main reasons you'll have to put in extra effort: Your body composition changes as you age. You lose muscle mass at an average rate of 3-5% for every 10 years after age 35, and this can impact the way you burn fat. Your body goes into its aging stage as it leaves the growing one, says Dr. Luiza Petre, a New York City-based weight loss and management specialist, and assistant clinical professor of cardiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. When this happens, your body doesnt need as much energy as it used to, she explains.

What's more, all those years of playing sports, running after your kids and walking up and down stairs take their toll. You may notice that your joints are a little stiffer and your muscles are a little sorer than they were a few decades ago. Then, there's the issue of your ever-evolving metabolism.

According to the American Council on Exercise, your resting metabolic rate, a.k.a. your body's ability to burn calories while sitting on the sofa doing nothing, decreases by about 1-2% per decade due to muscle mass loss and increased fat mass. Our diets usually don't change enough to account for this metabolic adjustment, meaning weight can creep up slowly but surely with every birthday.

"There are a number of roadblocks people in their 50s will face when trying to lose weight," says Brian Durbin, a NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist and personal trainer. "But once you know what they areand how to work around themit's easy to be successful at dropping pounds."

One of the best things you can do at any age is shake up your routine and try something new. Follow these tips to help you drop the pounds, and keep them off for good, courtesy of some of the worlds best weight-loss experts, dietitians and personal trainers

First stop after you celebrate the big 5-0your doctor's office. Your doctor can assess your current state of health, address any health problems that may be affecting your weight (like pre-diabetes or sleep apnea) and help you come up a plan for diet and exercise, says Dr. Petre. Your doctor may even be able to recommend a physical therapist or personal trainer for you.

Have your doctor check your hormone levels. As we age, progesterone, testosterone and other hormones decline, which sets the body up for storing fat instead of losing weight, says Dr. Jennifer Burns, a naturopathic physician in Phoenix. "Simply getting your thyroid, adrenal glands and other hormone levels checkedand then taking the appropriate steps to bring them back into balancecan go a long way toward helping people in their 50s lose weight," says Burns.

Dr. Tami Meraglia, author of The Hormone Secret: Discover Effortless Weight Loss and Renewed Energy in Just 30 Days, agrees, adding that she believes the hormone to focus on is testosteroneespecially for women over 50 who are trying to get fit. "There is ample discussion in the medical community about the effects of estrogen loss, but few people are aware of the importance of sufficient testosterone levels, which can help a woman slim down," says Dr. Meraglia. In fact, research shows that balanced testosterone levels reduce blood glucose levels, which may help promote weight loss and shrink stubborn belly fat.

Declaring that youre going to lose 20 pounds before your beach vacation next month is unrealistic, not to mention unhealthy. Be honest with yourself. How do you feel? How healthy are you? Making life changes takes courage and mental fortitude, says Dr. Petre. Break up big goals into smaller, more achievable ones. Focusing on how you're feeling and the positive changes you're making to your lifestyle, instead of the number on the scale, will help you stay motivated to reach your goals. Triumphs make your courage grow, she adds. Small achievements amount to large goals achieved.

There are dozens of different eating plans buzzing around the internet, each claiming to help you shed the pounds without feeling deprived (some of best diets for weight loss in 2020 are the Mediterranean Diet, the DASH Diet and WW Freestyle). If you're not sure which one works best for your lifestyle, talk to a dietitian, who can break down the pros and cons and help you choose one that fits your nutritional needs and goals. An RD will also give you ideas on how to resolve road blocks that may get in the way of your goals, like emotional/stress eating, food sensitivities, nutritional deficiencies and meal-prep fatigue.

At 50, you've been around the block enough times to know that fad diets don't work. No crazy fasts, cleanses, cutting out fats or complex carbohydrates or proteins, says Jillian Michaels, health and wellness expert and author of The 6 Keys: Unlock Your Genetic Potential for Ageless Strength, Health and Beauty. Instead, consider following a medically supervised, clinically proven plan. Dr. Petre explains that these types of programs have a weight-loss success rate of more than 75%, especially if they involve personal support and weekly check-ins.

Even if you've never picked up a dumbbell in your life, now is the perfect time to learn to love the weight room (but seriously, if you're a newbie, work with a trainer first so you don't hurt yourself!). Because the secret to losing weight over 50 is this: Build more muscle mass to increase your metabolism (you've got about 20% less now than you did when you were 20). "The good news is you can turn all of this around with a well-structured weight-training routine," Durbin says. "That can help you regain the ability to lose weight like you were able to 20 years ago," he says. Aim to lift weights at least twice a week, whether you use free weights or machines or do bodyweight exercises. It doesn't hurt to lift every dayjust make sure to work different muscle groups or train differently each day.

Janna Lowell, a Los Angelesbased personal trainer, says she gets the best results among her 50-somethings when she has them do some cross training in the pool. Tired joints can keep you from getting a great workout, she says, and aches and pains can turn some people off exercise completely. "Water exercise is easy on the joints and can boost range of motion as well," says Lowell. "Even better, caloric expenditure is about 30% greater in the water than on land due to the resistance water creates." No pool? No problem. Walking is another great, low-impact cardiovascular exercise, as are cycling, kayaking, yoga and dancing.

If you're going to put in the effort to block out the time, don't let your exhaustion or aching joints hold you back from going all out! Alex Allred, a former national and professional athlete turned personal trainer, says this is one of her biggest pet peeves among 50-year-olds. "Far too many people think that just because they showed up, they're working out," says Allred. "But really, you need to be focused on what you're doing and pushing yourself hard enough to break a sweat or at least complete the full range of motion of a certain exercise." Not sure if you're doing a move properly? Ask! "I wish more people would flag down a trainer and ask, 'Am I doing this correctly?'" says Allred. It can make the difference between making the most of your exercise time to lose weight and wasting your time or injuring yourself.

If an aching back, wonky knee or creaky hip has kept you from working out on a regular basis, make an appointment with a physical therapist, suggests Samira Shuruk, an ACE-certified personal trainer. "After 50, many people have sustained injuries and don't know what their activity options are," she says. "Getting advice from a professional can truly help." Physical therapy can also help you rehabilitate an old injury or ease joint and muscle pain, setting you up for pain-free workouts.

Just like pop music isn't the same as it was when you were in your 30s, your metabolism has changed, too, which means you're burning about 250 fewer calories each day. So if you continue to eat like you did in the early 2000sand don't increase your exerciseyou'll inevitably gain weight, says Dr. Katie Ferraro, a registered dietitian and assistant clinical professor of nutrition at the University of CaliforniaSan Francisco School of Nursing. Eliminating the junk food in your diet and replacing it with loads of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins can make cutting calories painless, she says.

Its not just what you eat, but how you eat that matters in your 50s, claims Dr. Anthony Dissen, a registered dietitian nutritionist and Vice President of Nutrition at WellStart Health. He suggests focusing on fullness, not portion control, when you are planning your meals. If our stomachs arent full, we dont feel full, and well stay hungry, he points out. When it comes to healthy weight loss and management, we want to strike that important balance between eating until we feel full and satisfied while still decreasing our overall calorie intake.

Between paying college tuition for your kids, juggling more and more responsibilities at work and dealing with aging parents, your 50s can be a prime-time for stress, says Durbin. The result? Emotional eating and a schedule that seems too jam-packed for regular exercise sessions. The solution: Schedule your workouts like they're doctor's appointments, he says. Sticking to a consistent routine can not only help ease stress, it can also help you stay on track with your diet. After all, who wants to ruin the benefits of a tough sweat session by eating a donut?

One great thing about being 50you are completely over the social pressure to stay out late. Doing your best to get seven to eight hours of snooze time every night is key to helping you lose weight, says Michaels. Dr. Petre adds that the two hormones that regulate appetiteleptin and ghrelingo into overdrive without regular shut-eye. This can trigger excessive hunger and lead to poor food choices and weight gain at any age, she says. Find a list of proven of sleep strategies right here.

Its important to practice mindfulness, especially when youre eating. The more we try to multi-task while we eat, the more likely we are to overeat and not feel as satisfied by the meal or snack weve just eaten, Dr. Dissen explains. By simply taking a breath and treating our mealtime as special, it allows us to really taste our food and notice its flavors, textures and tastes. Mindfulness can aid in stress relief, too. Michaels suggests practicing five to 10 minutes of meditation a day.

Whether it's treating yourself to manicure or taking a mental health day from work, taking care of yourself shouldn't be looked at as a luxury. The smallest gestures can make a big difference in reducing stress, which can make a big impact on your weight loss. Plus, when you show yourself a little more love, you can use that energy to do things that support your goals, like eating healthy, exercising and meditating. Not sure how to start a self-care routine? First ask yourself why you need more time to take care of yourself. Are you working too many late hours at the office? Do you feel burned out and wish you could be calmer? Once you figure out why you need to make some more time for yourself, it can help you decide what will be a good activity or routine for you.

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Experts say these are the most effective ways to lose weight after 50 - New Haven Register

I was never much of a weed smoker, but when I moved to L.A., the local post-legalization zeitgeist rubbed off on me, and I began smoking several times a week. Since Im a pretty healthy eater and dont really crave sweets or junk food, I was a bit concerned to find that when I smoked, my stomach suddenly became a bottomless pit that only powdered donuts (and sometimes macadamia nut cookies) could fill. Even so, I didnt gain weight I actually lost a bit.

It seemed almost too good to be true, but others have noticed the same. Danielle Simone Brand, a 40-year-old writer in Boise, Idaho, lost 10 pounds after she started using cannabis daily. One possible reason is that I enjoy food so much when using cannabis that I find myself savoring bites and going for quality and not necessarily quantity, she said.

There's a tenuous connection between weed and weight loss

Research suggests that experiences like mine and Brands might not be unusual. One 2019 study of 33,000 Americans in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that cannabis users weighed two pounds less than non-users on average, and were overall less likely to be overweight or obese.

Still, this study doesnt necessarily mean weed makes you lose weight or doesnt make you gain weight, said Jordan Tishler, a former ER doctor and current cannabis specialist on the medical advisory board at cannabisMD. Maybe stoners eat less than they think, or maybe theyre genetically less prone to weight gain, he explained.

There could be other habits smokers have that account for their lower weight. One 33-year-old engineer in Silicon Valley, who wishes to remain anonymous for professional reasons, said he lost weight when he started smoking because it decreased his desire to drink alcohol. While Tishler doesnt know of any data proving this connection, he has also had patients who drank less after they started using cannabis.

"There are hypotheses that there might be something in cannabis that increases metabolic rate, which would decrease the weight gain," Tishler said. "There have been some suggestions that cannabis could help protect against diabetes and excessive blood lipids [which are connected to excessive weight]. However, these are just observations that may be accounted for by many other explanations and have not been studied enough to draw any reasonable conclusions."

Could weed actually cause weight gain?

Even if stoners are lighter on average, that doesnt mean you can smoke as much as you want without gaining weight, said Marina Yuabova, family nurse practitioner and Assistant Professor at the City University of New York, pointing out that in the aforementioned study, in a sub-group of people who smoked weed occasionally but didnt smoke cigarettes, the heavier the cannabis use, the heavier the people. So, even though smokers were thinner overall, it depended on how much they smoked. When cannabis is used over a long time, it will influence weight gain due to munchies and cravings for sweets and salty snacks, she suggested.

Joan Conklin, a 32-year-old writer in New York City, can attest to this. Using cannabis made me gain weight because I got the munchies and I was lazy, she said. I got so much enjoyment out of music and reading and just existing that I didnt get out of the apartment much.

Jason, a 36-year-old teacher in the UK, gained around 30 pounds over two years after he started smoking. For me, it increased unhealthy diet decisions, he said. Meanwhile some people specifically use weed to gain weight, pointed out June Chin, a doctor on the medical advisory board at cannabisMD. So there's really no consensus about what kind of effect weed has on weight.

There might be a biological purpose for the munchies

Regardless of weed's impact on weight, its possible that the munchies serve a purpose, said James Giordano, professor of neurology and biochemistry at Georgetown University Medical Center. Cannabinoids can suppress your appetite, he explainedto put it scientifically, it causes changes in the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, as well as appetite-regulating hormones like leptin and ghrelin, which may make you less hungry and more easily satisfied.

So, the munchies often show up not right as you get stoned but after some time. When most people are stoned, theyre not eating, Giordano said. As they start to come out, they get a rebound in appetite. Often, people will crave high-fat meals when they have the munchies because they need the calories, he said.

But Tishler disagrees with this characterization, saying that cannabis does not suppress appetite, and the munchies can set in during the acute intoxication phase.

Ok, regardless: How do you prevent weight gain from weed munchies?

If youve eaten an edible, youre less likely to get the munchies for obvious reasons: youve already taken in some calories, so your body releases leptin, which suppresses your appetite, said Giordano. If you want to avoid the munchies, then an edible may be the way to goit not only will fill you up but also will have a more prolonged appetite-suppressant effect because its metabolized more slowly.

But beware that regardless of your method of ingestion, it is absolutely possible to gain weight from the munchies, Tishler said. Calories are calories. If your intake exceeds your metabolic expenditure, you will store that energy as fat, he said. Even if cannabis is somehow mildly protective against weight gainagain, this is entirely unprovenit can certainly be overwhelmed by high calorie intake.

If youre concerned about gaining weight from the munchies, Tishler recommends avoiding high-calorie cannabis products like brownies, which are about 250 calories on average. And if you get the munchies, try to satisfy them with nutritious, lower-calorie foods. Your discipline may not be at its highest when youre stoned, so you may want to have foods youll feel good about eating available before you get high. If you have Doritos in the house, likely youll eat them, he said. If you dont and have baby carrots, youll eat those instead. Plan to have abundant healthy, crunchy snacks on hand, and be sure you do not have the option for making less-good choices while under the influence.

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The Truth About Losing Weight With Weed - VICE

If losing weight sits high atop your New Year's resolution list, you might want to reach for a piping-hot cup of joe.

Why? New research suggests that just 4 cups of coffee a day can actually help shed some body fat.

The finding follows a 24-week investigation that tracked coffee's impact among 126 overweight men and women in Singapore.

Investigators initially set out to see if coffee could help lower the risk for type 2 diabetes risk by lowering the risk for developing insulin resistance, which can lead to dramatic spikes in blood sugar and, ultimately, diabetes.

In the end, the researchers did not find evidence that coffee had such a protective effect. But there was an unexpected upside: Those who drank 4 cups of caffeinated coffee per day over six months saw a nearly 4% drop in overall body fat.

"We were indeed surprised by the observed weight loss that was specifically due to fat mass loss among coffee drinkers," said study author Derrick Johnston Alperet, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Alperet said it suggests that "this loss in fat mass was not likely to be due to changes in lifestyle, namely diet and physical activity".

Rather, he and his colleagues think that coffee-fueled fat loss may be the result of a "metabolic reaction", in which caffeine causes the drinker's metabolic process to ramp up. The end result, said Alperet, is the burning of more calories and a notable drop in body fat.

Still, the Singapore experiment lasted only six months, during which time half of the study participants - who were all Chinese, Malay or Asian-Indian - were randomly instructed to drink 4 cups of caffeinated instant coffee on a daily basis. The other half drank a beverage that mimicked coffee's taste but was neither coffee nor caffeinated. So, might drinking 4 cups of caffeinated coffee a day over a longer haul pose any risk?

Alperet thinks not. Prior research, he said, indicates that this level of consumption is well within current norms. Studies, he noted, suggest that on average Americans currently consume up to 4 cups daily, while Europeans can average as much as 7 cups.

Connie Diekman, a food and nutrition consultant and former president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is not so sure.

"The 4 cups allocated in this study appear to be on the high side of intake, so not what I would recommend," she cautioned. "The higher caffeine content might have helped suppress appetite."

But too much caffeine "can impact the body overall, causing headaches, jitters, rapid heartbeat and stomach distress", noted Diekman, who wasn't involved with the study.

And Alperet agreed that "any decision for a non-coffee drinker to include 4 cups of coffee per day to his/her diet needs to be carefully calibrated with other caffeine-containing foods, beverages and medication currently consumed".

In the meantime, "we believe more research is needed here," Alperet said. "Additional trials with more comprehensive assessments of body composition are needed to confirm our findings."

That point was seconded by Lona Sandon, who also reviewed the study. She is program director and assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Nutrition with the School of Health Professions at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

"Coffee, caffeine more specifically, has been on the radar for years for its potential to affect appetite, body weight and body fat," Sandon said. "But the exact mechanism of how it may work to decrease body fat is highly debated."

And even if coffee can be proven to trigger fat loss, Sandon said readers should manage their expectations, given that it took half a year for drinkers to shed a just a small percentage of body fat.

"Modest calorie restriction is more effective than that, along with a good exercise programme for changing body composition," Sandon pointed out. "Excess body fat is not going to melt away quickly with a few added cups of coffee per day."

The findings were published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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Could your morning coffee be a weight-loss tool? - Health24

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Maybe youve heard that the diabetes drug metformin makes people lose weight. But is that even true? And more important, might you be one of the people who could drop pounds by taking this prescription medication?

Great questions. The answers are: Yes, metformin helps some people lose weight, but depending on whats going on with your body, you mayor may notbe one of them.

Before we get to whether it makes sense for you to ask your doctor to take out her Rx pad, heres a little background:

Metformin is an oral drug that is FDA approved to control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. It is sometimes used off-label (meaning docs prescribe it for non-FDA-approved uses it seems to work for) in people with prediabetesi.e. they have somewhat high blood sugar or some insulin resistance, and so are at risk for developing diabetes. Its also prescribed off-label for other conditions, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Researchers arent 100% sure of all the ways the drug acts in the body. Metformin is a complex drug with multiple sites of action and multiple molecular mechanisms that are not fully understood, according to a 2017 report.

What is known is that metformin causes the liver to lower the amount of glucose (sugar) it makes and releases into your bloodstream, and also affects your gut, so that you use glucose more efficiently. All of this helps people with diabetes, whose blood sugar is too high and/or not being used properly (which makes the body want to crank out more.)

Folks seem to be less hungry on the drug. Metformin mainly causes weight loss by lowering food intake, says Steven K. Malin, Ph.D., an assistant professor and expert in exercise metabolism and human nutrition at the University of Virginias Curry School of Education and Human Development. Simply put, the drug is thought to act on the brain via neural pathways to lower appetite signals, and to tamp down the signals of a ghrelin, a hunger hormone manufactured in the gut, which together add up to you feeing less noshy.

It may also help your gut flora use glucose as an energy source, says Malin, which means your body doesnt need to dip into blood glucose as frequently, causing those crazy energy dips that make you want to inhale a king-size sack of M&Ms and a Big Gulp.

Another way it is thought to make you less hungry is that metformin may reduce inflammation in your fat tissue, says Caroline Apovian, M.D., an obesity medicine physician and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. We think inflammation begins the process of weight gain, and causes dysfunction in the neural pathways that lead to satiety in the brain, she says. In other words, this inflammation may be preventing your brain from getting the Im full signals that your hormones are trying to convey.

So metformin seems to be a one-two punch: If you alter the gut microbiome, youre increasing the satiety hormones, says Dr. Apovian. If you improve inflammation, youre allowing the satiety hormones to work through a different mechanismbut it all ends up in the brain. Finally, when the brain says, step away from the Oreos, you are no longer helpless to comply.

About 4 or 5 pounds, says Dr. Apovian, who prescribes metformin along with one of the approved drugs for obesity for people who have diabetes and obesity or prediabetes and obesity to help with bigger weight loss. If someone has obesity, you always need another agent aside from metformin. The heavier a person is, the better they are likely to drop a few pounds on metformin, and research shows that the weight loss in people with diabetes who stay on the the drug lasts.

In some cases, metformin can still promote some weight loss, says Malin. There is evidence that metformin can induce weight loss of approximately 5-10 lbs. in people who have PCOS or psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, he says. A possible reason is that they have associated insulin resistance.

While some doctors will prescribe metformin for moderately overweight people without insulin issues, it is not clear from any research that it helps. Unless it is warranted to take metformin to promote glycemic control or improve insulin sensitivity because of underlying health issue, taking metformin may not be advisable, says Malin. His research on healthy people as well as people with prediabetes taking metformin and exercising had mixed findingsmore fat metabolism, but blunted fitness gains and no added health benefit from taking the drug. Focusing instead of being physically active and consuming a proper diet would like be better for weight lossand build healthy habits going forward.

Bottom line: If you have diabetes, pre-diabetes, insulin resistance or hyperinsulinemia (when your blood sugar is too high for a variety of reasons), or have the disease of obesity, its worth asking your doctor about taking metformin. If not, keep your body moving and eat healthfully, avoiding processed foods especially, as they are thought to contribute to inflammation.

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Metformin and Weight Loss: Here's Everything You Should Know Before Trying It - Prevention.com

Stick-on weight-loss patches infused with Japanese mint are the newest get thin quick gimmick buzzing around the internet. The ads make them seem irresistible Have you tried to lose weight? This is a dream solution for you! But are these a true scientific breakthrough or another way to simply separate you from $7.99 plus tax and shipping?

According to some dubious-looking sites, these patches were supposedly developed by a Japanese doctor (different web sites give different names for this mysterious genius, but none provide any links to any research, nor do they even give a first name so you can look up the doctors credentials on your own), and they claim to eliminate all the pesky work of eating nutritious foods and exercising. You simply slap on the sticky patch, and within hours it will trigger fat cells to reduce body fat by a magical mechanism without making the skin loose, according to the very scientific description on one site.

Well, magical fat-reducing slimming patches are a dream solution, if by dream you mean a complete fantasy that evaporates as soon as you wake up.

If the solution to obesity were as simple as wearing a patch, then there would be no obesity epidemic with a whole field of science devoted to working on it, points out Rekha Kumar, M.D., medical director of the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) and an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Dr. Kumar does sympathize those who are curious about these products, however: The proven methods to lose weightcalorie-restricted dieting and exerciseare very challenging for so many people. You get hungry, you dont have the time to exercise, or youre scared about getting started, so the concept of a quick fix is very attractive.

You may be thinking, so, even it doesnt work, whats the harm in trying? Before you press checkout, heres what you should know:

Known by the scientific name mentha canadensis, Japanese mint is found, yes, in Japan, as well and other Asian countries such as China and Javabut its also found all over North America, where its called Canada mint or American mint. So, basically, this is a very common, very international variety of mint.

Mint has been used for centuries to treat all kinds of ailments, from nausea to bad breath to IBS, with limited research to back it up. But there is no evidence that mint can do anything on its own to speed up metabolism or melt away pounds. If you really want to try using mint as part of your weight loss plan, there is one surefire way: Replace all your calorie-laden caramel lattes and colas with calorie-free peppermint tea.

So here is where it gets interesting. Transdermal patches are used for many health reasonsbirth control, smoking cessation, and pain management. They release medication through the skin, where it enters the bloodstream. And there are also FDA-approved medications that are injected under the skin for weight loss, says Dr. Kumar. So, in theory, a transdermal patch could help with appetite control and weight loss, she says. However, Dr. Kumar points out, there are no clinically proven, FDA-approved patches on the market. And not only are the weight-loss patches you can order on the web not approved, there is absolutely zero evidence that any of the herbal ingredients in them can do a thing for weight loss. If you look at some of the ingredients listed in these patches, such as mint, aai berry, and green tea, they have all been touted for weight loss before, but none of them have been proven to be effective, she says.

If you cut calories and increase exercising while youre wearing the patch, sure, youll lose weight. But that will happen whether you slap on a Japanese mint weight loss patch or a sticker with a cute kitten on it from the dollar store. If you wear the patch and dont make any lifestyle changes, well, youll just have a very sweet-smelling decoration.

Once again, Dr. Kumar points out that none of these products are regulated, which means you really have no idea whats actually in that patch youre slapping on your skin. You have to be concerned about two things: Is what theyre saying is in there actually in there; and are there harmful ingredients in there that are not listed?

In the end, you should follow this rule about any product you buy on the internet that claims to have medical or weight loss benefits: Be skeptical, ask your doctor, and proceed with caution.

Meanwhile, if you want to lose weight, find a healthy diet that appeals to you, hit the gym, and save the mint for your mojitos.

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Are Japanese Mint Patches the Weight Loss Miracle Weve All Been Waiting For? - Prevention.com

Generally, intermittent fasting is a diet strategy that involves alternating periods of eating and extended fasting (meaning no food at all or very low calorie consumption).

Theres quite a bit of debate in our research community: How much of the benefits of intermittent fasting are just due to the fact that it helps people eat less? Could you get the same benefits by just cutting your calories by the same amount? said Courtney Peterson, an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who studies time-restricted feeding, a form of intermittent fasting.

We asked Peterson and a few other experts to help us sort out the real from the scam on intermittent fasting.

There are four popular fasting approaches: periodic fasting, time-restricted feeding, alternate day fasting and the 5:2 diet. Time-restricted feeding, sometimes called daily intermittent fasting, is perhaps the easiest and most popular fasting method. Daily intermittent fasters restrict eating to certain time periods each day say, 11am to 7pm. The fasting period is usually around 12 or more hours that, helpfully, includes time spent sleeping overnight. Periodic fasting will feel most familiar: No food or drinks with calories for 24-hour periods. Another type of fast, alternate day fasting, requires severe calorie reduction every other day. Lastly, the 5:2 method was popularised by author Kate Harrisons book The 5:2 Diet and requires fasting on two nonconsecutive days a week.

If you are obese or overweight, fasting is an effective weight loss method, if you stick to it. But it is no more effective than a diet that restricts your daily calories. We know this because there were no additional weight loss or cardiovascular benefits of fasting two days per week over an ordinary calorie restriction diet in a study of 150 obese adults over the course of 50 weeks.

But you should also consider how difficult the diet will be to stick to. In a study of 100 randomised obese and overweight adults published in 2017, the dropout rate was higher with those who were fasting, 38 per cent, compared to 29 per cent for those who restricted calorie intake and 26 per cent for those who kept eating as they normally did.

Some people really struggle with having to monitor their intake and constantly record food in an app every day. So the takeaway of the study was, if daily calorie restriction doesnt work for you, maybe alternate day fasting would be a little easier, said Krista Varady, professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago and senior author of the study. Theres nothing magical here. Were tricking people into eating less food in different ways, she said in 2017.

There is some new evidence that shows different forms of fasting are not equal in part because some are easier than others but also because some forms of fasting better match our bodys natural circadian rhythm, thus lowering insulin levels, increasing fat-burning hormones and decreasing appetite.

Basically, because our metabolism has evolved to digest food during the day and rest at night, changing the timing of meals to earlier in the day may be beneficial.

In a study done in Petersons lab, 11 adults did time-restricted feeding (eating from 8am to 2pm) and a control 12-hour eating period for four days each. On the last day of each session, researchers measured energy expenditure and hunger hormones and found that time-restricted feeding improves the appetite hormone ghrelin and increases fat burning. Its shown to reduce the amount of fat in the liver, which is a risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, said Peterson.

Bottom line: If you want to lose weight and are someone who hates counting calories, you might consider fasting, as both methods offer similar weight loss benefits.

The most effective diet is the one you can stick to while still living your best life. Its hard to know which will work best before trying, but doctors and recent studies offer some guidance. Peterson said that complete, zero-calorie fasts generally prove to be too difficult to maintain. People stick with them maybe for the short-term, but they get quite hungry in the long-term, she said.

Time-restricted feeding fasting overnight and into the next morning is likely the easiest form of fasting to comply with. A longer than normal fasting period each night allows you to burn through some of your sugar stores, called glycogen. That does a couple things. It gives your body a little bit more time to burn fat. It also may help your body get rid of any extra salt in your diet, which would lower your blood pressure, Peterson said.

There arent any studies right now that state exactly how long one should fast. Researchers, like Peterson, are working on that. The minimum amount of time it takes to make fasting efficacious hasnt been proven via study, but the prevailing notion is its somewhere between 12 and 18 hours. But it can take a few days sometimes weeks of fasting regularly for your body to start burning fat for fuel. Brooke Alpert, nutritionist and author of The Diet Detox, suggests starting by moving your last meal to around 7 pm. She said the reason for this is our bodies are better at doing some things at certain times. Our bodies are better at processing sugar in the morning than at night, said Varady. So eat bigger meals in the morning, for example.

And how often do you have to do daily intermittent fasting to see the benefit? Again, there hasnt been a study thats shown exactly how many days you need to fast, but a recent study in rodents showed they get about the same benefits fasting five days per week as they did fasting every day. The great thing is that were learning that this type of fasting isnt all or nothing, Peterson said. New York Times

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Intermittent fasting: what is it and are there any benefits? - The Irish Times

CNN It's 3 a.m. and you're wide awake for the second night in a row. You get up and stumble to the kitchen for some warm milk mom swears will put you to sleep.

So why are you eating a bowl of ice cream with a side of cookies?

"When you're sleep deprived, you're not like, 'Oh, you know what, I want some carrots,' " said behavioral neuroscientist Erin Hanlon, who studies the connection between brain systems and behavior at the University of Chicago.

"You're craving sweets and salty and starchy things," she added. "You want those chips, you want a cookie, you want some candy, you know?"

What is it about sleep exhaustion and junk food? The answer lies in history, back when we dug in the dirt for starchy tubers, foraged for sweet berries and gorged on fatty fish.

Simply put, a lack of sleep triggers ancient instincts that yearn for rich, sweet, fatty foods.

"Evolutionarily speaking, it was a big deal to have a high carb, high fat meal, because you didn't necessarily have those all of the time," explained Hanlon, also a research assistant professor.

"If you think back to feast or famine times, having a meal with lots of carbs or fat was something that your brain would say, 'Hey, we want to have that.'

"It's only the last bit of humanity that we have been able to have food around the clock or food that is high in saturated fats and high in carbs," Hanlon continued. "And our brain has not evolved as quickly as the food choices that have become available."

You may have heard about two hormones that control our urge to eat: leptin and ghrelin.

"I always tell my patients to think about them by their first letter," said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, the associate program director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Keck Medicine of USC.

"The 'l' in leptin stands for lose: It suppresses appetite and therefore contributes to weight loss," he said. "The 'g' in ghrelin stands for gain: This fast-acting hormone increases hunger and leads to weight gain."

When you're sleep deprived, research shows, ghrelin levels spike while leptin takes a nose dive. The result is an increase in hunger.

But food is food, so that doesn't explain why we crave candy instead of carrots.

To answer that, you have to look at another system of the body: The endocannabinoid system. Its job is to keep our body in homeostasis, or equilibrium and it regulates everything from sleep to appetite to inflammation to pain and more.

Science only discovered the first cannabinoid receptor in 1988, in the brain of a rat. Within a few years, they found two receptors, CB1 and CB2, and discovered it was present in all vertebrates -- mammals, birds, reptiles and fish -- and possibly some invertebrates.

Now we know it's an ancient system, evolving eons ago. In fact, the most primitive animal known to have cannabinoid receptors is the sea squirt, which lived more than 600 million years ago.

What does this system have to do with eating? Endocannabinoids bind to the same receptors as the active ingredient in marijuana, which as we know, often triggers the "munchies."

"We know that you can infuse endocannabinoids into specific regions of animals' brains and make them eat," said Hanlon. "They will eat specific things, more palatable things. They will choose sucrose over saccharin, despite the fact that in theory both taste the same, but the sucrose has more carbs."

Researchers now believe it could be the endocannabinoid system that triggers our hedonistic cravings for fatty, starchy and sugary foods.

And just like with leptin and ghrelin, sleep deprivation seems to make it worse.

In a study published in 2016, Hanlon compared the circulating levels of 2-AG, one of the most abundant endocannabinoids, in people who got four nights of normal sleep (more than eight hours) to people who only got 4.5 hours.

People who were sleep-deprived reported greater increases in hunger and appetite and had higher afternoon concentrations of 2-AG than those who slept well. They also had a rough time controlling their urges for high-carb, high-calorie snacks.

Why? "We don't know," Hanlon said.

All of this research is so new that science doesn't yet know how it all fits together or what can be done about it.

And that brings us to the bottom line: There's not gonna be a pill any time soon for the sleep-deprived junk-food junkies that we are.

Instead, you'll have to do what the doctor says to reduce your illicit cravings in the middle of the night: Get more sleep.

The-CNN-Wire & 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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There's a scientific reason you crave junk food when you don't get enough sleep - KSL.com