Tackling weight-loss myths

Dr Douglas Street, Contributor

With obesity becoming a problem worldwide, individuals and governments are becoming increasingly interested in ways to achieve weight loss that is effective in more persons.

Sometimes desperation sets in and persons may listen to anyone with an idea. Sometimes even expert advice can be incorrect as it may be due to incomplete information. It may even be biased.

Here are some of these weight-loss myths.

1) Set realistic goals. Actually setting ambitious goals for weight loss is more likely to lead to significant weight loss.

2) Weight loss should be done over a long period of time. Weight loss has been shown to be less effective when drawn out and should instead be tackled aggressively.

3) Having breakfast helps you to lose weight. It's not the fact that you have breakfast that brings about weight loss, but actual contents of your meals, including breakfast.

4) Sex burns a lot of energy. Sex actually burns about 14 kilocalories, on average, which is really not that much.

5) Fats should be avoided when dieting. Fats are a very important part of every diet, even those trying to lose weight. Some vitamins (A, D, E and K) require fat for absorption. Instead go for limited amounts of mainly plant and fish-based fats. Animal fats are much less healthy.

6) Breastfeeding will prevent obesity. Breast-feeding has not conclusively been shown to reduce childhood obesity as the way the studies which show this were done may have been biased.

7) Fast foods should be avoided. Fast foods are not always bad. It's important to be vigilant about the types of fast foods and the frequency of consumption. Those rich in unhealthy ingredients should be limited/avoided, though.

8) Snacking is always bad. Again, it's not whether you snack or not that is unhealthy, but what you snack on. Low-energy snacks can be had, especially fruits and vegetables.

9) Fruits and vegetables will cause weight loss. These will not in and of themselves cause weight loss, but they can be used to replace high-calorie foods.

10) Some foods will melt fat. No such food is known to exist.

There is a lot of information that is out there which has not really been proven. A lot of it sounds nice and is often easy to implement, but it is not likely to help in the weight-loss effort. Double-checking information is important to ensure it is credible and safe.

Dr Douglas Street is a general practitioner and has private practices at Trinity Medical Centre, Trinity Mall at 3 Barnett Street in Montego Bay, and Omega Medical Centre at Plaza de Negril, Negril. Send feedback to drdougstreet@yahoo.com.