Dietary Tips to Reduce Weight | Everyone Should Know and Follow

People those who are obese or overweight can start healthy and a balanced diet to reduce weight by avoiding and including the foods as per the mentioned list.

What is Obesity?

Obesity is a complex disease involving an excessive amount of body fat. Every 4^th person in India is suffering from obesity. Obesity isn't just a cosmetic concern. It's a medical problem that increases the risk of other diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain cancers.

Classification of weight by BMI for adults

Height and weight are the simplest and commonly used measures. A number of weight-for-height indices have been developed, of which the body mass index (BMI) (defined as weight/height (kg/m2) is the most widely used.

BMI generally correlates highly with adiposity, although it can sometimes misclassify total body fat content. For example, athletes who are muscular have a high BMI, due to muscle weighing more than fat, and will have BMIs within the overweight range, even though they are not fat. The shortest and tallest subjects also tend to be misclassified as obese. It is possible to measure adipose tissue mass by vanous means, but most of these require sophisticated apparatus and techniques beyond the scope of most clinical practices. Although bioelectrical impedance (BIA) is easily applied, this technique requires further evaluation for its reproducibility in clinical and epidemiological population-based studies. Therefore, BMI, which is easy to calculate, has been recommended as the measure of obesity for adults to be used.

Dietary tips to reduce weight

Fiber adds bulk to the diet, it can be helpful in controlling weight, aids digestion, helps prevent constipation. To reduce weight and maintain healthy weight, everyone should follow the tips given below:

• Daily intake of water: 8-10 glasses
• Include fruits, vegetables and sprouts in diet.
• Avoid spicy and masala foods.
• Include unprocessed foods like (brown rice, whole wheat flour, brown bread).
• Prefer wheat products to increase fiber in diet.

People are above 30 BMI should do regular health checkups to avoid obesity complications. It is advised for everyone to do regular exercise and follow healthy diet to avoid becoming overweight.

Obesity Health Checkup Package

Foods to avoid:

• Fats like vanaspathi, coconut oil
• Sweets like puddings, payasam, burfi, laddu, deserts, ice creams etc.,
• Bakery products like cake, pastries, biscuits etc.,
• High calorie fruits like banana, grapes, mango, custard apple, sapota etc.,
• Raw banana and root vegetables like potato, yam, colcasia
• Nuts like almonds, peanuts, cashew nuts and dried like figs, dates, currents, raisins, apricots etc.,
• Egg yolk, yam, bacon, mutton sausages, cheese, cottage cheese, beef pork, and organ meat like liver, kidney, brain, etc.,
• Deep-fried items, juices with sugar, squashes etc.,
• Never starve/ fast, instead substitute high caloric foods with low caloric foods (like fruits, vegetables, buttermilk, veg soups).

Foods to be included

• High protein food items
• Milk and milk products: milk, yogurt, soya milk, tofu, low fat cheese.
• Nuts and oily seeds: pumpkin, squash, and watermelon seeds, peanuts, almond, flax seeds.
• Cereals and millets: oats, brown rice, bread (whole meal), spaghetti, whole wheat.
• Pulses and legumes: all pulses and legumes rich in protein (like soya beans, rajma, peas).
• Other foods: like broccoli, spinach, potato, apricots dried, quinoa.

Department of General Medicine | Bariatrics