Nutrition & Dietary Supplements For Obesity

Obesity is the result of consuming more calories than your body uses and research has demonstrated that, short of medical weight-loss procedures like bariatric surgery, the best way to reduce weight is to live a more active lifestyle and eat a diet with fewer calories in it. Because both options are difficult, many seek the help of nutritional and dietary supplements in hopes that they will boost their weight loss. The diet supplements and weight loss aid industry draws more than $30 billion in annual revenue. More than one-third of adults in the United States have taken a weight-loss supplement at least once. Its use is common among those who are overweight, obese, those who cannot afford medically supervised weight loss, those who may be embarrassed to see a doctor and many who have failed at previous weight-loss attempts. The effectiveness of off-the-shelf supplements is not well-researched. Nor are the claims of diet pill marketers under the same scrutiny as drug-makers. What has been extensively studied in obese populations is the usefulness of calcium, vitamin D, fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.

Calcium

Increasing your calcium intake can help you shed fat and control your body weight. Studies reported on MedlinePlus show a curious fact that people who are overweight generally have a calcium deficiency and eat very little of it in their diets. Creighton University researchers reported in the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" that calcium intake explains 3 to 10 percent of the difference in weight among Americans. Other research has demonstrated that with an extra 300 mg per day, you could lose up to 7 lbs. Getting 1,000 mg of calcium daily resulted in an average 18-lb. weight drop over the course of the study.

Vitamin D

In the March 2009 issue of "Medical Hypothesis," vitamin D deficiency was proposed as the cause of obesity due to overeating and being too sedentary. Researchers suggested a larger body size is your body's problematic adaptation to cold temperature, when you go outside less and receive less sunlight, which helps produce the vitamin in your body. The fall in your body's level of vitamin D was said to spark this "anomalous winter response." Vitamin D also helps you absorb and excrete calcium and may affect your thyroid functioning. Although this theory is still under investigation, scientists think vitamin D may be taken up by fat tissue and therefore unavailable for other processes, like calcium metabolism.

Fiber

In the January 2010 issue of "Gastroenterology," researchers reported that dietary fiber has an inverse relationship with body weight. That is, the more fiber you get in your diet, the less you weigh. Studies have demonstrated a number of ways fiber may work. For example, it delays gastric emptying so you feel fuller longer. It increases insulin sensitivity and helps decrease cholesterol. In some literature, fiber is known for its second meal effect, in which fiber can blunt the blood sugar response to a meal you eat up to 12 hours. Fiber supplements come in many forms, including pills, powders and chewables. Each has had a different kind of result in weight-loss efforts, so you should consult with your health care provider about taking fiber.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Research published in the August 2010 edition of the "Journal of Lipid Research" finds that getting too much omega-6 fatty acid, along with getting too little omega-3, can increase obesity. Both are a group of essential fats, called so because they are necessary for health but the body doesn't make them. You have to get both in your diet. Their differences lie in their chemical structure and the actions they take in your body. You'll find omega-6 fatty acids in corn and corn-based oils, but you may also be getting a large dose from the animals you eat considering so much of the livestock in the United States eat corn feed and that most of the fat Americans consume comes from meat and dairy products. Omega-3 fats are found in fatty fish like salmon and mackerel, grass, canola oil and walnuts. The researchers reported that it's the imbalance between the two that can cause obesity to transcend generations in your family.

Other Supplements

Other research has found small effects in obesity from chromium, L-glutamine, vitamin A, bean extract, multivitamins and B-complex vitamins. They help with such diverse functions as fat deposition, reducing cholesterol and preventing future weight gain. As supplements can negatively interact, and some may have little to no effect on you, it is best to seek the advice of your doctor before beginning a dietary supplement routine as part of a program to treat obesity.