Expert advice: Weight loss methods that work
Have you been trying to lose weight without success? T/Dr Johan Vorster shares tips that will help you shed those extra kilos and maintain a healthy body weight.
Nearly 70% of South African women and 31% of South African men are overweight or obese, reports Discovery Vitality.
Being overweight comes with a lot of health risks. Excess weight can make you prone to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, certain types of cancer, fatty liver disease, and kidney disease.
T/Dr Johan Vorster, an Ethnomedicine practitioner, and the founder of pH4Life, has been helping thousands of South African lose weight for over a decade.
He says during his years of running a slimming clinic; he realised that some people would achieve their weight goals while following certain diets, while others had little results. This led him to do more research to see what the causes could be. He shares his proven weight-loss methods below.
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Recognising underlying issues that lead to weight gain
T/Dr Vorster says people sometimes have underlying issues that affect how their bodies function and can lead to health problems and weight gain.
He found, using blood analysis, that recognising inflammations and deficiencies in the body are the first steps to targeting the problem.
"Get an analysis to know what your issues are. Through blood analysis, one can confirm underlying issues such as inflammations and deficiencies. When these are untreated, they can lead to health problems and weight gain. Other indicators are found for absorption problems, hormonal imbalances, excess acidity, dehydration, kidney and liver issues, dietary imbalances, candida overgrowth and more, all of which has implications in weight control,” says the T/Dr.
He adds that: “Mineral deficiencies may reflect the degree of acidity in the body and may sometimes be correlated with a decrease in blood oxygen levels too. Minerals are also an alkaline source material of metabolism, and when improved, energy improves, and the body is able to function accordingly.
“When we reduce the inflammation and we replace the minerals, then not only does the function improve or normalise, but we leave that area of the body now alkaline and healthy and functioning and less conducive to returning infection,” he says.
“So, it really comes down to restoring nutritional meals to our lifestyle, and including more anti-inflammatory foods."
Stay away from diets
Diets offer a quick weight-loss solution, but might not always be sustainable.
T/Dr Vorster says people wanting to lose weight should maintain a healthy lifestyle and eat healthily.
He says people should rather focus on “sustainable lifestyle changes that [are] designed to overcome deficiencies and address nutrition needed for healthy function.”
T/Dr Vorster says one can add supplements only for those needs that cannot be reasonably met with food.
Eat herbs
T/Dr Vorster says people wanting to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle should use more herbs.
“Many herbs are also excellent condiments with many added health benefits. So for example, turmeric is great with chicken but is also fantastic in helping to reduce inflammation and therefore also may help with reducing pain. In fact, many herbs are blood pressure reducing too,” says the T/Dr.
“Also remember that many drugs are in fact derived from the active components in herbs, but are just as effective in herbal form,” says the expert.
Get a good night sleep
T/Dr Vorster says people wanting to lose weight should get enough sleep.
“Sleeping well is a requirement for good weight loss. It will lower your stress too, another requirement for weight loss,” says the T/Dr.
More useful tips for weight loss
- Have three times more vegetables than meat.
- Replace more foods with low nutritional value with nutritionally rich foods. For instance, reduce or replace bread and all baked foods, pasta, rice and potatoes with green and colour vegetables.
- Get help with a personalised program to prevent or overcome cravings, hunger and deficiencies.
- Get help with herbal supplements like the ones mentioned above to overcome health issues without negative side effects.
READ: Are weight-loss teas safe to consume?
Disclaimer: Health-related information provided in this article is not a substitute for medical advice and should not be used to diagnose or treat health problems. It is always advisable to consult with your doctor on any health-related issues.
Image courtesy of iStock/@Sacura14