Prevent Obesity with These Types of Food
It’s important to understand how obesity happens before you consider an approach to either prevent it or treat it. Recent studies show that the prevalence of obesity worldwide continues to increase. Given this situation, and in spite of institutional public health measures, it’s more important than ever to implement measures to prevent obesity and treat people who are already overweight.
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), the fundamental causes of obesity are sedentary lifestyles and diets that are high in fat. Both are the result of changes currently taking place in society and the behavioral patterns of communities.
Characteristics of treatments to prevent obesity
Diet plays a fundamental role in the therapeutic approach to obesity. Without it, the result of the different treatments is bound to fail. Other types of interventions, such as physical exercise, are arguably useful if they’re not complemented with a diet treatment. In any case, exercise is an important measure to follow in any weight loss program.
Also, various medications such as orlistat, sibutramine, and rimonabant have proven effective in reducing weight in recent years. Overall, scientists confirmed their positive results in clinical trials in patients with a hypocaloric diet. However, keep in mind that most of these drugs have an anorexigenic effect. So, ultimately, facilitating the monitoring of a diet is the basis of their effectiveness.
It’s important to also mention that even the surgical treatment of obesity can fail in the long term. This is especially true if the obese person doesn’t change their eating habits.
However, despite this key role, traditional dietary treatments, even if carried out correctly, don’t lead to entirely satisfactory results in a sustained way. This is because most obese people who begin a dietary treatment abandon it. Also, many of those who continue it don’t lose weight. Plus, when they do lose it, many are bound to gain it back. Undoubtedly, the biggest problem with dietary treatments is the lack of follow-up.
You might be interested in reading: Childhood Obesity, a Big Problem
Types of food that help prevent obesity
You must follow a balanced diet and a regular exercise plan to prevent obesity. A specialist must supervise them both.
It’s important to keep in mind that highly restrictive diets are never healthy. This is because they lead to a significant loss of lean muscle and promote eating disorders. It’s for this reason that you must follow a Normocaloric diet plan designed for your specific needs. Most food recommendations are the same as for people with normal weight, mainly limiting the intake of saturated fats.
Also, we can find a series of foods that help prevent obesity:
Filling types of food
A very important factor in the prevention of obesity is knowing how to choose filling types of food. As a rule, these are rich in fiber. This phenomenon is because fiber absorbs water. Thus, it’s volume doubles in the stomach. So, it leads to a feeling of fullness. When you feel full, then your desire to eat uncontrollably and continuously diminishes.
Some foods with these properties are:
- Most vegetables and legumes
- Most fruit
- Algae
Read also: How to Counteract Obesity
Low-calorie food
Hypocaloric foods are those that offer low levels of energy. The idea of consuming them is for the body to intake fewer calories than it needs to burn any accumulated fat. Low-calorie foods can help prevent obesity as long as you consume them as part of a balanced diet.
Some examples are:
- Asparagus
- Spinach
- Cucumbers
- Artichokes
Conclusion
It’s crucial to follow a diet plan that’s been approved by a specialist to lose weight. That is one that allows you to feel full, so you won’t give up. It’s also very important to remain active and do some form of exercise. Overall, the most important thing in the prevention and treatment of obesity is discipline and motivation to achieve your goals. Don’t give up!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Tarban, A. (2010). La Obesidad Infantil : una epidemia mundial. Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo.
- OMS. (2015). Alimentación sana. https://doi.org/Nota descriptiva No. 394
- Barrientos-Perez, M., & Flores-Huerta, S. (2008). ¿Es la obesidad un problema médico individual y social? Políticas públicas que se requieren para su prevención. Medigraphic Artemisa En Linea.
- Ciangura, C., Carette, C., Faucher, P., Czernichow, S., & Oppert, J.-M. (2017). Obesidad del adulto. EMC – Tratado de Medicina. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1636-5410(17)84245-8