| Losing weight increases life expectancy, decreases blood pressure, decreases visceral fat deposition, improves plasma lipid concentrations, increases insulin sensitivity and normalizes glycemia, improves clotting and platelet function, and enhances the quality of life.
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| Figure 21.6 The Food Guide Pyramid. The Food Pyramid forms a basis for current recommendations on healthy eating. (US Department of Agriculture.) |
| To lose weight one needs to change the balance between energy intake and expenditure; i.e between food intake and physical activity. However, the process involves many other factors, such as motivation, available time, cost, and access to the appropriate programs. Low calorie diets contain approximately 1200-1300 kcal/day and the very low calorie diets around 800 kcal/day. Generally, a combination of diet and exercise is more effective in inducing weight loss than diet
alone (see Chapter 15, clinical box on p. 206). In extreme obesity, the treatment with appetite suppressants and, more recently, fat absorption inhibitors has been used. Also, surgical treatments such as gastric plication (banding) and jejunoileal bypass surgery can be considered in severe obesity (see Fig. 21.7).
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