Dr. Travis Stork, an Emmy-nominated host of "The Doctors" and a board-certified emergency medicine physician, has introduced new weight loss tips in his book, "The Lose Your Belly Diet." This diet focuses on improving gut health to achieve weight loss and overall well-being.
The Gut-Health Connection
The "Lose Your Belly Diet" emphasizes the importance of gut health to overall health, highlighting the role of bacteria in well-being. Stork points out that lean individuals have 70% more gut bacteria than those who are not lean. The diet is based on the concept that eating food that nourishes and protects the microbes in your gut paves the way for weight loss, a slimmer middle, and better overall health.
Scientists are finding connections between gut microbes and the immune system, weight loss, gastrointestinal health, allergies, asthma, and even cancer. With every study that’s published, scientists become more convinced that having a healthy gut leads to having a healthy body. We’re accustomed to thinking of bacteria as bad-and some are-but most of the bacteria and microbes in our guts do amazing things, like working with our immune system to fight disease and helping our bodies digest food. Not only can’t we live without them, but as their numbers and diversity increase, so too does our health.
Probiotics and Prebiotics: The Superstar Duo
To improve gut health, Stork recommends incorporating two types of good germs into your diet: probiotics and prebiotics.
- Probiotics: These are good bacteria found in fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, fermented pickles, and old-school yogurt. Look for the words "live and active cultures" on the label when choosing yogurt.
- Prebiotics: These provide fuel for good bacteria and are found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Dietary Recommendations
The "Lose Your Belly Diet Plan" follows five guidelines:
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- Enjoy probiotic foods every day: Include yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and live culture sauerkraut in your daily meals. A serving size is 8 ounces of regular yogurt or 5-6 ounces of Greek yogurt.
- Eat an abundance of Prebiotic superstars: Consume a minimum of 6-7 servings of vegetables per day, but limit starchy vegetables like corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes to half a cup total per day. Also, include a minimum of 2 servings of fruits per day, such as apples, pears, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and mixed berries.
- Pick a mix of proteins: Prioritize plant-based protein foods like legumes and peanuts. Veggie burgers (such as Dr. Praeger's), salmon, trout, shrimp, chicken, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, and pumpkin seeds are also good options.
- Choose great grains: Opt for whole grain English muffins, whole grain bread, unsweetened oatmeal, granola, and whole grain crackers.
- Embrace friendly fats.
Fiber: A Key Component
Fiber is a crucial element in the "Lose Your Belly Diet." It is the word we use for a number of different types of carbohydrates found in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. The most important step you can take to protect and support your microbes is to start eating more dietary fiber. Americans don't eat enough fiber because we don't enough high-fiber fruits and vegetables and because many of the grain foods we do eat (ie. white flour, sugary cereal, and white rice) are so processed that little of their natural fiber remains. You can get more fiber in your diet by eating whole fruits instead of fruit juice, choosing whole grains instead of processed grains (brown rice instead of white rice), eat whole grain bread, pasta, cereals, and crackers instead of white bread, white pasta, and low-fiber cereal and crackers; Eat fruit and/or vegetables with every meal, eat vegetables with salsa, raspberries contain more fiber than strawberries, add seeds or beans to your salad, use ground nuts or seeds as coating for fish or poultry, and eat fruits and vegetables with their skin on like apples, pears, cucumbers. Drink more water with your fiber intake. Gas, cramps, and bloating are typical, but temporary symptoms as your body adjust to the new fiber intake.
Here are some easy ways to incorporate more fiber into your diet:
- In soups, chili, and pasta sauces, replace some meat with beans or lentils.
- Choose fruits and vegetables that are highest in fiber. For example, raspberries contain much more fiber (8 grams per cup) than strawberries (3 grams per cup).
- Add beans, lentils, split peas, or seeds to your salads.
- Swap hummus for mayonnaise as a sandwich spread.
Whole Grains vs. Refined Grains
Whole grains are an essential part of a healthy diet. Whole grains are made up of the entire seed, or kernel, of a plant. The seed consists of the germ, the bran, and the endosperm, and whole-grain foods contain all those components. With refined grains, the healthy parts of the plant's seed are stripped away. Foods such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, white flour, and other refined grain have had most of their nutrient-rich bran and germ removed. Thus, almost all of its protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals are lost.
Add these whole grains to your daily diet; barley, cracked wheat, corn (including whole-grain cornmeal and popcorn, wheat, oats, wild rice, and quinoa especially.
Minimizing Antibiotic Exposure
Antibiotics kill off dangerous bacteria, but also good. Antibiotics are "Tremendously overused and this overuse is wreaking havoc on good bacteria while causing dangerous bacteria to mutate and become more dangerous". Antibiotics make their way into the human microbiome in 2 ways: through drugs that we take directly, and through the antibiotics given to farm animals that we eat. In one year, more than 262 million courses of antibiotics are prescribed in doctors' offices, clinics, and other outpatient settings. That's the equivalent of giving an antibiotic prescription to 83% of the people in this country every year. One third to one half is not necessary; 87-131 million antibiotic prescriptions should never be written, filled, or taken by patients.
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To minimize antibiotic exposure, Stork recommends eating meat and other foods from animals that are raised WITHOUT antibiotics. When you're buying organic meats and dairy products, you're also protecting yourself from the growth hormones that are often used in conventionally raised animal products. Grass fed is also preferable.
The Importance of Movement
In addition to diet, Stork emphasizes the importance of physical activity. He suggests incorporating 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity like walking or jogging into your daily routine. There's all this great data that sitting is bad for us and all this wonderful data that just moving is good for you.
A Sustainable Lifestyle
The "Lose Your Belly Diet" is not just a weight loss plan; it's an eating strategy that you can follow for the rest of your life. Stork recommends a three meals/two snacks approach. Even if you healthiest diet in the world, you're still not going to lose weight if you eat way too many calories a day.
Avoiding Fad Diets
Stork is wary of celebrity fad diets, noting that celebrities often have access to resources that the average person does not. He emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach to diet and exercise.
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