Healthy weight

Essential nutrition for healthy weight

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

• Nutrients speak volumes to your genes
• B vitamins, energy, and healthy weight
• Omega-3 fatty acids — weight loss and then some
• Chromium, insulin signaling, and food cravings
• Vitamin D, insulin secretion, and body mass index
• Healthy weight loss has a lasting effect

Why do so many women have trouble losing weight and keeping it off, even while they curb calories and exercise regularly? At Women to Women, we believe that when a woman’s body stubbornly holds onto weight, there is always a reason for it — and we often find it hidden in a core imbalance or deficiency.

Our bodies have been programmed to conserve resources when times are tough, but some of us also have genetic factors that make us store fat in response to prolonged stress. And stress in all its guises can have this same effect, whether it is environmental, emotional, nutritional, or otherwise. This adaptive mechanism, in place from the dawn of time, has helped us survive lean times.

When your body hangs on to unwanted weight despite your best efforts, it’s trying to tell you, “Look, there’s something at risk here and we need to address it before we can release this protective cushion.” So if you want to lose weight, look to identify any core imbalances at play in your body, then set your intention to correct them. This will help you achieve greater overall health so you can shed unwanted weight and keep it off.

The first step is to consider the impact your nutrition might have on your core balance. Poor nutrition can be a form of stress, from your body’s point of view. Certain key nutrients are essential to the hormones and enzymes that fire up your metabolism. And no matter how attentive we might be, we don’t live in a perfect world, and cannot always eat the perfect diet. As a result of their unique histories, genetics, and environments, many women develop particular nutrient deficiencies and metabolic imbalances that cause them to gain and retain extra weight. These core imbalances can be improved and sometimes even reversed by emphasizing particular nutrients.

Let’s look at how certain essential nutrients can do wonders to help you a reach and maintain your ideal weight.

Nutrients speak volumes to your genes

All the delicious food you consume each day speaks to your genes, turning them up and down, on and off, in an amazing chain of events called epigenetic programming. Your genes provide the blueprint and, if they have the right signals and quality building materials necessary for your genetic type, they will direct your cells and tissues to create your “body beautiful.”

But nutrient deficiencies affect your genes, too. If your genes don’t get adequate information for programming metabolic balance, all kinds of health problems — including fatigue and weight gain — can occur. This can also happen if your cells and tissues are short of the key nutritional building blocks used for hormonal and enzymatic balance.

B vitamins, energy, and healthy weight

Lack of energy and stubborn weight are two of the most common symptoms of metabolic imbalance. One culprit may be inadequate B vitamins in your diet — especially folate (B9), B5, B6, and B12. The B-complex is a group of vitamins that serve as coenzymes in reactions that are essential to smooth cellular function. Because they’re water-soluble molecules, the body is unable to store them, so we need fresh supplies daily.

You may have read the discussion on internet blogs about using B6 and B12 injections for weight loss. But unless you have a full-fledged B12 or B6 deficiency, this option is highly unlikely to provide dramatic results. Instead, look at the myriad roles B vitamins (non-injectible) play in energy and weight, by way of your cells’ powerhouses — the mitochondria, the tiny “organelles” that provide our cells with the energy we need to function.

These are some of the nitty-gritty jobs the B vitamins take on to help us sustain energy levels and a healthy weight:

• Folate (B9) donates methyl groups (-CH3), which contribute to mitochondrial proteins and the synthesis of nucleic acids, the building blocks of our genetic material.
• Vitamins B6 and B12 assist in the biosynthesis of glutathione, sometimes called the “mother of all antioxidants.” The body’s ability to produce and maintain a high level of this molecule is critical to offset fatigue, and maintain optimal strength and performance.
• Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) is needed for the production of CoA, the coenzyme required in reactions that generate energy from our food. It also plays a central role in cell division and DNA replication, as well as affecting gene expression and cell signaling.

This list just scratches the surface of the ways B-vitamins support efficient energy usage, detoxification, nerve signal transmission, hormonal balance, pH balance, insulin sensitivity, immune response, and more. Without adequate B vitamins, our mitochondria don’t function well, and we feel tired and lethargic. That makes it next to impossible to lose excess weight.

I am always pleased — but never surprised — to hear how much better women feel once they’ve begun taking a multivitamin containing good amounts of the B-complex vitamins. With all the key metabolic pieces in place for healthy cellular function, losing weight and keeping it off becomes a much more realistic, achievable goal.

Omega-3 fatty acids — weight loss and then some

It’s hard to believe that our awareness of the life-giving power of omega-3’s dates only to the early 1970’s, when the pioneering Dr. Jörn Dyerberg and colleagues set out to study why the Inuit people of Greenland had such low rates of heart disease. We might have guessed how important they are since, in times past, humans ate a diet much richer in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA’s).

Now, there has been an explosion of research on the system-wide benefits of omega-3’s, with plenty of evidence linking higher consumption of omega-3’s to reduced risk of weight gain. This is why we’ve made it a cornerstone of the Personal Program for Core Balance. Recent research in Europe shows that when we increase our consumption of omega-3’s, we increase the oxidation of fat by activating genes that break down fat in our mitochondria. In addition to helping reverse a weight problem by reducing the number of fat cells we have — particularly in the abdomen — omega-3’s also appear to help prevent weight gain. This bodes well for women who want lasting weight loss.

In fact, o-3’s have cumulative effects across all body systems. Inadequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids will upregulate the body’s inflammatory cascade, which over time leads to insulin resistance, increased cholesterol and triglycerides, obesity, high blood pressure, degenerative heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome — and more. By enriching our diets with omega-3’s we not only facilitate healthy weight loss, but regain the power to thwart this entire catastrophic chain of events. And that means a longer, healthier, happier life.

Chromium, insulin signaling, and food cravings

With its links to inflammation, the widespread condition of insulin resistance (and all the metabolic problems it causes) is one of the biggest barriers to healthy weight.

Another nutrient that can help heal this inflammatory imbalance is chromium. You may have read about this nutrient and others in our review of supplements for diabetes and insulin resistance. But I’d like to reconnect some of the dots between chromium and healthy metabolic function for women who want to reverse insulin resistance or any other type of core inflammatory imbalance.

Chromium picolinate is a form of the mineral that has good bioavailability, and studies on chromium picolinate supplementation have demonstrated clear benefits:

• Enhanced insulin signaling
• Lower blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels
• Reduced free radical formation and DNA damage in the liver and kidneys
• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes
• Fewer carbohydrate cravings and better appetite regulation

While chromium picolinate is not a magic bullet for problematic weight gain, it can help regulate insulin and blood sugar. And that feature alone can quell cravings. These qualities make chromium an essential nutrient for healing core metabolic imbalances.

Vitamin D, insulin secretion, and body mass index

When it comes to vitamin D, the benefits are so far-reaching — including effects on metabolism and weight — that it’s hard to say enough good things about this super nutrient. At our clinic in Maine, we recommend vitamin D testing for almost all our patients. I have seen many women quickly turn around a health problem once they’ve corrected vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D deficiency isn’t just a problem here in the Northeast; it’s widespread throughout the globe across all ages, body types, and genders. But in recent years there has been a flood of research linking low levels of vitamin D with obesity. Two major scientific observations show how vitamin D participates in healthy weight management:

• When comparing overweight women with normal women, researchers saw distinctly lower blood levels of vitamin D in the overweight women. Vitamin D levels are inversely correlated with body mass index and body fat.
• Vitamin D is necessary for adequate insulin secretion. Low levels are an entirely avoidable risk factor for the disorders of metabolic syndrome, which include insulin resistance, obesity, and diabetes.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing much more about vitamin D’s contribution to healthy weight management. In the meantime, don’t let vitamin D deficiency cast a shadow over your health — ask for testing today, and begin taking a vitamin D supplement if your levels are low. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel, and optimal weight regulation may be just one pleasant side effect.

Healthy weight loss has a lasting effect

Nutrition is an effective tool for women to use as part of a comprehensive approach to attaining their healthiest weight. Remember, a healthy weight loss effort is lasting. Success will depend on restoring your core balance, which means that your body can consistently maintain healthy hormonal levels and enzyme activities so your metabolic pathways can run smoothly and efficiently.

You can restore balance and optimize your weight-loss efforts by making sound nutritional and lifestyle choices. Targeted pharmaceutical-grade nutritional supplements that support key aspects of your metabolism can make all the difference. We suggest you start with a quality multivitamin-mineral complex, to supply any essential nutrients your body may be lacking.

The nutrients we’ve talked about are parts of the solution to achieving a healthy core metabolism and regulating healthy weight loss. For the best outcome, add regular exercise, stress reduction, and a healthy diet with foods chosen for your unique metabolic profile.

So if you’re not losing weight, look for your underlying core imbalances. When you address those and restore balance, you will find that the weight will come off as a happy by-product!

Related to this article:

References & further reading on nutrients for weight loss

 

Original Publication Date: 04/16/2009
Last Modified: 02/16/2010
Principal Author: Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP