Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Weight Loss Myths: Obesity Doctor on GLP-1, Supplements, Diet, Fasting and More

Weight Loss Myths: Obesity Doctor on GLP-1, Supplements, Diet, Fasting and More

Even healthy weight reduction just isn’t achieved quickly; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends losing not more than 2 kilos per week in case you plan to take care of your weight. This implies that even in case you start shedding weight today, you might still be months or years away out of your goal.

Therefore, it just isn’t surprising that myths about shedding weight and tricks for shedding weight quickly are widespread. Nisha Patel is an American psychologist who has been practicing for over 12 years. She is the primary womanMedical Director of the Obesity Medicine and Metabolic Health Program within the Transplantation Department of California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, recently took on social media to dispel five such falsehoods that “must die”. She breaks down each of them with Assets.

Myth No. 1: Calorie deficit plays no role in shedding weight

If you’ve got ever tried to shed extra pounds through a food plan, you already know that you’ve got a Calorie deficit by burning greater than you are taking in. That’s easier said than done, especially when that discrepancy is offset by cravings and hunger pangs. Patel acknowledges that these aspects contribute to the deficit being harder to take care of long-term, but says they do not make it any less critical.

“The calorie deficit is the key to weight loss, and what you eat still matters,” says Patel, who can be a certified specialist in culinary medicine. “If you eat foods that contain more fiber and lean protein, you can be more satiated. You can even be consistent with health-promoting dietary guidelines and it can be easier to create a calorie deficit with a majority of these foods than with [ultra-processed foods].”

In theory, Patel jokes, you can eat nothing but Oreos and still shed extra pounds so long as you are in a calorie deficit. But that is neither a nutritious nor sustainable food plan. Plus, she says, it could be harder than you’re thinking that to realize a calorie deficit with highly processed foods alone; the calculated mixture of fat, salt and sugar increases the likelihood of overeating.

“We really want to focus on fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, lentils, beans and those types of foods to really help achieve that calorie deficit,” says Patel Assets“You will feel fuller due to the fiber and protein, meet your nutritional needs and reduce your consumption of highly processed foods.”

Myth No. 2: Fasting is magical for shedding weight

Maybe you’ve got tried restricting your food intake through intermittent fasting. The method takes Many formsfrom completely fasting for twenty-four hours once per week to eating only between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on daily basis. While some people shed extra pounds through intermittent fasting, the idea that the practice promotes weight reduction higher than traditional approaches is a misconception, Patel says.

“Fasting can be a tool to help people reduce their calorie intake because ultimately it is the reduction in calorie intake that actually leads to weight loss,” says Patel. Assets“What we eat during that eight-hour eating window is important. It’s not a free game; you can still consume more calories than you intend in an eight-hour period, so they need to continue to focus on the quality of their diet.”

The intention an individual has behind intermittent fasting can be essential, she says. If fasting for 16 hours a day and eating for eight hours suits their lifestyle and so they can still eat a balanced food plan, that is great. In Patel’s experience, nonetheless, individuals who fast unintentionally, equivalent to those that have busy mornings and skip breakfast, are likely to eat more later within the day and within the evening.

“This will be counterproductive to weight loss,” she says.

A study published in spring in Annals of Internal Medicine supports Patel’s clinical experience. In a randomized controlled trial of adults with obesity and prediabetes, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The study found that folks who ate usually and those that were restricted to a 10-hour eating window had similar weight losses, suggesting that the quantity of calories consumed has a greater impact on weight reduction than the timing of calorie intake.

Myth #3: Keto is best for weight reduction

The goal of a ketogenic or “keto” food plan is to place your body right into a metabolic state called ketosis. In ketosis, your body uses fat as fuel as an alternative of burning primarily carbohydrates. That is, the keto food plan is high fat and low carbohydrate, with moderate protein intake.

The advantages of the keto food plan can include weight reduction, lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, less inflammation, and increased focus and energy. However, the unwanted effects range from dehydration to kidney stones to “Keto flu”, a bunch of symptoms equivalent to fatigue and upset stomach.

Low-carb diets like keto aren’t necessarily bad, Patel says, but their often extreme restrictions make them difficult to stick with long-term, and other people are likely to regain the burden.

“People often forget that it just isn’t the carbohydrates themselves which can be the issue, because we’ve got many health-promoting carbohydrate sources equivalent to fruits, vegetables, whole grains [that] People cannot commit to a keto food plan,” she says. “The other problem with the keto food plan is that the way in which some people do it causes them so as to add more saturated fats to their every day food plan. So there is a risk of developing high cholesterol, and that might increase your risk of heart disease.”

Patel is adamant that probably the most effective component of the keto food plan is – you guessed it – the calorie deficit.

“In the first six to 12 months, people may lose a little more weight on the keto diet compared to other forms of calorie restriction,” says Patel. Assets“But it’s not sustainable in the long run. I would say the difference in weight loss is pretty insignificant.”

While the ketogenic, or “keto,” food plan can result in short-term weight reduction, it’s difficult to take care of and carries risks and unwanted effects, says Dr. Nisha Patel, an obesity physician in San Francisco.

lisegagne—Getty Images

Myth #4: Over-the-counter weight reduction supplements are FDA approved

There are countless over-the-counter weight reduction supplements available, and it is straightforward to recollect which of them are Food and Drug Administration (FDA): none. The agency regulates dietary supplements as foods, not as drugs, and customarily does so after they’re in the marketplace.

“The responsibility for proving the safety and ‘effectiveness’ of supplements rests largely with the manufacturer. And there are simply so many supplements on the market that regulators can’t keep up with monitoring them all,” says Patel.

Little scientific evidence suggests that over-the-counter weight reduction supplements work, in line with the Office for Food SupplementsPart of the National Institutes of Health. In addition, they could be dangerous. The FDA maintains an inventory of contaminated weight reduction products that contain lively ingredients not listed on the product label and will interact with medications or supplements you might be already taking.

“[Supplements] are not subject to the same tests and regulations as drugs, which must undergo clinical trials and prove their safety and effectiveness before being approved by the FDA,” says Patel Assets“This can be scary. As consumers, it is important that we know the risks and benefits of certain dietary supplements.”

Patel recommends chatting with your doctor before taking any style of complement. They can be sure that the complement comes from a legitimate source and has been third-party tested.

Myth #5: Weight loss drugs are the simple way out

On social media, you might have the impression that GLP-1 drugs like ways (FDA approved for chronic weight management) and Ozempic (approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes) are wonder drugs abused by celebrities who need to shed extra pounds. Or possibly you’ve got heard that folks who take such drugs Glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists “cheating” when shedding weight. That’s not true, says Patel.

“People forget that there are some powerful neurohormonal factors at play that make it difficult not only to lose weight but to keep it off long-term,” says Patel. “Medications have really helped level the playing field. They can help interrupt some of these disruptive signals.”

Nor should people associate weight management drugs with vanity; obesity is a serious, chronic disease, not to say a world epidemic, in line with the World Health OrganizationIn the United States, the CDC estimates that one in five children and two out of 5 adults Obesity. GLP-1 drugs might help people shed extra pounds by reducing appetite and increasing satiety. In addition, Patel said, such drugs needs to be accompanied by reduced calorie intake and regular exercise.

“It is not an easy way out,” she says. “People [are] still need to maintain healthy lifestyle habits.”

More information on weight management:

Latest news
Related news