No more cake after menopause? Why cutting out dessert is more effective than cutting calories for older women
- Post-menopausal women face a natural decline in energy levels which makes it harder to shed weight
- Eating fruit and vegetables helps with weight-loss long-term
By Claire Bates
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Losing weight can be especially tricky for post-menopausal women as they face a natural decline in energy levels.
Simply reducing the number of calories consumed has poor long-term results as dieters cannot sustain their motivation and pile the pounds back on.
But now scientists say there are three simple rules over-50s should follow to help them slim down: Skip dessert, lay off meat and cheese and eat more fruit and vegetables.
Weight-loss tricks: For post-menopausal women, cutting out dessert is more effective long-term than giving up fried foods
She said: 'Not only does motivation decrease after you start losing weight, there are physiological changes, including a decreased resting metabolic rate. Appetite-related hormones increase. 'Researchers studying the brain are now finding that you have enhanced rewards and increased motivation to eat when you've lost weight.'
So the investigators studied nearly 500 post-menopausal women to see if changes in eating particular foods could make a difference to maintaining weight loss at six months and four years.
Study leader: Dr Bethany Barone Gibbs
However, at four years, just eating fewer desserts and drinking fewer sweet beverages continued to be associated with weight loss or maintenance.
Meanwhile eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat and cheese emerged as long-term ways of controlling weight.
Eating at restaurants declined at four years whether or not subjects lost weight, perhaps due to economic factors not relevant to the study.
Dr Barone Gibbs said eating fewer fried foods may not be sustainable for the long term.
She said: 'People are so motivated when they start a weight loss program. You can say, "I'm never going to eat another piece of pie," and you see the pounds coming off.
'Eating fruits and vegetables may not make as big a difference in your caloric intake. But that small change can build up and give you a better long-term result, because it's not as hard to do as giving up French fries forever.'
The research is published in the September issue of Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
DESSERTS POST- MENOPAUSAL WOMEN SHOULD AVOID AND THOSE THEY SHOULD INDULGE
What to skip:
- Hot fudge sundaes - high in sugar and saturated fats which increases the risk of heart disease and reduces healthy weight management
- Ice cream - contains refined carbohydrates which disrupt the blood sugar balance and hormone levels leading to unwanted food cravings
- Chocolate cake - high in calories and during menopause a woman's energy expenditure decreases and so to prevent weight gain, high calorie foods should be avoided
What to eat:
- Fruit - it has been proven by this study to be a long-term way of controlling weight because it is low in calories
- A few pieces of dark chocolate - it contains antioxidants which fight off heart disease, cancer and tooth decay
- Sorbet - low in calories and so a healthier option to ice cream to cool down hot flushes
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2194735/No-cake-menopause-Why-cutting-dessert-effective-cutting-calories-older-women.html
