Vitamins And Minerals For Weight Loss

Introduction

Currently more than 30% of the U.S. population age 20-74 is obese, and more than 60% are overweight. Unfortunately, this trend is increasing dramatically. [1]

Conventional Treatments

Conventional treatments focus on stimulating drugs that are similar in structure to amphetamine (also known as 'speed?), such as:

?Phentermine (Adipex, Fastin, Ionamin)

?Diethylpropion (Tenuate, Tepanil)

?Phendimetrazine (Adipost, Bontril, Plegine, Prelu-2)

?Benzphetamine (Didrex)

?Mazindol (Sanorex, Mazinor) is an isoindole thought to inhibit the reuptake of norepinephrine rather than to cause its release.

New drugs for weight loss include Meridia and Xenical:

?Sibutramine (Meridia) is a new drug that increases the levels of both serotonin and noradrenaline in areas of the brain that regulate food intake and body weight.

?Orlistat (Xenical) is unique among current obesity drugs in that it does not act directly on the central nervous system. It inhibits and enzyme (pancreatic lipase) essential to fat digestion.

Conventional dietary approaches to weight loss focus on reducing the calories eaten in a diet. It is a simplified approach based on making the energy intake (from dietary calories) less than energy expenditure (from exercise). The low-fat diet comes from this theory, since fats have the highest amount of calories by weight.

Unfortunately, most low-fat foods are extremely high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates (sugars) are quickly converted into glucose in the body, and are used for quick energy. Fats are used for long-term energy storage, and are the body's second choice for energy. Protein is the body's building block for muscle and is the third choice. High-protein diets are based on the theory that the body will burn carbohydrates and fats for energy before protein.

Alternative Approaches

Alternative approaches to weight loss, in general, focus on lowering dietary carbohydrates (instead of fats). Low carbohydrate diets are routinely recommended to control diabetes, and many consider obesity and overweight to be early forms of diabetes. In diabetes, the glucose (blood sugar) levels are highly elevated. In pre-diabetes, insulin is not as effective and higher levels are needed to maintain normal glucose levels.

Metabolic Syndrome X

Syndrome X refers specifically to a group of health problems that can include:

?Insulin resistance (the inability to properly deal with dietary carbohydrates and sugars), and type II diabetes

?Abnormal blood fats (such as elevated cholesterol and triglycerides),

?Overweight, especially abdominal obesity, and

?High blood pressure (hypertension).

Metabolic syndrome X is caused by a diet high in simple carbohydrates, such as sugar, white flour, bread, pasta, donuts, cookies, candy, etc. Refined carbohydrates not only raise glucose and insulin to unhealthy levels, they also are devoid of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients our bodies need to properly utilize these foods.

Chromium

Chromium is required to break down the cellular insulin resistance that causes higher-than-normal blood sugar levels. Insulin resistance is a component of diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome X. Overweight people usually suffer from insulin impairment that prevents the proper cell uptake of carbohydrates (sugars). Excessive serum glucose is converted into body fat.

Chromium has received widespread publicity for its ability to lower serum glucose levels by increasing insulin sensitivity. Studies have shown that chromium supplementation results in a slight reduction in body fat and an increase in lean body mass.

In 1997, Austrian researchers conducted a study to assess the effects of chromium yeast and chromium picolinate on lean body mass during and after weight reduction with a very-low-calorie diet. Thirty-six obese non-diabetic patients undergoing an 8-week very-low-calorie diet followed by an 18-week maintenance period were evaluated. During the 26-week treatment period, subjects received either placebo or chromium yeast (200 mcg/day) or chromium picolinate (200 mcg/day) in a double-blind manner. After 26 weeks, chromium picolinate'supplemented subjects showed increased lean body mass. Researchers reported chromium picolinate, but not chromium yeast, is able to increase lean body mass in obese patients in the maintenance period after a very-low-calorie diet without counteracting the weight loss achieved. [2]

Magnesium

While chromium has received the most media attention, the scientific literature shows that magnesium plays an even more important role in regulating carbohydrate metabolism. About 80% of Americans are magnesium-deficient. When they go on a diet, they become severely deficient in magnesium, which causes the insulin resistance that contributes to the failure of the diet.

Magnesium is involved in a number of enzymatic reactions required for cells to uptake and metabolize glucose. Magnesium deficiency causes insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar levels. [3-6]

Vitamins B6, B12 and Chromium

A recent study found that among overweight or obese men and women, long-term use of multivitamins, vitamins B6 and B12, and chromium were significantly associated with lower levels of weight gain. [7]

The study used data from the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study of western Washington. Participants (n =15,655) completed questionnaires about 10-year supplement use, diet, health habits, height, and present and former weights. The study defined high use as:

?Multivitamins > 5 pills/week,

?Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) > 35 mg/day,

?Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) > 35 mcg/day,

?Chromium > 150 mcg/day

Although there are no studies on vitamins B6 and B12 for weight loss, the authors proposed that their effect on glucose and energy metabolism explains these results.

?Vitamin B6 is a cofactor for glycogen phosphorylase, which breaks down glycogen (stored glucose) to form energy.

?Vitamin B12 is a cofactor of methylmalonyl CoA mutase, which converts methylmalonyl CoA to succinyl CoA, an intermediate in the Krebs cycle, the central energy production pathway in the body.

Conclusion

In this article we present conventional and alternative approaches to weight loss, including diet, vitamins and minerals, and Metabolic Syndrome X.

References

1. Flegal, K.M., et al., Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999-2000. Jama, 2002. 288(14): p. 1723-7.

2. Bahadori, B., et al., [Effect of chromium yeast and chromium picolinate on body composition of obese, non-diabetic patients during and after a formula diet]. Acta Med Austriaca, 1997. 24(5): p. 185-7.

3. Paolisso, G., et al., Magnesium and glucose homeostasis. Diabetologia, 1990. 33(9): p. 511-4.

4. Lefebvre, P.J., G. Paolisso, and A.J. Scheen, Magnesium and glucose metabolism. Therapie, 1994. 49(1): p. 1-7.

5. Nadler, J.L., et al., Magnesium deficiency produces insulin resistance and increased thromboxane synthesis. Hypertension, 1993. 21(6 Pt 2): p. 1024-9.

6. Nadler, J.L. and R.K. Rude, Disorders of magnesium metabolism. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am, 1995. 24(3): p. 623-41.

7. Nachtigal, M.C., et al., Dietary supplements and weight control in a middle-age population. J Altern Complement Med, 2005. 11(5): p. 909-15.

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