Why Mango Should Be In Your Diet List?

Who wants to be overweight? If this question is asked, it is quite sure that no one would raise the hand and say yes. The reason is simple. Overweight and obesity would bring along many undesired medical disorders including heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), stroke and Type-2 diabetes.

Overweight people, with a few exceptions, would try every means to lose the extra weight they have. They will either adopt weight management program that incorporates exercise and diet or take some products that could help lose weight.

Among the many weight-loss products available, researchers from Cameroon's University of Yaounde found a product, originated from West Africa, which could help overweight or obese people lose weight and stabilize cholesterol levels. It is a fruit called irvingia gabonensis, also known as African mango. Their findings were published on March 25, 2009 in ‘Lipids in Health and Disease’.

In the study, a test group of 102 overweight adults was given either extracts of the fruit or a placebo 2 times a day over a period of 10 weeks. The individuals’ diet and levels of activity were not changed.

At the end of 10 weeks, people who consumed fruit extract had a significant weight loss, a total of 12.5 kilos (or 28 pounds), while those who were in the placebo group showed no change in their weight. Participants taking the extract also had reduction in LDL (bad) cholesterol and nominal improvements in their blood sugar levels.

According to the researchers, the fruit extract helps bodies become more sensitive to lepitin, which is a hormone excreted by the body to control fat storage, especially in the midsection. As many overweight or obese people are resistant to lepitin, the fruit extract helps their bodies to overcome such resistance thus resulting in weight loss.

While some side effects like excess gas, sleep problems and headaches were reported among some participants in the fruit extract group, such side effects were also reported similarly in rate among participants in the placebo group.

Though scientists have suspected that Africa mango has the ability to help trim excess weight, this was the very first clinical study showing its true effects. It is hoped that the new findings would inspire some larger clinical studies to be implemented to further confirm the benefits derived.

Which Weight Loss Method Is Most Effective In the Long Run?

More and more people are aware of the negative consequences that overweight and obesity will bring to them. Therefore, people who are overweight and obese will use whatever weight loss methods and tactics to help them getting rid of the extra weight they have. Unfortunately, not many of them would succeed in keeping their weight off in the long run.

Some health experts believe that losing lot of weight quickly at the outset would make the dieters gain most of the weight back. Hence, overweight and obese patients have often been encouraged losing weight in small increments. But others found this more of a myth. In fact, scientists have found that no matter how much weight people initially lose, they seem to gain back a similar percentage of that weight over the next year.

According to a new study published online in ‘Obesity Reviews’ in March 2010, people should lose a high amount of weight initially if they were concerned about the long-term weight. The findings were also presented on July 12, 2010 at the International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, Sweden.

Researchers from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands analyzed data from 12 different weight-loss studies covering almost 1,000 overweight and obese participants, who went through an intensive weight-loss program comprising of exercise and nutrition guidance. Duration of all the weight-loss programs differed; each lasted between 10 weeks and one and a half years.

Each participant was weighed at the start and end of the weight-loss program, and again at least one year after completing the program. On average, participant who began at 209 pounds lost about 20 pounds over the duration of the program. One year later, participants were found to gain back an average of about half of the weight initially lost. This indicated that the participants who had initially lost the most weight also ended up with the best long-term results.

Nevertheless, the researchers cautioned people not to drop their weights at unsafe levels. 1 or 2 pounds a week should still be desirable for people wishing to lose weight. Meanwhile, they also suggested that future studies should follow participants for longer than one year after their initial weight loss to better understand the long-term effect of that initial weight loss.