Natural Weight Loss Remedies

Obesity has become one of the biggest epidemics of our time and natural weight loss remedies may be the answer. Traditional weight loss options, such as surgery, prescription pills, over-the-counter pills, meal plans and support are usually not effective or pose significant health risks and in extreme cases, even death.

The common over-the-counter and prescription drugs for weight-loss are actually nothing more than appetite suppressants. They only work by “tricking” the body into thinking that it is not hungry. On some level, this can be effective in the short term. However, long-term use can lead to addiction and may cause health problems. In addition, the weight loss only occurs while you are taking the medication. Meal plans and support groups require you to spend you to spend a lot of time and money, and again, the weight loss often only lasts as long as you’re in the group and most meal plans are not designed appropriately.

The human body has its own systems of checks and balances. Prescription weight loss remedies not only provide a substance to help with weight loss, but also other chemicals that can prove harmful to the body, throwing your systems further out of balance. The end result can actually cause weight gain and many other unpleasant side effects.

On the other hand, natural weight loss remedies introduce ingredients in their purest form into the body or changes in behaviors to help overweight individuals to reach a healthy weight. Natural remedies also provide the user with several benefits. First, there are fewer side effects, because the main ingredients are herbs, vitamins, minerals, or flowers, and other things that come directly from the Earth or changes in diet and lifestyle that help restore harmony. These changes actually enhance the health of the overweight individual in many other ways besides just losing weight, such as healthier cholesterol levels, lungs, digestive system, heart and immune system.

Some natural weight loss remedies may include the following:

1. Exercise – Remember that natural remedies include behavior changes. It is well documented that regular exercise can boost your metabolism, and lead to sustained weight loss.
2. Eating a Healthier Diet – Eating healthier goes hand-in-hand with an exercise regime. Higher quality natural foods are better processed by our bodies, and over time will lead to fewer cravings for the empty calories of junk food. Don’t forget that eating healthy also includes drinking lots of water!
3. Follow a Paleolithic diet. Eating the foods that your body is genetically designed to eat, promotes not only weight loss, but better health all around.
4. Cayenne – One way to lose weight is to speed up your metabolism. Natural thermogenic (energy releasing) compounds like cayenne can help you boost your metabolic rate.
5. Apple cider vinegar –Apple cider vinegar helps to detox the liver and clean toxic substances out of the body, which plays a crucial role in weight loss, and thus restores balance to your body and helping your metabolism. It is also very rich in nutrients like minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes and dietary fiber that assist in losing weight.
6. Adequate Sleep – New research suggests that not getting enough sleep is a significant factor to weight gain, because it inhibits a hormone called leptin that makes us feel full. Most people need 8 or 9 hours of sleep each night.
7. Unidentified Food Sensitivities – One of  the most common contributors to unwanted weight gain is unidentified food allergies, sensitivities or intolerances. I know this for a fact, as I will gain 20 pounds if I eat wheat on a regular basis. You can find out if you have hidden sensitivities with the ALCAT test. Remove the offending foods from your diet and the weight will fall off effortlessly.
8. Correct Insulin Resistance – Insulin resistance occurs in response to a diet too high in carbohydrates and results in an increase of fat storage and can be reversed with proper diet and exercise.

Other natural remedies for weight loss also include colon cleansing, yerba mate, guar gum, guarana, coconut oil, aloe vera and dandelion. All of these can be part of a plan to reduce body fat and improve the health of the body.

It’s important to keep in mind even when taking herbs and natural substances, that sustained and long-term weight loss is only likely to occur if you are sure to include the behavioral changes in your life, such as an improved diet that removes sugar and other refined foods and increased exercise.

Additionally as with conventional medications, all remedies do not interact well with other medications and even with other natural remedies. A Naturopathic doctor will need to know all medications you are taking, as well as any health conditions, to prescribe safe and effective natural weight loss remedies.