Obesity is a risk factor for numerous diseases. With our 4 tricks, you not only lose weight but also actively strengthen your immune system. The new year has dawned – and you are highly motivated to get rid of your extra corona pounds? Good idea! But this year, you have to be especially careful not to put your health at risk so that your defences against viruses and bacteria remain in top form. With our tips, you will lose a few pounds and strengthen your immune system at the same time. You will generally feel fitter, lose weight more quickly, be more productive – and regenerate faster if you have an infection.
Why Is Obesity Unhealthy?
Overweight people have a higher fat mass than people of average weight. This increased fat tissue, which is more than just a store of energy, produces so-called cytokines, which lead to chronic inflammation throughout the body. The problem: Chronic inflammation weakens your immune system, as it affects the function of the natural killer cells, which, among other things, recognize and kill virus-infected and degenerated cells. In addition, foci of inflammation increase the risk of developing diabetes, asthma, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This is how you recognize silent inflammation in your body.
Visceral fat, which is found on the abdomen and organs, is hazardous here. Incidentally, the visceral fat is not to be confused with the subcutaneous fat located directly under the skin and which you can quickly feel when you prick your stomach with a finger. In this sense, you cannot handle the visceral fat because it is located under the abdominal muscles. Above a certain amount, however, it increases your stomach volume and makes you look ‘puffed up’.
Healthy Weight Loss Strengthens The Immune System
Fortunately, if you healthily lose weight, you can quickly strengthen your immune system and reduce the risk of numerous diseases. You must reduce body fat while maintaining muscle mass and the way you lose weight. Otherwise, you are not doing your body a favour but instead weakening your immune system even more.
Above all, crash diets weaken your body, as they put it under stress due to excessive calorie restriction and an unbalanced diet. And stress not only weakens your immune system, but it also ensures that fat is stored – which is, of course, the complete opposite of losing weight.
How Do I Lose Weight Healthily?
If you want to lose a few pounds and strengthen your immune system simultaneously, you should focus on the proper diet and lifestyle.
Choose A Moderate Calorie Deficit
To lose weight, you have to use more energy than you consume. In other words: You need a negative calorie balance. In contrast to unhealthy crash diets, you do not reduce your calorie intake significantly, but only by 200 to 300 calories per day. This way, you do not put your body under stress and ensure that your metabolism functions regularly.
Consume Lots Of Nutrients
You lose weight with the calorie deficit – with the right foods, you promote your health. Your body and your immune system need a variety of vitamins and minerals to function optimally. In addition to vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D and the B vitamins, vitamins A and E are also essential for your immune system. There are also special anti-inflammatory foods that can have a direct effect on inflammation in the body. Many types of fruit and vegetables and whole-grain products and foods with a high omega-3 content (e.g. fish, nuts, linseed oil) are among the anti-inflammatory foods.
Sleep Seven To Nine Hours
Your brain regenerates during sleep and processes the impressions of the day. These are the 9 most dangerous consequences of lack of sleep. But sleep is also essential for your health because the deep sleep phases influence your immune system: For example, scientists found in a study that the number of natural killer cells drops by 70 percent if you sleep for four hours instead of eight. In addition, a US study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, showed that people who sleep less than seven hours a night are three times more likely to get a cold than people who sleep at least eight hours.
At the same time, a lack of sleep reduces fat loss as the stress hormone cortisol is increased. If that weren’t enough, the body releases another substance (endocannabinoids 2-arachidonoylglycerol) that works like cannabis and reduces self-control, according to a study by Chicago University. This is the reason why many people eat more than usual when they lack sleep.
Do Moderate Exercise
Exercise burns calories, strengthens your cardiovascular system, and also builds muscle mass. To improve your immune system and activate the natural killer cells, moderate endurance loads such as jogging or swimming and a workout are particularly suitable. On the other hand, too intense training stresses your body during your weight loss process.
What Can I Eat If I Want To Lose Weight Healthily?
As mentioned earlier, you should eat healthy foods rich in vitamins and minerals. On the other hand, fast food, sweets, and fried foods should be eliminated from your diet. These foods contain too much sugar and trans fats, which release inflammatory messengers, promote diseases, and promote obesity.
The following foods are particularly suitable for healthy weight loss:
- Carrots: Healthy root vegetables contain vitamin A and are needed, for example, by the mucous membranes in the nose and throat. By the way: It is believed that vitamin A is involved in spermatogenesis, the formation and maturation of sperm.
- Green tea: It inhibits the appetite, gets the circulation going and at the same time has an anti-inflammatory effect. The antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in green tea also means that less fat is absorbed through the intestines.
- Eggs: Eggs have several advantages. On the one hand, the egg yolk contains vitamin E, which is essential for the maturation of immune cells. On the other hand, eggs are a great source of high-quality protein, which, among other things, supports cell repair and, on top of that, makes you feel full. In addition, your immune system can only produce antibodies and fight pathogens with proteins, the building blocks of proteins.
- Broccoli: Cabbage contains loads of healthy nutrients such as vitamins C and E, and B, iron, magnesium and potassium. So that the heat-sensitive vitamins do not go to waste, it would help if you did not cook broccoli too long until soft, and it is best to steam it with a bit of water. In addition, there are many great nutrients in the stalk, so you should consume them. Incidentally, like the florets, you don’t have to cook it, and you can enjoy it pure. In terms of taste, the slimming device is reminiscent of kohlrabi, with around 25 calories per 100 grams.
- Yoghurt: The probiotic microorganisms in yoghurt positively affect your intestinal flora and get your digestion going. Yoghurt also ensures that your body can better absorb nutrients.
Also Read – CARROTS: ARE THEY THE BEST VEGETABLE FOR THE EYES?
How Can I Lose Weight Healthily Without Starving?
The advantage of a healthy diet is, among other things, that you can eat a lot in terms of quantity and at the same time consume few calories. Vegetables, for example, consist to a large extent of water and fibre, which makes them very low in calories and of which you can eat almost as much as you want. Protein is also very filling and should not be missing from any meal. As a result, you are unlikely to go hungry during your weight loss process.
If the little hunger does come through in between, you should first drink a glass of water because thirst is often mistaken for hunger. If you’re still hungry afterwards, you can grab a small snack, for example, apple wedges with a bit of nut butter, vegetable sticks with hummus or herb quark or a few slices of chicken breast slices with pickled cucumbers.
How Can I Lose Weight Healthily Without The Yo-Yo Effect?
The hated yo-yo effect comes about when you consume very few calories over a long period and then start eating normally again. During a diet, your body adapts to the extreme lack of food, which signals an emergency for the body. The body then tries to cope with the low energy and to use as little power as possible. In this way, it breaks down the energy-consuming muscles and reduces your urge to move. In a crash diet without exercise, you mainly lose muscle instead of fat. In addition, your body accumulates more fat reserves to be better prepared for the subsequent lack of food.
If, on the other hand, you rely on a low-calorie deficit and do some sport on the side, your body will not get into this emergency. Once you have reached your weight, you should also not consume as many calories as before the diet. Because of the lower weight, your calorie requirement has also been reduced. That means: Your body burns less energy and, therefore, calories.
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