Introduction
Too little exercise, unbalanced diet, processed foods, a stressful everyday life… Overweight can have many causes. Many people want to lose weight to be fitter and more vital or to emulate beauty ideals.
The more desperate they are, the more likely they are to resort to drastic measures, such as crash diets or “miracle cures”. Beside medicines and household remedies also food auxiliary means are driven out in the Abnehmwelt. But can one really lose weight with dietary supplements?
What supplements can I lose weight with?
It is generally not possible to permanently reduce fat and lose weight just by taking dietary supplements. Weight loss results from a negative calorie balance: the body is supplied with less energy through food than it needs to maintain its substance and metabolic processes. Only now are fat reserves tapped for energy production.
Weight loss therefore only occurs if you consume less energy from food than you consume during the day. Nevertheless, certain food supplements can supplement a calorie-reduced diet. However, they do not replace a balanced diet and should be used with caution.
Dietary supplements can provide the body with valuable building blocks and essential nutrients that are not supplied in sufficient quantities in a calorie-reduced diet to save calories. However, they are essential for the body’s natural metabolic processes. These include, for example, the essential fatty acids that cannot be produced by the body itself.
If they are not supplied in sufficient quantities as part of a low-fat diet, serious side effects can occur, as they are essential for hormone metabolism, cell structure and other processes. Furthermore, proteins are the most important building block for the muscles. If you do not get enough protein in your diet, you can use protein shakes.
In addition, a variety of micronutrients can be taken in the form of dietary supplements. These include vitamin preparations and antioxidants. In studies, however, their effectiveness could not be proven. Even a moderately calorie-reduced diet can be designed in such a way that dietary supplements can and should be dispensed with in full health.
