Weight Management During the Holidays

by Tsz Ying (Amy) Lee, MD

As the seasons change, human bodies naturally undergo “hibernation” by storing more carbohydrates, which could indirectly increase fat. We become more sedentary and naturally look for the warm and hearty foods. Especially during the cold weather holidays, I urge my patients who are looking to maintain or even lose weight to choose foods carefully. Among my recommendations:

• including protein with every meal, in meat or even in powder supplemental forms. Recommendation is 0.5 to 1.0 gram/ kg of body weight, spread out throughout the day;

• restricting refined carbohydrates such as sugars, bread, beans, and tortillas;

• focusing on complex carbohydrates in forms of fruits and vegetables. Recommendation is 20 to 30 grams of fiber a day;

• replacing bad saturated fats with good mono- or polyunsaturated fats.

Supplements also play an important role in weight maintenance. The use of dihydrocapsiate (DCT) has been shown to increase fat oxidation by increasing postmeal thermogenesis, especially for those who are on a low-calorie, high-lean protein regimen. DCT is a natural, safe food ingredient which is structurally related to capsaicin from chili pepper and is found in the nonpungent pepper strain CH-19 Sweet. It has been shown to elicit the thermogenic effects of capsaicin, but without the gastrointestinal side effects. Capsiate Natura contains capsinoids, whose key ingredient is DCT, so I often recommend it to my patients as a safe, natural way to increase metabolic rate by regulating receptors in the body that play a key role in metabolism.

Tsz Ying (Amy) Lee, MD, is a specialist in clinical nutrition and obesity medicine. Board-certified in internal medicine, she served her residency at the University of Southern California. She is currently in private practice with MDietician, where she combines her foundation in internal medicine with the practice of lifestyle change and weight management. She has published several papers on fat oxidation, including “Effects of dihydrocapsiate on adaptive and diet-induced thermogenesis with a high protein very low calorie diet: a randomized control trial.”