Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program

Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program without drugs is easier than you may think; make only changes that you are prepared to continue with for the rest of your life.

Let's state it very plainly; make only changes that you are willing and able to continue with for ever. The science is very clear; it is better never to make a start than to lose and regain weight. This new lifestyle is irrevocable; you can break down on special occasions. 

And this is not his opinion. Bernie's weight loss program is based on solid science. What is more he has done it himself, losing 10kg and getting his HbA1c down to a very respectable 5.4; all without a great deal of fuss. It really is doable. But some and perhaps many things have to change for ever.

Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program was born out of three ideals.

• Pain and even worse disability freak him out. He wants to be healthy and able to do things that are close to his heart; yesterday it was cleaning the solar panels on the roof.
  
• He abhors the thought of taking chronic medication. Iatrogenic Disease also gives him the jitters. It's the third biggest killer after cardiovascular conditions and cancer; and most of it comes from drugs.
• He makes no apology for the third. As a Christian he believes that our human bodies are the temples of God; we have a sacred duty to care for our mortal frames.
  

Step 1: Get the microbiome right

Find out about probiotic foods and start to ferment or buy them. Make them part of your regular fare. The easiest is probably kefir, a soured milk enjoyed daily in Eastern Europe. It's not unlike very strong yoghurt but has a far broader spectrum of friendly bacteria that will inhabit your intestine; and in fact other organs.

• How to make kefir

It's easy and inexpensive; and is the most absorbable form of calcium too.

There are many probiotic foods; we should probably be making more than one. If you are buying them they must be unpasteurised; sauerkraut, kimchi and lots of others.

Few research projects on obesity have been more convincing than the one where scientists took bacteria from obese humans and implanted them in the intestines of white mice; they all became very fat.

Flooding the gut with the friendly bacteria to eradicate those making you fat is the first step to successful, permanent weight loss. Don't take them in supplements; you must have a very broad spectrum of these bugs.

Step 2: Short walks after meals

It's not difficult to take short walks after every meal, especially dinner. You determine what is permanently sustainable; perhaps just five minutes. Obviously the further the better but you choose; start with a conservative figure that you really can stick with.

And there is no reason why it shouldn't be fifteen minutes after breakfast, ten when you've finished lunch and then just five in the evening. A bicycle or swimming pool would be just as good; housework too.

Don't eat or drink anything caloric for at least an hour after those short walks. The sugars are turned into glycogen instead of blood glucose and you want to keep it down.

Remember this is for the rest of your life; so start with an achievable, sustainable figure. Absolutely avoid going straight from your meals to the car, computer or couch.

Research shows that exercise in the evening, that after dinner "Swedish stroll" is far more effective in lowering blood glucose especially in those who are insulin resistant^[2]; that dreaded "dawn phenomenon." There is a 40 - 50% increased risk of heart attack and stroke in the early morning.

Step 3: Refined carbs

Choose one of these refined carbs that would be easiest to dump and avoid it for the rest of your life.

• White bread, hamburger buns and hot dog rolls
  
• White rice
• Commercial pasta
• Cake flour
• Refined cornmeal
• Sugar

Within reason you can tuck in on high and holy days but keep the portions small; pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, for example, the day before the start of Lent. You choose what is sustainable and feel free to let your hair down a bit at Thanksgiving, Christmas and when invited to friends' homes.

There are no laws here; it's your life and you are making the choices.

Only when that first refined carb has been successfully dethroned, continue by dropping the next; all eventually must go.

Step 4: Eat more foods rich in fibre

Choosing more foods rich in fibre is the stumbling block for many; fortunately it should be done slowly so perhaps you could just start with eating an apple or extra piece of fruit every day. Very small portions of those high in starch; bananas and sweet grapes, for example.

Fibre means chewing and that takes time. However as we do it mindfully it also means greater pleasure from our food. It also means you are less likely to get Alzheimer's Disease.

Chewing our food thoroughly is that important.

Fibre stimulates the release of the "incretin hormones." Forget the term but they stimulate signals to the brain when we have enjoyed elegant sufficiency, to the stomach to delay the release of food into the small intestine where it is absorbed as sugars and to the pancreas.

In fact fibre acts in exactly the way that is being mimicked by the new weight-loss drugs. Let your food be your medicine; a fraction of the price and none of the awful side effects experienced by many.

Would it not be a lot more sensible to start eating an extra apple every day rather than taking expensive medication for the rest of your life?

That feeling of fullness after eating is in large measure attained from more fibre from our food.

For a happy bowel we need 30 to 40 grams of fibre every single day. From typical grocery store food we get less than half the recommended daily allowance. It means choosing more fruit, vegetables and whole grains; legumes too.

I would recommend a dark-green leafy vegetable every day, for example. Eggs Florentine for breakfast may be a little dull but you can liven it up with onions, bright red peppers and garlic.

Step 5: Whole grains

Whole grains are another stumbling block. They are difficult to find, take longer to cook and require more chewing. It takes ten minutes for example to thoroughly gnaw corn on the cob.

A little butter on your cob also increases the satiety and improves the absorption of very important phytonutrients found in maize; lutein and zeaxanthin for example that help prevent macular degeneration.

True whole grains are hard to get. There's a Big Fat Lie perpetrated internationally that allows millers to label their products as "wholemeal" provided they have not extracted more than 40% of the goodies; the bran and germ.

Eventually it may mean purchasing a mill to grind your own flour and baking sourdough bread.

The acids in sourdough that give your loaf such wonderful flavours also slow the release of food from the stomach; those slices will be less fattening.

Step 6: Natural honey for sweetening

We all have a sweet tooth; reducing sugar to less than 6 teaspoons per day, the amount recommended by the American Heart Association, will not be easy. Natural honey has a low GI and can be enjoyed without guilt but you are unlikely to find it on grocery store shelves; look for a small beekeeper in your neighbourhood.

At the 2024 World Brain Day conference in Germany, top scientists describe how excessive sugar drives dementia and stroke. It's a sobering report explaining why it almost impossible to stop at one square of chocolate.

Honey is called into question too; but they generalise knowing that the natural sweetening from the beehive is difficult to get.

Step 7: Herbs and spices

Cinnamon, cumin and a compound found in citrus called limonin all have scientifically proven properties; lowering blood glucose, improving insulin sensitivity and helping serum cholesterol profiles.

• Cinnamon and diabetes
• Cumin and lime for weight loss

They are functional foods; those that help the body by preventing disease and promoting well-being. They are not for acute crises of raised blood glucose; rather for use daily to reduce the likelihood of us succumbing to these chronic degenerative conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses.

• Top 7 functional foods for your health
  

Step 8: Intermittent fasting

There are many types of fasting and all would be beneficial; but the simplest is merely to have an early supper and a late breakfast. This too would contribute to reducing the dawn effect which is so dangerous for those with raised blood glucose.

Having a very low carb lunch or none at all would contribute further to proven weight loss. Provided you have enjoyed a satiating breakfast rich in fibre, protein and the good fats it is not that difficult to skip a meal.

These foods contribute to what is known as the "subsequent meal effect." Food is released more slowly from the stomach and you feel satisfied for longer. Blood glucose is stabilised for a longer period, even the next day.

BMI

Use a full stop, not a comma in your height and weight. A BMI above 30 is seriously problematic.

Supplied by BMI Calculator South Africa

I don't have the time

It is best to face it up front; Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program will take time; but there are so many unexpected benefits.

• The food that your great-grandmother once put on the table tastes so much better; but it does need to be chewed thoroughly.
  
• You can expunge that nasty four-letter word DIET from your thinking for ever.
  
• This program will lead you down fascinating new lanes. Perhaps you'll start gardening; or keeping your own bees. We call it The Green Journey.
• You'll spend a lot less time sitting in doctors' consulting rooms; at the pharmacy too.
  

Ikigai

Slowly but surely over many years working out Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program has given me a new zest for life; the Japanese call it "ikigai." I now spend my hours growing foods like broad beans that prevent Parkinson's Disease and kale that is the richest source of lutein for our eyes. Unless eaten on the day they are harvested both are awful.

In our mid-seventies neither the good wife or I take any chronic meds.

We take delight in baking our own sourdough bread, experimenting with various probiotic foods and preserving fruit from the garden.

Getting 10kg off permanently and getting my A1c down to 5.4 has been a life-changer. Really, it wasn't that difficult; but ice cream, cake and chocolate are now very occasional indulgences.

I have so much more energy and ikigai; I can once again remember my cellphone number. Life is good.

Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program

Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program is based on exercise after meals; and food rich in fibre. It may resemble in some ways the Look AHEAD trial that promised to deliver so much yet failed so miserably; but it has been completely revamped according to the principles of natural living. 

You won't find any shakes or other "liquid meal replacements" that doomed the Look AHEAD trial from the start.

• Why Look AHEAD failed
  

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