It is increasingly accepted that a low carb diet is the way to lose weight healthily, by minimising excess sugars and starches in diet that the body turns to fat.
Increasing nutrient-dense protein and fat sources satisfies hunger to reduce overall food intake, too. Essentially a healthy low-carb diet for weight loss consists of hearty amounts of vegetables (less starchy vegetables are preferred), seeds, nuts, eggs, fish, moderate meat and butter. Foods are best in whole organic form. People with blood sugar or insulin issues respond particularly well to this weight loss approach.
There are a number of foods and herbs that help the body excrete excess fluid, stimulate peristalsis (the movement of food through the digestive tract) and regulate appetite; these can help support weight loss alongside a mainstream low carb diet. The categories that these foods and herbs fit into are known as diuretics, bitters, aromatics and mild astringents. Here are some examples of these from Traditional Chinese Medicine, where a number of herbs are understood to work synergistically to aid weight reduction:
• Hawthorn fruit – regulates appetite and stimulates peristalsis, especially of the stomach
• Fresh Ginger – aromatically warms and settles the stomach
• Tangerine Peel – (just like the peel in old fashioned marmalade) moves the gut and helps regulate gut symbionts (friendly gut bacteria)
• Radish Seed – strongly aromatic to relieve food stagnation
• Lotus Leaf – helps the body move unnecessary fluid. In China a tea of lotus leaf and Job’s tears (Coix) is drunk daily to help counter obesity
• Plantain Leaf – a diuretic to help excrete extra fluid
• Kelp – a diuretic and metabolism boost