Weight Loss Tips from Around The World

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Around
The
World
Overview
Just about every culture has some custom that can help people lose weight. For example, if you dine out
in Europe, a waiter generally sets a bottle of mineral water on your table. But at restaurants here in
Canada, you often have to request water and, as a result, you may end up having pop or other drinks
high in calories instead. Or you might have one more glass of wine or beer than you would if you were
alternating sips with water. Here’s our collection of clever tips from some countries that can help us all.
Japan: Wear Blue-Tinted Shades
special blue-tinted sunglasses. Apparently, the
shades are supposed to make food look
unappealing (since most foods aren't naturally
blue), thereby helping you to eat less.
France: Eat It With a Fork
In France, one of the most popular diets is "Le
Forking," in which a person only eats food that
they can pick up with a fork. The diet eliminates
things like sandwiches, nuts, pizza, and burgers from
your rotation, which makes sense as far as weight
loss goes. (Le Forking is unusual, but the French do
tend to know a thing or do about losing le weight.)
Ancient Rome: Eat Cabbage… A Lot of It
Long before there was the Cabbage Soup
Diet, a Roman statesman known as Cato the
Elder was living off of the Cabbage and Urine
Diet. Not only did Cato consume copious
amounts of cabbage, but he even drank the
urine of those whose diets were high in the
green. Cato apparently thought that cabbage
could do everything from cure ulcers to
hangovers.
We really wish we were kidding about this one,
but alas, we're not. In China, there are quite a few
proponents of something called sun eating, where
you are instructed to skip one meal every day and
replace it with 44 minutes of direct sunlight.
Apparently this sun exposure will curb your
appetite and improve sleep, but little science
backs any of that up. One of sun eating's biggest
proponents is Hira Ratan Manek, who claims that
he hasn't eaten since 1995.
Australia: Love Kangaroos… For Dinner
Kangatarianism is Australia's answer to unethical
livestock farming practices. Followers of the
kangatarian lifestyle only eat meat sourced from
kangaroos, believing the marsupial meat to be
more environmentally friendly than alternatives
like beef, pork, and chicken. Not to mention that
racks of 'roo are high-protein and low-calorie,
making them a delectable diet-friendly choice.
Spain: Put It Between Bread
Most diets these days strongly advise against
carbs, but Spain begs to differ. In fact, their
Sandwich Diet promises that by substituting
one meal per day for a carb-packed
sandwich, you can lose up to 13 pounds in
just one month. You can fill your sandwich
with anything you want, but the bread has
to be either wheat, multigrain, dark
pumpernickel, or rye. No word on whether
this fad diet actually works, but hey, it
sounds delicious.
Hot peppers raise your metabolism, but the
real benefit of food with a little zing is that
spicy food slows your eating. When you eat
too fast, as many North Americans do, by the
time your body signals it’s full, you’ve
overeaten. Eating more slowly is a good
weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is
an easy way to do it.
Poland: Eat At Home More Often
Poles typically spend only five percent of
their family budget on eating out. On the
other hand, the average Canadian family
?now spends almost 30 percent of total
food dollars at restaurants and fast-food
joints, according to Statistics Canada. To
save money and pounds, start tracking how
often you eat out and how much you spend
on those meals each month, then gradually
cut back.
All that shaking at Carnaval isn’t the only body-
friendly habit in Rio; Brazilians stay slim by
enjoying this traditional dish with just about every
meal. A study in the journal Obesity Research
found that a diet consisting primarily of rice and
beans lowers the risk of becoming overweight by
about 14 percent when compared with the typical
Western fare. That’s because it’s lower in fat and
higher in fibre, which is thought to stabilize blood
sugar levels. It may be counterintuitive, but a diet
full of beans equals a beach-ready body.
Netherlands: Ride Your Bike
1.2 percent of work trips in Canada are made
by bicycle, 40 percent of the Dutch use their
bikes for commuting. Traffic lights in some
parts of Amsterdam are even synchronized to
bike speed. While most Canadians have to
deal with winter conditions, riding bikes in
good weather for errands, work or pleasure
can help fend off weight gain.
Germany: Eat Breakfast
fruit. Nutritionists have been advising people against
skipping breakfast for years, but recent studies give
a better picture of its importance. In one, British
researchers discovered that ?if you haven’t eaten
breakfast, your brain’s reward centre will light up
more vividly when you see a high-calorie food-
making you likelier to indulge.
Switzerland: Try A Bowl of Museli
The ingredients in this porridge-oats, fruit and
nuts-have all been linked to better health and
weight control. Muesli was developed by a Swiss
physician more than 100 years ago to nourish
hospital patients, but today the Swiss eat it for
breakfast or as a light evening snack. Eating a lot
of soluble fibre can reduce bad cholesterol levels
by up to 10 percent. Muesli’s fibre makes it slow to digest, keeping you
full longer. But read the label carefully, though:
Sugar content can vary from two to 14 grams
per serving.
smaller portions-perhaps a lingering vestige of
the frugality instilled by World War II rationing.
Nutritionists say supersizing a meal supersizes
you.
The French excel at leisurely family meals. On
average, 92 percent of French families dine
together nightly. These meals typically last 33
minutes during the week and 43 minutes on
weekends. In contrast, a 2007 Statistics Canada
report noted two trends in Canada over the
past 20 years: a steep decline in the number of
families eating together, and shorter mealtimes.
Although it sounds illogical, lengthy meals
actually encourage less eating. It generally takes
20 minutes from the time you’re full for your
brain to realize you’re full, so taking longer to eat
means you’ll end up eating less.
India: Do More Yoga
and flexibility-enhancing power, but not many of
us realize it facilitates weight loss. In fact, a
recent study found that yoga devotees have a
lower body mass index (BMI) than other
exercisers do. Some reasons why: Yoga is best
done on an empty stomach and can build
muscle (depending on your preferred poses),
which boosts metabolism. And it encourages
mindfulness, which includes paying attention to
whether you feel full.
Country houses, or dachas, where 51 percent
of city dwellers spend vacations and summer
weekends, almost always features a garden.
Russians, who live in a similar climate to
Canada’s, grow their own vegetables and fruit,
which automatically makes their diet more
nutritious. Plus, they preserve what they grow.
Finland: Try Nordic Walking
activities. All that’s required is a pair of
inexpensive, lightweight walking poles. Holding
these in your hands aids balance, which is great if
you’re older or if you’re on slippery terrain. Even
better: Because they make you use muscles in
your shoulders, arms and torso, the poles
transform walking into a total-body workout that
burns 20 percent more calories. A number of
recent studies show that Nordic walking
increases the number of calories you burn by up
to 65 percent, without the feeling of working
harder. No matter what the time of year, it’s a
simple way to derive more fat-reducing benefit
from your regular walk.
Instead of ingesting the bulk of the day’s
calories in the evening, Mexicans traditionally
eat their biggest meal between 2 and 4 p.m. If
you eat less at night, you’ll wake up hungrier
and eat a bigger breakfast, which facilitates
weight control. As a general fat-fighting rule,
try to get the bulk of your daily calories at
breakfast and lunch.
components is a substance called curcumin,
which may turn out to be a potent fat fighter. A
recent study from Tufts University in Boston
found that mice fed a high-fat diet with small
amounts of curcumin gained less weight and
body fat than other mice given meals that were
similar but curcumin-free. Researchers think the
ingredient suppresses the growth of fat tissue.
Try some turmeric in your next curry or stir-
fry.
cucumbers but bell peppers, cabbage and
tomatoes. All of these brined beauties can help
keep you thin, probably because of the vinegar
that pickles them. Growing evidence suggests
that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar,
helps reduce blood pressure, blood sugar levels
and fat formation. If you’re watching your
sodium intake, though, check the product label-
pickled foods can be high in salt.
Norway: Spend Time Outdoors
Sunday, everyone-from toddlers to
that in the past 20 years, Canadian families
have been spending less time on such
activities. So start this weekend tradition and
get everyone out for a walk in the
neighbourhood or a hike up the nearest hill.
Japan: Take a Nap
sleep researcher at Cornell University and
the author of Power Sleep. There is increasing
evidence that chronic sleep deprivation raises
the risk of weight gain. Maas cites two
hormones: leptin, which helps the brain sense
when you’re full, and ghrelin, which triggers
hunger. The less sleep you get, the lower your
leptin levels-and the higher your ghrelin. Many
people think they’re hungry when they’re
actually sleepy.
Enjoyed throughout the country, rooibos tea
is more robust than green tea, and it’s
naturally sweet. Swapping your specialty
coffee for rooibos tea or any hot drink
without cream or sugar could save you
thousands of calories a month. Liquid
calories sneak up on us. Even a cup of fruit
juice has over 100 calories. Cut out 100
calories a day from food or drinks and you
could lose 10 pounds in one year.
England: Enjoy a Tablet of Arsenic
In the 1800s, dieters ingested pills advertised as
"miracle cures" that would "speed up the
metabolism." What they may or may not have
known was that these pills contained a small
amount of arsenic, the chemical used to make
bullets and rat poison. Needless to say, this was
extremely dangerous.
The Morning Banana Diet was concocted by a
Japanese pharmacist to help her husband lose
weight (and he managed to lose 37 pounds on
it). Essentially, the diet lets you eat whatever
you want, so long as you only eat raw bananas
for breakfast and finish dinner by 8 p.m. There
are some other rules as well—no dessert
after dinner, stop eating when you're 80% full,
avoid dairy—but the essence of the plan lies in
the breakfast banana. This diet is so popular in
Japan that the country had to increase banana
imports just to match demand.
USA: Binge on Baby Food
There are several versions of the Baby Food
Diet circling the Internet, but the premise is
simple enough: replace meals and snacks
with jars of baby food to lose weight or, in
some cases, keep it off. The diet is rumored
to have been started by celebrity trainer
Tracy Anderson, and celebrities like Jennifer
Aniston have praised the diet for its rapid
weight loss effects. However, this doesn't
change the fact that you have to eat, well,
baby food.
Conclusion
Even the trendiest of weight watchers would be amazed by some of the wacky weight-loss trends
happening worldwide.
Case in point: Ever heard of Australia's diet based entirely on kangaroo meat? Or the Chinese weight-
loss trend of gazing directly into the sun? Or what about France's ingenious "pretend you're eating"
craze that swept the nation? (No?!) That's right: here we've compiled some of the zaniest weight loss
tricks from around the world.