If you’re looking to shed some pounds this year — and let’s face it, who among us isn’t? — weight-loss drinks may well be on your mind. It’s probably safe to say all those fad diets have long since gone out the window: they’re hard to follow, and often uncomfortable — and when the few weeks or months on them is over, the weight often comes creeping back up. Plus, that kind of quick dieting is not exactly healthy. Your goal should be to lose weight and get into good shape without your health suffering — crash diets are simply too restrictive, as they don’t contain enough of the essential nutrients our bodies need and they avoid some food groups entirely. There’s no need to suffer while losing weight — physically or emotionally — and there’s certainly no need to go hungry. This is why more and more people are turning to weight-loss drinks to give them a helping hand.
What Are Weight-Loss Drinks?
Drinks like green tea and coffee are among the most commonly used weight-loss drinks because it’s believed they rev up the metabolism and help you to burn more fat. These days the supermarket shelves are full of all kinds of teas that claim to aid with weight-loss — everything from matcha to ginger, black tea and lots more. The simplest weight-loss drink of them all, however, is the humble glass of water, which will help to keep you full and also eat less, if you have a glass before a meal.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking fruit juices are good for weight loss, as the opposite would most likely happen, due to their enormous sugar content and lack of fibre. Eat your fruit instead, and opt for vegetable juices over fruit. But there are only so many of these drinks you can take during the day, and it’s not recommended to drink coffee and tea into the evening and night, as their high caffeine content could interfere with your precious sleep. This is where protein powder comes in.
Shaking up Weight-Loss Drinks
Protein powders come in all sorts of flavours and you can sprinkle them on your dishes or make delicious shakes you can drink throughout the day. They’re high in protein, low in carbs and many are fortified with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and other elements your body needs to perform optimally. The protein can be from milk, such as whey protein, or, for vegetarians and vegans, plant-based protein — from soy, hemp or peas.
Protein powders work by keeping you full with everything the body needs while also providing proteins to maintain your muscle mass and even helping them to grow — if you’re working out and lifting weights — and also aiding with weight-loss.
If you’re using protein shakes to lose weight, you may also find your appetite decreases slightly. This again is due to the high protein content, which keeps you satiated. One study, of overweight adults, found those who had whey protein every day for nearly six months lost 2.3kg more than those in the group who didn’t have any protein powder — even though both groups ate the same amount of food.
As with anything to do with weight-loss, it’s important to bear in mind that it’s not a race but that, done right, the pounds will shed over time. So don’t expect to get in shape overnight, or in a week or two. Adopting this mindset — as weight loss is as much a mental as well as physical battle — is the only way to get the weight off, and keep it off.
