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5 sensible diet tips

• Consumereports editorial team

Weight loss coach and author Sally Asher offers her top tips.

1. Eat nutritious foods

Eat nutritious foods rather than sugary foods, which produce a rush of energy followed by a crash and, probably, cravings for more sugar.

2. Give food your full attention

Make eating an occasion rather than eating on the run or while distracted. Give food your attention when it’s time to eat, notice what it tastes and feels like and when you’ve had enough.

3. Eat at the table

Only eat sit down at the table and unplug all electronics.

4. Fill up on protein

Include protein at every meal because it is the most satiating food and helps to tide you over to the next meal rather than leaving you seeking an emergency snack.

5.Go for quality over quantity

With treats like dessert, welcome them into your life but go for quality over quantity – savouring a little bit of something you genuinely enjoy is far more pleasurable than wolfing down a block or tub of cheap chocolate or ice cream. The key is to embrace it and not buy into any guilt.

NEXT: 20 ways to stay diet strong>>

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Expect changes in appetite, taste of food after weight loss surgery

• Consumereports editorial team

Changes in appetite, taste and smell are par for the course for people who have undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery during which one’s stomach is made smaller and small intestines shortened. These sensory changes are not all negative, and could lead to more weight loss among patients, says Lisa Graham, lead author of a study by researchers from Leicester Royal Infirmary in the UK. Their findings, published in Springer’s journal Obesity Surgery showed that after gastric bypass surgery, patients frequently report sensory changes. Graham and her colleagues say their day-to-day experience with patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery suggested these changes, but surprisingly little has yet been written about it in scientific literature. To this end, questionnaires were sent out to patients who had undergone the procedure at the University Hospitals of Leicester between 2000 and 2011. In total, 103 patients answered the 33 questions about appetite, taste and smell set to them. Of the respondents, almost all (97 percent) reported changes to their appetite after having the surgery. Their experiences varied, with subjects reporting that their sense of smell and taste were either unchanged, heightened or reduced. Forty-two percent of respondents said their sense of smell changed. Seventy-three percent of patients noted change in the way food tasted, and especially in their sweet and sour palate. Respondents especially noted a change in the taste of chicken, beef, pork, roast meat, lamb or sausages, while fish, fast foods, chocolate, greasy foods, pasta and rice were also high on the list. Three out of every four (73 percent) patients noted that they had developed an aversion to specific foods after the surgery. Meat products topped the list, with one in every three patients steering away from chicken, minced beef, beef steak, sausages, lamb, ham or bacon. Starches such as pasta, rice, bread and pastry and dairy products such as cream, ice cream, cheese and eggs were a no-no for almost 12 percent of respondents. Only 4 percent of respondents reported having an aversion for vegetables, 3 percent for fruit, and 1 percent for tinned fish.

Weight loss surgery safe, beneficial: study

• Consumereports editorial team

Bariatric surgery results in substantial weight loss and can turn back some diseases related to obesity, a new study finds. There is some risk of complications, but death rates appear to be lower than previously thought, researchers reported after reviewing about a decade’s worth of recent data. They were interested in updating current knowledge about the effectiveness and safety of various types of weight loss surgery, including gastric bypass, adjustable gastric banding (lap banding), vertical banded gastroplasty and sleeve gastrectomy. These surgical procedures are used for people who are severely obese, or moderately obese with serious weight-related health problems. The last time there was a major update of bariatric surgical research was in 2003.