The Secret To Lasting Weight Loss

By Serena Tan

Have you been yo-yo dieting to no avail? Do you find that you get some results while you are on a diet, but the minute you stop, the kilos start piling on?

If this has been your experience, here is a piece of good news for you.

The key to lasting weight loss is something so basic, yet so easily overlooked, that chances are you've never heard it mentioned by dieticians, doctors or weight loss experts.

The key lies in your liver. Not many people are aware that the liver is the major fat-burning organ in the body. Much less do they know that it is the condition of your liver that determines whether you are able to lose excess body weight and keep it off.

In her groundbreaking 1997 book The Liver Cleansing Diet – Love Your Liver and Live Longer, Dr. Cabot prescribed an 8-week plan comprising liver-friendly meals to cleanse the liver so that it can efficiently perform its 2 main functions: regulating metabolism and burning fat. The underlying philosophy is a simple one. It is not how much you eat but what you eat that is critical. If you eat the right foods, your metabolism will start to improve and you will burn fat. You do not even need to count calories or control your portions to ensure weight loss. If, however, you eat the wrong foods, your liver will make more fat, causing your body to store fat. That is exactly the situation you want to avoid.

How does the liver burn fat? By first converting fat into cholesterol, then into bile, which is eventually passed out through your intestines. If your diet is high in fibre, this excess fat will pass out of your body through your bowel movements. Conversely, if your diet is low in fibre, most of the cholesterol and bile acids are reabsorbed from the bowel and recycled back to the liver, resulting in high cholesterol levels.

A healthy liver manufactures a special coating for fat called lipoprotein which allows fat to travel around in the blood stream. If your liver cannot do this efficiently (because it is sluggish or diseased), the result is a fatty liver and an increasing inability to lose weight.

Dr. Cabot's book is peppered with testimonials from people who have used the Liver Cleansing Diet successfully not only to lose weight, but also to heal their bodies, resolve long term health concerns and restore energy levels. The diet is safe and beneficial for long term use, especially for persons with liver disease or immune system problems. However, if you have serious or chronic medical conditions, you should only follow the diet under the supervision of your doctor. The diet is also not designed with pregnant or lactating women in mind, although there is a testimonial from one breastfeeding mother who found the diet helpful for her son's eczema.

In conclusion, the health of your liver is key to your ability to lose weight. Forget fad diets, appetite suppressants and weight loss supplements. They are quick fixes with no guaranteed results. Start the New Year on a new note. Give your liver an internal spring cleaning, and watch the kilos melt away like magic.

Note: Dr. Cabot's book is available at the library, on Amazon.com and on her Weight Control Doctor website.

Serena Tan is a writer, network marketer and work-at-home-mum with an interest in health and wellness issues. To learn why you should read the ingredient labels on your next trip to the cosmetics counter, visit http://www.greenfamilyorganics.com