Hamburg.
After the holidays is the ideal time to eat healthier. Here the nutritionist answers your questions.
“Obesity is the mother of many diseases,” warns nutritionist Dr. Matthew Riedl. In the podcast “Dr. Matthias Riedl: This is how healthy nutrition works”, the nutritionist and medical director of Medicum Hamburg this time answers questions from readers and podcast listeners. It’s about topics like intermittent fasting, macular degeneration (and what nutrition can do) and the broader field overweightdiabetes and belly fat.
How do you get to your basal metabolic rate with just two meals a day – without feeling full and having stomach ache?
“The basal metabolic rate is what I need if I just want to keep things normal without moving around a lot,” he says Nutrition Doc. There are formulas for this, but they are only a rough guide. “This means that if you calculate your basal metabolic rate – measured by height and age – and come up with 2000 calories, for example, it may be that you only really need 1200 calories or 2800. If I were to eat 2000 kilocalories and I did 2800, I’m slowly losing weight. But if I really need 1300, then I would slowly gain weight.”
There is a large variance in the energy requirement, which is also a bit genetically pre-determined. You can proceed as follows: “If the calculated basal metabolic rate that I eat doesn’t cause me to lose weight, then I obviously have a much lower basal metabolic rate.” Under no circumstances should you just continue to eat just because you have the feeling, otherwise not enough to eat.
Do you have to do intermittent fasting every seven days a week? “If you can do that three or four times a week, it’s fine. As often as possible, it has an effect every time – it relaxes the metabolism and has an anti-inflammatory effect,” says the nutritionist. It is also possible to take a break on vacation if you want to, although he is particularly happy to do so, says Dr. Riedl: “Holidays are absolutely ideal. I think holidays are great for doing the two-meal principle.”
Is intermittent fasting also suitable for people with gallstones? “We know that severe weight loss can promote gallstones. So if I lose ten, forty kilos, I have a higher risk of gallstones. But there is no risk with intermittent fasting,” says the author of numerous bestsellers on nutrition. Above all, lifting and dropping weight promotes gallstones. This is why women are particularly affected, because pregnancy often causes weight to go up and then down again.
Read here: Why an unbalanced diet leads to health problems
What can you watch out for, for example, if your parents are affected by macular degeneration?
“If I look at my parents’ illnesses, I can also look a little into my own future. That’s not always the case, don’t be frustrated, but with something like macular degeneration there’s a certain tendency,” says Dr. Riedl. People with light skin and blue eyes are particularly affected. That’s why they should definitely wear sunglasses when it’s sunny, advises the doctor.
Two elements in the diet could slow down macular degeneration – the Carotenoids lutein and zeaxants. “They are in green leafy vegetables, but also in corn and also in oranges. It is also available as a dietary supplement, but I would always prefer to take it as a food because we also have other effects with it,” advises the nutrition doc. He recommends cabbage, for example, which also has an anti-cancer effect and has a positive effect on blood sugar and cholesterol levels. “If I eat cabbage or green beans, then I not only reduce my risk of macular degeneration, but also of other lifestyle diseases.”
Studies have also shown that Omega-3 fatty acids in sufficient quantity can reduce the probability of macular degeneration.
If insulin resistance has been diagnosed and you are desperately trying to lose weight, how can you still succeed
“Many people in the population have insulin resistance. We assume that there are peoples where every second person has the predisposition to do so. If I still eat too many carbohydrates, as is common in our society, and this sensitive, fragile system is overloaded with it, then things run hot,” says the specialist. “The body tries to clear the carbohydrates as sugar in the blood by releasing insulin. And if there are too many carbohydrates, then he has to pour out a lot of insulin.” In such cases, Riedl recommends low carb.
How do you get cholesterol levels under control?
“Cholesterol levels can be influenced by weight loss, including eating more healthy fats. And we find them in nuts, in fish, but also in fish oil capsules. And we can lower cholesterol levels by reducing carbohydrate intake and, of course, eating more vegetables. So increase the dose of nuts and healthy fats and reduce carbohydrates,” says Riedl.
How do you get rid of your beer belly?
“Beer contains sugar. So if I drink a lot of beer, of course I also take in calories. That promotes weight gain, that’s one thing. But there are foods that specifically affect the metabolism in such a way that people who eat a lot tend to have a smaller waist size.
This has been proven by studies,” says the internist. A beer belly is caused by too much carbohydrates, possibly too many bad fats. “And that’s exactly what I have to shut down. I gotta cut bad fats, cut good fats. I have them in nuts, I have them in fish, I have them in olive oil, in rapeseed oil. Olive oil also fills you up better. And if you’re full, you’re not wrong,” says Riedl. Carbohydrates have to be reduced, “because the beer belly is stored carbohydrates”. Getting the right amount of protein is also important. “We’re at 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight, semi-vegetable from nuts, legumes, for example, or cabbage and mushrooms.”
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